MOLLA (몰라) Meaning — How Koreans Say "I DON'T KNOW!" | SingSay Korean
How Koreans say
“I don’t know”
in one breath.
“What do you want for dinner?”
Somebody has to decide, and it is not going to be you.
Shoulders up, hands out. Two syllables.
What does ‘몰라’ mean?
‘몰라’ (Molla) means “I Don’t Know.”
English needs two words for this: “don’t” and “know.”
Korean has a single verb that already means not knowing.
So ‘몰라’ comes out as one short burst instead of a sentence.
And like most words on this album, there is no “I” in it.
It is a mood, not just an answer
‘몰라’ rarely just reports a fact.
How you say it changes what it means.
with it
Said sharply to the wrong person,
‘몰라’ can sound like you are brushing them off.
With friends it is playful.
With anyone else, it can land as rude.
When Koreans say it
Notice the last one.
With strangers, you almost never use bare ‘몰라’.
Three ways to not know
These three are not synonyms.
They sit at different distances from “No.”
The ‘-겠-’ in the middle of ‘모르겠어’ adds a shade of “As Far as I Can Tell.”
That is what makes it gentler than ‘몰라’.
‘글쎄’ is the clever one. It is not about knowing at all.
When a Korean answers your idea with ‘글쎄…’, they are often saying no, softly.
only one?
Make it ‘모르겠어’. It works almost everywhere.
‘몰라’ vs ‘모르겠어’ is close to “Dunno” vs “I’m Not Sure.”
One is for friends. The other is for everyone.
The polite versions
‘몰라’ is casual. Perfect with friends, risky with anyone else.
Friends, Siblings
Polite, Still Blunt
Teachers, Coworkers
And the one to use with a stranger on the street:
Literally “I Don’t Know Well.” It is the standard polite way to say you are not sure.
Same reaction, very different distance.
You saw the same pattern with ‘맞아’ and ‘헐’.
Lyrics
When you don’t know, you say:
몰라! 몰라! 몰라!
When you don’t know, you say: molla!BRIDGE
Do you like this song? 모르겠어~
What is the answer? 글쎄…
Just say it, say it now! 몰라! 몰라! 몰라!
The bridge is the whole lesson in four lines.
Match your voice to each one:
short for ‘몰라’, stretched for ‘모르겠어’, trailing off for ‘글쎄’.
Words in this song
Album complete
That completes Korean Reactions, Vol. 1. Six songs, six reactions:
‘대박’, ‘아이고’, ‘진짜?’, ‘맞아’, ‘헐’, and ‘몰라’.
Together they cover most of what you will shout at a screen.
See all six side by side in the album guide.
Want to keep ‘몰라’ handy?
Save the word cards on Instagram @singsaykorean.
Watch the full song on YouTube @SingSayKorean
and sing it until it sticks.
Comments
Post a Comment