How to Say “I’m planning to start exercising” in Korean

운동을 시작하려고 해요

undongeul sijakaryeogo haeyo

Situation: Café & daily lifeLevel: Intermediate (TOPIK 3–4)

Meaning

I’m planning to start exercising.

-(으)려고 해요 means “I’m planning to…” and is handy for talking about plans and goals.

Romanization follows the Revised Romanization system and is a guide to pronunciation.

Syllables: 10 · Words: 3

In natural speech, sounds link and shift across words. The table below reads each word separately, as it sounds when said on its own.

Syllable	Letters (consonant + vowel + final)	Romanization
운동을
운	ㅇ+ㅜ+ㄴ	un
동	ㄷ+ㅗ+ㅇ	dong
을	ㅇ+ㅡ+ㄹ	eul
시작하려고
시	ㅅ+ㅣ	si
작	ㅈ+ㅏ+ㄱ	[자] ja
하	ㅎ+ㅏ	[카] ka
려	ㄹ+ㅕ	ryeo
고	ㄱ+ㅗ	go
해요
해	ㅎ+ㅐ	hae
요	ㅇ+ㅛ	yo

A ㅇ at the start of a syllable is silent; at the end of a syllable it sounds like “ng”.

Style: Polite (해요체)Sentence type: Statement or set phrase

Ends in -요. The everyday polite style, and a safe choice with shop staff, colleagues, strangers and anyone older than you.

These words from the TOPIK vocabulary lists appear in the phrase (shown in dictionary form).

Korean	Part of speech	Meaning	Level
운동	noun	exercise	TOPIK level 1
하다	verb	to do	TOPIK level 1

Test yourself before you move on. Tap an answer.

Question 1 What does “운동을 시작하려고 해요” mean?

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Answer: I’m planning to start exercising

Question 2 How do you say “I’m planning to start exercising” in Korean?

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Answer: 운동을 시작하려고 해요 undongeul sijakaryeogo haeyo

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