KOREAN LEVEL UP › Korean phrases › Dining out & ordering › 덜 맵게 해 주실 수 있어요?

How to Say “Could you make it less spicy” in Korean

덜 맵게 해 주실 수 있어요?

deol maepge hae jusil su isseoyo?

Situation: Dining out & orderingLevel: Intermediate (TOPIK 3–4)

Meaning

Could you make it less spicy?

덜 means “less”. -게 해 주다 means “make it ... for me”. Adding -(으)ㄹ 수 있어요? turns it into a polite request, essential if you cannot handle spice.

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

Syllables: 10 · Words: 6

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
덜	ㄷ+ㅓ+ㄹ	deol
맵게
맵	ㅁ+ㅐ+ㅂ	maep
게	ㄱ+ㅔ	[께] ge
해	ㅎ+ㅐ	hae
주실
주	ㅈ+ㅜ	ju
실	ㅅ+ㅣ+ㄹ	sil
수	ㅅ+ㅜ	su
있어요
있	ㅇ+ㅣ+ㅆ	[이] i
어	ㅇ+ㅓ	[써] sseo
요	ㅇ+ㅛ	yo

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

Tensing: after a final ㄱ, ㄷ or ㅂ sound, ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅅ and ㅈ become tense (ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ). 맵게 → [맵께]
Linking: when a syllable ending in a consonant (patchim) is followed by a syllable that starts with a vowel, the consonant moves over to the next syllable. 있어 → [이써]

Style: Polite (해요체)Sentence type: Question

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
하다	verb	to do	TOPIK level 1
있다	verb	to exist, to have	TOPIK level 1

Test yourself before you move on. Tap an answer.

Question 1 What does “덜 맵게 해 주실 수 있어요?” mean?

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Answer: Could you make it less spicy

Question 2 How do you say “Could you make it less spicy” in Korean?

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Answer: 덜 맵게 해 주실 수 있어요? deol maepge hae jusil su isseoyo?

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