intermediate
Goes after 혼자 (honja, alone) or a number of people to say who does something: 둘이서 (duriseo), "the two of us".
Checked against the official learner dictionary from the National Institute of Korean Language
- 둘이 duri, 셋이 sesi and 넷이 nesi mean "two people", "three people" and "four people".
- Only for people, and it marks who does the action.
Build it
When to use it
Alone
All by yourself, with no help.
Together, with a number
How many people did it.
A bigger group
여럿이서 yeoreosiseo: "a group of us".
Watch out
Use 둘이 duri, "two people", not the number 둘 dul.
혼자 honja takes 서 directly.
In context
9 examples- 1
우리 둘이서 이 케이크를 다 먹었어요.
Uri duriseo i keikeureul da meogeosseoyo.
The two of us ate this whole cake.
- 2
저는 혼자서 여행하는 걸 좋아해요.
Jeoneun honjaseo yeohaenghaneun geol joahaeyo.
I like traveling by myself.
- 3
셋이서 같이 영화 볼까요?
Sesiseo gachi yeonghwa bolkkayo?
Shall the three of us watch a movie together?
- 4
혼자서 이사를 다 했어요?
Honjaseo isareul da haesseoyo?
Did you do the whole move by yourself?
- 5
우리 넷이서 사진 찍어요.
Uri nesiseo sajin jjigeoyo.
Let's take a picture, the four of us.
- 6
아이가 혼자서 옷을 입었어요.
Aiga honjaseo oseul ibeosseoyo.
The child got dressed all on their own.
- 7
둘이서 뭐 하고 있었어?
Duriseo mwo hago isseosseo?
What were you two doing?
- 8
이 일은 혼자서 하기 힘들어요.
I ireun honjaseo hagi himdeureoyo.
This is hard to do on your own.
- 9
어제 친구랑 둘이서 저녁을 먹었어요.
Eoje chingurang duriseo jeonyeogeul meogeosseoyo.
Yesterday my friend and I had dinner, just the two of us.
Practice
8 questions"the two of us" + 서
혼자 or 혼자서?
Both mean "alone", and you can say 혼자 살아요 honja sarayo or 혼자서 살아요 honjaseo sarayo for "I live alone." Adding 서 puts a bit more weight on it, closer to "all by myself."
Not the 서 in 어디서
어디서 eodiseo, 여기서 yeogiseo and 집에서 jibeseo use a different 서, the short form of 에서, "at" or "from." The 서 in this lesson only goes on 혼자 and on words for a number of people.
Look it up in the dictionary
The entry for 혼자서 in two trusted Korean dictionaries.