50 Most Common Korean Words and Phrases You Should Learn First
Nowadays, learning basic Korean words and phrases is simple. It is one of the most widely spoken languages in Southeast Asia. Numerous Korean books, plays, films, Korean music, and even Korean cuisine all illustrate how popular Korean culture is. Many individuals are interested in learning the Korean language so that they might broaden their vocabulary and learn the language spoken by their prejudices and favorite performers. Whatever the reason, it is evident that the Korean language has advanced significantly in terms of global recognition beyond Asia.
Korean Food Words:
You will undoubtedly want to be familiar with some fundamental Korean culinary terminology if you intend to study the language. Since there are so many delectable choices and a wide selection, youโll be pleased you did! Learning these basic Korean terms can benefit you as you investigate Korean and South Korean culture. By mastering these basic Korean terms, it will be easier to discuss cuisine in South Korea. The basic South Korean language terms for food are listed below:
Korean Word | Meaning in English | Example Sentence |
---|---|---|
mul (๋ฌผ ) | WATER | ํ๋ฃจ์ ๋ฌผ ์ธ ์ ๋ง์
์. Every day, I drink three glasses of water. (harue mul se jan masyeoyo.) |
bap ( ๋ฐฅ ) | RICE | ๋ด์ผ ๋ฐฅ ๊ฐ์ด ๋จน์๋์? Shall we eat together tomorrow? (naeil bap gachi meogeullaeyo?) |
yachae ( ์ผ์ฑ ) | VEGETABLES | ์์ฅ์์ ์ผ์ฑ๋ฅผ ์์ด์. I bought vegetables at the market. (sijangeseo yachaereul sasseoyo.) |
gwail ( ๊ณผ์ผ ) | FRUIT | ์ด๋ค ๊ณผ์ผ ์ข์ํ์ธ์? What kind of fruit do you like? (eotteon gwail joahaseyo?) |
gogi ( ๊ณ ๊ธฐ) | MEAT | ์ด์ ์ ๋
์ ๊ณ ๊ธฐ๋ฅผ ๊ตฌ์ ๋จน์์ด์. Last night I ate grilled meat. |
ppang ( ๋นต ) | BREAD | ๋นต ๋จน์๋ ๋ฒํฐ๋ ์ผ์ด๋ ๊ฐ์ด ๋จน์ด์. I consume butter and jam on my toast. (ppang meogeulttae beoteorang jaemirang gachi meogeoyo.) |
saengseon ( ์์ ) | FISH | ์์ ์ ์ด ๋ง๋ฆฌ๋ ์ก์์ด์! I caught ten fish! (saengseoneul yeol marina jabasseoyo!) |
keopi ( ์ปคํผ ) | COFFEE | ์ฌ์์น๊ตฌ์ ์ ๋ช
ํ ์นดํ์ ๊ฐ์ต๋๋ค. I went out with my girlfriend to a well-known cafe. (yeojachinguwa yumyeonghan kapee gatseumnida.) |
maekju ( ๋งฅ์ฃผ) | BEER | ๋ด ๋จ์์น๊ตฌ๋ ๋งฅ์ฃผ ํ ๋ณ๋ ๋ชป ๋ง์
์. Even one beer bottle is beyond the reach of my guy. (nae namjachinguneun maekju han byeongdo mot masyeoyo.) |
soju ( ์์ฃผ) | SOJUf | ๋๋ ์น๊ตฌ๋ ์์ฃผ๋ฅผ ์ข์ํด์. With my companion, I enjoy consuming soju (narang chinguneun sojureul joahaeyo). |
Simple Korean Words:
These words are easy to memorize and master. You may hear these expressions in Korean dramas, movies, variety shows, or live performances by K-pop celebrities. Here are some simple Korean words you may learn:
Korean Word | Meaning |
---|---|
์ (ye) | yes |
์๋์ (aniyo) | no |
์ฐ๋ฆฌ (uri) | we |
์ค๋ (oneul) | today |
์ด์ (eoje) | yesterday |
๋ด์ผ (naeil) | tomorrow |
๋ฐค (bam) | night/evening |
์์นจ (achim) | morning |
์ (wae) | why |
์ธ์ (eonje) | when |
Basic Korean Words:
Since they are often used during Korean dramas, films, and other forms of entertainment, Korean words for beginners like you may be readily learned. They are accommodating since they are frequently employed in everyday speech. The following is a list of essential Korean words:
Korean | Meaning |
---|---|
์๋ ํ์ธ์ (annyeonghaseyo) | Hello |
