-는 게 어때?: How about doing? in Korean

This pattern is used to make a suggestion or ask for someone's opinion about a course of action. It translates to "How about...?" or "Why don't you...?"

Formation

Attach -는 게 어때(요)? directly to an action verb stem.

Verb Stem + -는 게 어때(요)?

가다 (to go) → 가는 게 어때요?

먹다 (to eat) → 먹는 게 어때요?

보다 (to see) → 보는 게 어때요?

Breakdown

The pattern is a combination of several grammatical parts:

-는 것: This is a nominalizing form that turns a verb into a noun phrase (e.g., 하다 "to do" becomes 하는 것 "the act of doing").

-이/가: The subject particle. In conversation, 것이 is almost always contracted to 게.

어때(요)?: This means "How is it?" or "What do you think?"

So, 지금 출발하는 게 어때요? literally means "How is the act of leaving now?" but is used to mean "How about we leave now?"

잠시 쉬었다 하는 게 어때? / 솔직하게 말하는 게 어때요? / 배달 시키는 게 어때?

Since -는 게 어때(요)? is a question, it's important to know how to respond naturally.

Agreeing with the Suggestion

You can show agreement with simple, positive phrases.

Polite:

좋아요. 그렇게 해요. (Sounds good. Let's do that.)

네, 좋은 생각이에요. (Yes, that's a good idea.)

Casual:

좋아. 그렇게 하자. (Sounds good. Let's do that.)

응, 좋은 생각이야. (Yeah, that's a good idea.)

Disagreeing or Expressing Hesitation

If you don't like the suggestion, you can politely decline or show you're thinking about it.

Polite:

글쎄요... 잘 모르겠어요. (Well... I'm not sure.)

음... 그냥 다른 거 하는 게 좋을 것 같아요. (Hmm... I think it would be better to just do something else.)

Casual: