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How would you translate "Is this a bad time to call?" in Korean? My company is currently preparing a presentation for Korean clients. On one of the slides, it has to be written "Is this a bad time to call"? Using "bad time" is very important here, because we're trying to get people to answer NO. The problem is that our translators wrote "지금 잠시 통화 괜찮으신가요?" and the logical answer to this is YES. I asked a Korean person what they thought and they said I should write "지금 통화하기 불편하실까요?" but I'm not sure it sounds very natural? Korean friends, what do you think? Is there a more natural way to say it so that people answer NO? Please help me~

Answers · 4

1
지금 잠시 통화 괜찮으신가요? = Can you talk for a little while now? (expects an affirmative answer) 지금 통화하기(가) 곤란하신가요/어려우신가요? 그러시면 다음에 통화해요. (more neutral - makes it easy to decline) = Is it a bad time to talk on the phone? If so, we'll do it next time. 지금 통화하기 곤란하시면/어려우시면/불편하시면 다음에 (통화)해요. (same, in one sentence) = If it's a bad time for you to talk, we'll do it some other time. (곤란하다 = awkward/difficult, 어렵다 = difficult, 불편하다 = inconvenient/bothersome). "지금 통화하기 불편하실까요?"" is similar, but I think 하신가요 (present tense) sounds better than 하실까요? (future or tenseless possibilities) in this case. I hope that answers your question. If not, please feel free to ask again.

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