Why English to Korean is harder than it looks
Politeness is a decision in every sentence ending. Korean has distinct forms for close friends, for polite conversation and for formal business, and using the wrong one is noticed immediately. English gives the translator nothing to go on, so the tone you set is doing the real work.
Korean drops what English repeats. “I’ll send you the file when I get home” names the sender, the receiver and the speaker again; natural Korean drops most of that. Keeping every pronoun produces Korean that is correct and obviously translated.
Titles replace names. Koreans often address people by role — 선생님, 과장님 — rather than by first name, and adding -님 shows respect. An English message that uses a bare first name can come out too familiar for a work context.
Word order and particles carry the meaning. The verb goes last and small particles mark who is the subject and who is the object, with the difference between 은/는 and 이/가 being one of the hardest things in the language. Shorter, simpler English sentences translate far more reliably than long ones.
Written by Hardik Vegad, Co-founder, Translatify. Last updated .
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