๊ฐ์ฌํฉ๋๋ค (kamsahamnida | Thank you |
์ฒ๋ง์์ (cheonmaneyo) | Youโre welcome |
์ ์๋ง์ (jamsimanyo) | Excuse me |
๊ด์ฐฎ์์ (gwaenchanayo) | Okay |
์ฃ์กํฉ๋๋ค (joisonghamnida) | Iโm sorry |
์ฃผ์ธ์ (juseyo) | Please give me |
๋ชฐ๋ผ์ (mollayo) | I donโt know |
์์์ (arayo) | I know |
์ดํดํด์ (ihaehaeyo) | I understand |
์ข์์ (joayo) | Good |
์ ์ข์์ (an joayo) | Not good |
Other Useful Korean Words:
Words from the original South Korean language make up lovely Korean words. The South Korean language has several terms that have Chinese roots. These Chinese-derived terms are sometimes referred to as โloan words.โ However, youโll discover a handful of the many beautiful native Korean terms in the following part.
Korean Word | Meaning |
---|---|
ํ๋ (haneul) | sky |
๋น (bi) | rain |
๊ณ ์์ด (goyangi) | cat |
๊ฐ์์ง (gangaji) | puppy |
์ฌ๋ (saram) | person |
๋ฐ๋ (baram | wind |
๋ง์ (maeum) | mind/heart |
๊ฐ๋ (garam) | river |
๋ฐ๋ค (bada) | ocean |
๋ฏธ๋ฅด (mireu) | dragon |
๋๋ฅด์ค (nareusha) | to fly |
๋๋ (narae) | wing |
๋๋ฆฌ (nuri) | world |
๋๋ผ (nara) | nation |
How to Expand Your Vocabulary in Korean?
1. Creating Word Lists
The most popular techniques for learning vocabulary are word lists and flash cards. Make note cards with Korean words on a single column and respective meanings on the other, or create a two-column table with the words in one column and their definitions on the other (you can even add extra columns, such as sample sentences, etc.).
List of a few Korean Greetings:
- Nice to meet you โ Mannaseo Bangapseumnida
- Whatโs up? โ Museun ir-iya?
- Long Time No See โ Oraenmanieyo
- Please stay well โ Annyeong Hi Gyeseyo
- Excuse me โ Jam-shi-mahn-yo
2. Search The Dictionary
Always have a dictionary close at hand and look up unfamiliar words. Try to break the habit of choosing a different way to say what you mean when you donโt know (or canโt remember) the correct term. Although it may be laborious to look up a term in a dictionary, doing so is eventually helpful.
3. Learn Words in Context
Rarely are words used alone. They are employed with other terms, phrases, and grammatical constructions. It is not sufficient to understand a wordโs meaning; you also need to understand โwho,โ โwhere,โ โwhen,โ and โhow.โ Otherwise, thereโs a significant probability that youโll slip up at some point.
4. Make Connections
Create links and correlations between the new vocabulary you are learning and the Korean words and phrases concepts you already know. For instance, a term in your native language could sound distinct, hilarious, or fascinating. Or perhaps some words bring up a memory for you.
5. Examine & Apply
To learn a word permanently, we must frequently be exposed to it by listening, speaking, writing, or reading. Words need 20โ30 reviews or repetitions to be permanently stored in the human mind. Use new terms as much as possible, even if you are unclear on how to do so.
Also Read:
- Basic Greetings in Korean โ Hi, Hello, Goodbye & More
- Best K-Dramas To Watch
Wrapping Up:
It is difficult to communicate well with the natives since you will constantly encounter idioms and words you do not recognize. As a result, knowing the key Korean terminology and phrases might help you survive in such situations.
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