haru Korean › Grammar › Level 2A › V-(으)ㄹ 줄 알다/모르다
V-(으)ㄹ 줄 알다/모르다 — knowing how to do something — 필기할 줄 알아요
Knowing how to do something — 필기할 줄 알아요. Korean grammar for upper beginner learners — Level 2A, lesson 10: 필기할 줄 알아요? (Can you take notes? — skills for the lecture hall).
What it means
-(으)ㄹ 줄 알다 means 'to know how to': you have learned the way to do something. 줄 here means 'the way, the method', so 운전할 줄 알아요 is literally 'I know the way to drive'. After a 받침 add -을 줄 알아요 (읽을 줄 알아요, 찾을 줄 알아요); after a vowel add -ㄹ 줄 알아요 (탈 줄 알아요, 필기할 줄 알아요); a stem ending in ㄹ keeps just one ㄹ (만들 줄 알아요). For 'I don't know how', change 알다 to 모르다: 운전할 줄 몰라요 — 모르다 becomes 몰라요, the 르 irregular from Lesson 6. To ask an older person, use the honorific of 알다: 한자를 쓸 줄 아세요? (알다 + 세요 → 아세요; the ㄹ drops, as you saw in Lesson 1B-6). Use it for skills people learn — languages, instruments, sports, cooking, a computer program, notes in Korean — not for things everyone can do: 밥을 먹을 줄 알아요 sounds odd, unless you mean chopsticks or very spicy food.
Forms
| Pattern | When | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -을 줄 알아요 | 받침 O | 읽다 + 을 줄 알아요 → 읽을 줄 알아요 |
| -ㄹ 줄 알아요 | 받침 X · ㄹ 받침 (ㄹ 하나만) | 타다 + ㄹ 줄 알아요 → 탈 줄 알아요 |
| -(으)ㄹ 줄 몰라요 | don't know how — 모르다 → 몰라요 | 읽다 + 을 줄 몰라요 → 읽을 줄 몰라요 |
Key points
- V-(으)ㄹ 줄 알다 = to know how to (you have learned the way): 운전할 줄 알아요 · 한자를 읽을 줄 몰라요
- 받침 O → -을 줄 (읽을 줄) · 받침 X → -ㄹ 줄 (탈 줄 · 필기할 줄) · ㄹ 받침 → one ㄹ (만들 줄) · don't know how → 몰라요
Examples
- 읽다 → 읽을 줄 알아요. 찾다 → 찾을 줄 알아요.
- 타다 → 탈 줄 알아요. 필기하다 → 필기할 줄 알아요.
- 만들다 → 만들 줄 알아요. (ㄹ 받침 — ㄹ 하나만)
- 운전을 안 배웠어요. → 운전할 줄 몰라요.
- 한자를 쓸 줄 아세요? — 아니요, 쓸 줄 몰라요.
Where university textbooks teach it
This point also appears in: Seoul National University Korean 2A, lesson 2; Yonsei University Korean 2-2, lesson 17; Sogang University Korean 1B, lesson 4; Ewha Womans University Korean 2-2, lesson 14; Hongik University Korean 2B, lesson 12; Hanyang University Korean 2-1, lesson 4.
Also in this lesson
- -(으)ㄹ 수 있다 · -(으)ㄹ 줄 알다 · 잘하다/못하다 — can, know how to, be good at — choosing the right one