It seems that our weekend is full of hilarious moments due to Mr Queen airing including its cast list. Shin Hye Sun and Kim Jung Hyun get the lead roles for this comedy sageuk drama. We do agree that both suit for comedy roles. It includes fantasy aspect in its narration. Mr Queen tells about Jang Bong Hwan, a male chef the Blue House (presidential residence). His life is in trouble after accidentally being trapped in the body of South Korea’s past Queen, Kim So Yong. Yeah, it is about time travel to Joseon Dynasty. Mr Queen drama is worth to watch considering several aspects like the main cast list and narration. It gives the fresh vibe of historical drama. Unlike the common Sageuk drama, it delivers the fresh comedy to us and high tension conflict at once. Moreover, it combines the modern and old phrases in its dialogue. Let’s we learn some dialogues from this drama.

1. Choi Jin Hyuk: Mr Queen Special Cast

Choi Jin Hyuk has special appearance in this drama. He plays Chef Jang who experiences a time travel to Joseon Dynasty. Accidentally his soul is trapped in Queen’s body after falling down to swimming pool. But, he doesn’t want to die. He says 살고 싶어 (Salgo sipeo). 살고 (Salgo) derives from 살다 (salda) that means “to live” or “be alive”. It is attached by particle -고 싶다 (-go sipda) to indicate a desire. It literally means “want to” or “would like to”. So, we can translate 살고 싶어 (Salgo sipeo) to “I want to be alive”.

2. Shin Hye Sun: Mr Queen Main Female Cast

Finally the Queen wakes up after the lake accident. However, people in palace find her odd and assume that she gets amnesia. On the other hand, Chef Jang is panicking about himself trapped in Queen’s body. He has no idea why. He yells 니들 나한테 무슨 짓을 한 거야 (Nideul nahante museun jiseul han geoya). 니들 (Nideul) is informal way to say “you” (in plural form). 나 (Na) is object pronoun for “me” and added by suffix -한테 (hante) that means “to, for, by”. 나한테 (Nahanteu) means “to me”. 무슨 (Museun) has equivalent meaning to “which, what, or what kind of” (please see here for our previous lesson about it). 짓 (Jit) means act and attached to object particle -을. 한 거야 (Han geoya) is informal way to ask people what they did. So 니들 나한테 무슨 짓을 한 거야 (Nideul nahante museun jiseul han geoya) means “What have you done to me?”

3. Kim Jung Hyun: Mr Queen Main Male Cast

Kim Jung Hyun plays the main role as King Cheoljong. King Cheoljong is apparently silly and easy to be used by others. However, he has hidden mission behind his ridiculous act. After found the Queen acting weird, he becomes more intensively careful to her. Let’s learn one word from him: 푹 쉬시오 (pug swisio). It actually means “take a rest”. Particle -ㅂ시오 is attached to 푹 쉬다 (pug swida) to indicate a very formal sentence. It is more formal than particle -ㅂ니다. We commonly find this usage in Sageuk or Korean historical drama dialogue. It’s honorific speaking between royal members.

4. Learn Korean Royal Titles in Sageuk Drama

If you watch Korean historical drama, you will find several titles to address royal family members. The term we commonly hear is 마마 (mama). It refers to general royal member and means “Your Majesty”. You can address the king with this title. The other way to address the king is 전하 (jeonha) or 폐하 (pyeha). To address the queen, you may say 대비마마 (daebimama). If there’s a living grandmother of reigning king, she is called 대왕대비마마 (daewangdaebimama). It means the Grand Queen Dowager.

5. Learn Old Korean Phrase

The perks of watching Sageuk drama are not only knowing Korean nobility titles but also old Korean terms. Let’s put an example dialogue of Mr Queen supporting cast. She says 송구하옵니다 (songguhaobnida). It is an old term of 송구합니다 (songguhabnida) and is not commonly used know. It is formal way to express apology and particularly used in conversation within palace. Someone in lower rank could say this phrase to apologize to someone in higher rank, king or queen for example.