Lesson 38: 걸려요
In this lesson, you will learn how to use the verb 걸려요 to express how long it takes to do something. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to say things like “How long does it take to get to the station?”, “It takes about 30 minutes to get to the station.“, etc.
Lesson 38: 걸려요
걸려요
걸려요 is the present tense form of the verb 걸리다 which means ‘to take (time)’. When used together with a unit of time (such as minutes/hours/days, etc), 걸려요 can be used to express the time it takes to do something. In English, this is expressed in sentences such as “It takes 5 minutes.“, “It takes 2 weeks.“, etc.
To make a question and ask “How long does it take?” you simply add 얼마나 (how long) before 걸려요. Let’s look at some examples:
지하철역까지 얼마나 걸려요? = How long does it take to get to the subway station?
버스로 십 분 걸려요. = It takes 10 minutes by bus.
공항까지 얼마나 걸려요? = How long does it take to get to the airport?
택시로 삼십 분쯤 걸려요.* = It takes about 30 minutes by taxi.
*쯤 means ‘approximately’ or ‘about’ and can be attached to the time unit to express the approximate time it takes to do something.
Periods Of Time
When you express periods of time (for example, “5 minutes”, “2 weeks”, etc.) you must use a Korean number followed by the counting unit for that period of time. Most time counting units are used together with Sino-Korean numbers but some use Native Korean numbers. See the table below.
| Sino or Native Numbers? | Time Counting Unit | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Sino | 초 (seconds) | 이 초 (2 seconds) |
| Sino | 분 (minutes) | 십 분 (10 minutes) |
| Sino | 일 (days) | 육 일 (6 days) |
| Sino | 주일 (weeks) | 사 주일 (4 weeks) |
| Sino | 개월 (months) | 오 개월 (5 months) |
| Sino | 년 (years) | 삼 년 (3 years) |
| Native | 시간 (hours) | 일곱 시간 (7 hours) |
| Native | 달 (months)* | 한 달 (1 month) |
*As you can see, there are two different counting units for months. You can choose either. 월 is used together with Sino-Korean numbers and 달 is used together with native Korean numbers.
Example Sentences
서울역까지 얼마나 걸려요? = How long does it take to get to Seoul station?
택시로 십오 분쯤 걸려요. = It takes about 15 minutes by taxi.
집에서 여기까지 얼마나 걸렸어요? = How long did it take to get here from your home?
버스로 삼십 분 걸렸어요. = It took 30 minutes.
서울에서 런던까지 비행기로 얼마나 걸려요? = How long does it take to London from Seoul by airplane?
열 두 시간쯤 걸려요. = It takes about 12 hours.
이거를 캐나다로 보내고 싶어요. 얼마나 걸려요? = I want to send this to Canada. How long does it take?
배로 두 달 걸려요. = It takes 2 months by ship.