Finding the way: 오른쪽, 왼쪽, 똑바로, 얼마나 걸려요?

How do I get there?

은행에 어떻게 가요? — how do I get to the bank? 어떻게 is “how”. Three answers cover most streets: 똑바로 가세요 — go straight on. 오른쪽으로 가세요 — go right. 왼쪽으로 가세요 — go left.

Nothing here is new grammar. 가세요 is the polite instruction form of 가요, and 으로 is the “toward” you know from 버스로. 똑바로 is an adverb, so it takes no particle.

어떻게 is pronounced [어떠케].

Where to turn

길 is a road, 사거리 an intersection, and 신호등 a traffic light. 사거리에서 왼쪽으로 가세요 — turn left at the intersection. 신호등에서 오른쪽으로 가세요 — turn right at the traffic light.

Two particles, two jobs. The spot where you turn takes 에서, because that is where the action happens. The direction takes 으로. English has a special verb, “turn”; in these sentences Korean simply says “go to the left”.

In front, behind, beside

앞 is the front, 뒤 the back, 옆 the side. 은행은 학교 앞에 있어요 — the bank is in front of the school. 카페는 은행 옆에 있어요. 화장실은 식당 뒤에 있어요.

The order is the mirror image of English: first the reference place, then the position word, with nothing between them. “In front of the school” is 학교 앞, “school front”. Then comes 에, not 에서, because 있어요 says where something is, not what is done there.

앞에 is pronounced [아페]; 옆에 is [여페].

Nearby, and across the street

Two more position words work the same way. 근처 is the area around a place: 편의점은 역 근처에 있어요 — the convenience store is near the station. 건너편 is the other side of the street: 정류장은 건너편에 있어요 — the bus stop is across the street.

정류장 is a bus stop, a word worth having when you ask the way.

정류장 is pronounced [정뉴장].

How long does it take?

역까지 얼마나 걸려요? — how long does it take to the station? 얼마나 is “how long, how much” and 걸려요 is “it takes”. 지하철로 삼십 분 걸려요 — thirty minutes by subway. 집에서 회사까지 한 시간 걸려요 — an hour from home to work.

Minutes use Sino-Korean numbers with 분, as on the clock. Hours use the native counting forms with 시간, the word you know as “time”: 한 시간, 두 시간. No particle follows the amount of time.

한 시 is one o’clock; 한 시간 is one hour.

Near and far

가까워요 is “is near” and 멀어요 is “is far”. Both describe the place itself, which takes 이 / 가: 역이 가까워요 — the station is close. 학교가 멀어요 — the school is far.

To measure from where you stand, add 여기에서, “from here”: 여기에서 멀어요? — is it far from here?