Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 4 - Intermediate Korean #1 (Lessons 91 to 120) ᚛ Lesson 97 - To know / To not know in Korean [-(으)ㄴ/는/(으)ㄹ지]

To know / To not know in Korean [-(으)ㄴ/는/(으)ㄹ지]

In this course: 지 알다 / 지 알아 / 지 알아요 / 지 모르다 / 지 몰라 / 지 몰라요

In Korean, "to know" is 알다 while "to not know" is 모르다. These two verbs can be used on their own or in grammatical structures that will allow us to express:

in this lesson: knowing something, having a piece of information
in the next lesson: knowing how to do something, having the ability

To know something - In the present

In Korean, to express the idea that one knows or is informed of something in the present, the following structure is used:
[Present adjectival form]지 알다

Reminder: the adjectival form in Korean

혹시 그 학교에 어떻게 가는지 아세요?
→ By any chance, do you know how to get to that school?

집에 계신지 알았습니다.
→ I knew you were at home.

비빔밥 어떻게 만드는지 알아?
→ Do you know how to make bibimbap?

몇 번 버스를 타야 하는지 아십니까?
→ Do you know which bus number I have to take?

그는 어떤 사람인지 알아?
→ Do you know what kind of person he is?

사과 한 봉지에 몇 개인지 아세요?
→ Do you know how many apples there are in a bag?

When speaking, with [Noun]이다, which gives the form [Noun]인지, if the noun does not end in a consonant, it is possible to contract the expression into:
[Noun]ㄴ지

뭐인지 → 뭔지
어디인지 → 어딘지
언제인지 → 언젠지
어느 가수인지 → 어느 가순지
…

내가 제일 갖고 싶은 게 뭔지 알아?
→ Do you know what I want to have the most?