# 어서오세요 / 어서 오세요



## Wotcher

I have seen this phrase written both ways: with a space and without a space. Which is correct? 

1) 어서오세요

2) 어서 오세요

(More broadly, how can I figure out when there should be a space included or not with other words?)


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## CitizenEmpty

There isn't much of a difference because Koreans don't follow the spacing rule that rigidly. Forgive me, I don't even know how to write it correctly despite I speak and read Korean since I was a kid.


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## mille gateaux

(2) is correct. However, you can see a lot of (1) on the street here in Korea.


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## Kross

Hello, Wotcher. Welcome to the Korean Forum.

국립국어원 (the government-run body that defines the Korean language) says that 2) is correct. 어서 functions as an adverb, 오세요 as a verb. A basic and dominant rule for putting in a space is one should place it between a word and the following word as seen in your topic sentence. But as always is the case, there are some exceptions about the punctuation. They are a little bit complicated and complex even for Korean natives. That can explain it why there are so many ungrammatical expressions written in Korean everywhere. even more on the Web. You would be encouraged to read a Korean grammar book. I am convinced that that would help you sound more Korean than the natives if you studied and used them correctly. 

(source: https://twitter.com/urimal365/status/451598598610755585)


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## Wotcher

Hello everyone, thanks for taking the time to reply to my question!

I have acquired several materials for Korean, the most recent being the Living Language course where I spotted the two variants of *어서 오세요. *At first, I thought it might be a typo, but then after searching elsewhere, I saw both forms being used! I guess I'll have to get used to the "flexibility" of Korean punctuation (whether it's correct or incorrect ).


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