It’s time to go! Now if you’ve been hanging out all day with your friends and it’s time to get a move on, you’ll want to use this fun phrase. This is one of my favorite short phrases because it’s short, easy to use, and easy to remember.
Like most other Korean phrases, the version you use will depend on how close you are to the person you’re talking to.
The two ways to say ‘Let’s go!’ in Korean are 가자! (ga-ja) and 갑시다! (gap-shi-da). The first being a polite casual way you would use with your friends, and the second one being the formal version you would use with older people.
First, let’s break down where these two phrases come from.
The verb 가다 (ga-da) means ‘to go’ in Korean. With the two forms above, we’re using the propositive form of conjugation for the verb. You can use this form with other verbs as well. For example:
하다 >> 하자/합시다 = Let’s do it.
먹다 >> 먹자/먹읍시다 = Let’s eat.
결혼하다 >> 결혼하자/결혼합시다 = Let’s get married.
공부하다 >> 공부하자/공부합시다 = Let’s study.
The beauty of Korean is that once you learn a grammar pattern, you can easily apply it to other verbs. (The sheer amount of similar grammar problems is usually the challenge when learning Korean.)
Now that you know 가자 and 갑시다, let’s add some nouns to them. Let’s say you were out eating dinner with a friend, and you wanted to go to a cafe. You could simply say:
카페에 가자. (ka-pe-e ga-ja) = Let’s go to a cafe.
With this example, you can use this for other places.
해변에 가자. (hae-byeon-e ga-ja) = Let’s go to the beach.
산책 가자. (san-chaek ga-ja) = Let’s go for a walk.
미술관에 가자. (mi-sul-gwan-e ga-ja) = Let’s go to the art museum.
집에 가자. (ji-be ga-ja) = Let’s go home.
같이 가자. (ga-chi ga-ja) = Let’s go together.
Easy right? Now there are several other grammar patterns that use 가자, but we’ll just stick with the basics for this post. Got it? Now try listening for this phrase in Korean TV shows and dramas. You’ll realize you hear it more often than you think!