Must-Know Korean Words for Beginners

Learning the basic Korean words used in daily life is one of the first steps to learning to speak Korean. Simple words like ‘yes’ and ‘no’ and basic greetings like ‘goodbye’ and ‘see you tomorrow’ are useful in everyday situations. So in this article, we’ll cover the basic Korean words and phrases you must know as a beginning Korean learner.

Greetings

The table below has some useful greeting phrases you can use on your next visit to Korea. For a more detailed description, check out our article on how to say hello in Korean.

There are two formal ways of saying goodbye in Korean. If you want to say goodbye to someone leaving your house, you can say 안녕히 가세요. However, if you’re leaving someone’s house and want to say goodbye to the host of the house, you can say 안녕히 계세요.

Everyday phrases

The table below shows the absolute must-know words and phrases used in basic social interactions. You’ll use these every day if you’re visiting Korea!

Note that there are two ways to say ‘excuse me.’ 실례합니다 is the most general and common way of saying excuse me. 저기요 is another common way of saying excuse me, but we only use this phrase to catch someone’s attention. So if you want to exit a crowded elevator, you can say 실례합니다, but if someone drops their wallet and walks away, you can say 저기요 to catch that person’s attention.

Talking about food

For many people, visiting Korea is all about the food and drinks, so if you are a foodie (like me😋), then these are some of the must-know words related to food and drinks.

Talking about transportation

Now that you know the names of places around town, you need to find a mode of transportation to get to where you want to get to. The following words and phrases will help you do that.

Common everyday objects

There are some things we carry around all the time, so you really should learn how to say them in Korean. After all, if you lose your cellphone in a department store, how are you going to tell the store what you lost? Let’s learn some useful words for everyday objects.

Talking about family and friends

Talking about family and friends must be one of the most common topics of conversation when meeting someone for the first time. In Korea, family life is very important, so if you meet a Korean person, they will want to know something about your family and friends. Let’s take a look at some of the most common and important words related to family and friends.

Talking about time and dates

Another important language skill is being able to talk about time and dates. If you’re making plans to meet someone, or if you want to talk about each other’s birthdays, you’ll need the words in the following table.

To say the month, we use Sino-Korean numbers with the word 월. So to say April, we use the number 사 (4) and the word 월 (month) together, so 사월 is April. To say the specific date, we use Sino-Korean numbers with the word 일 (date). So to say the 10th, we use the number 십 (10) and the word 일 (date) together, so 10th is 십일. Combining the two phrases together to say April 10, we say 사월 십일.

To say the time, we use number words with the words 시 (hour) and 분 (minute). We use native Korean numbers with 시 (hour), and Sino-Korean numbers with 분 (minute). So to say 4:10, we say 네 시 십 분. (The native Korean number for four is 네.)

Confused about the difference between native Korean and Sino-Korean numbers? Take a look at our complete guide to Korean numbers to make things clear!

Basic Korean verbs and adjectives

To talk about what we do in our daily lives, we have to learn the verbs, and to describe the world around us, we have to learn the adjectives. So the two tables below show the must-know Korean verbs and adjectives for beginning learners.

You might have noticed that the table has two different words for ‘hot’ and two for ‘cold.’ In Korean, we have two sets of words for hot and cold. To describe the air temperature as hot and cold, we use 덥다 (hot) and 춥다 (cold). However, if something is hot or cold to touch or drink, we use 뜨겁다 (hot) and 차갑다 (cold).

Basic Korean adverbs

Just like in English, we mainly use adverbs in Korean to modify verbs. For example, we can use the words ‘slowly’ and ‘quickly’ to describe how we did an action (as in “I walked slowly to the bus stop.”) So words like ‘slowly’ and ‘quickly’ are adverbs. We call these adverbs of manner.

However, like English, we can also use adverbs to modify adjectives, so words like ‘very’ and ‘really’ are also adverbs. We use these words to say phrases like ‘very cold’ or ‘really delicious.’ These are called adverbs of degree.

The tables below show some of the most common adverbs of manner and degree in Korean.

Another common adverb type is adverbs of frequency. These are words like ‘always,’ ‘sometimes’ and ‘never.’ We use these words to say how often we do something.

Wrapping up basic Korean words

Whenever you learn a new language, you have to learn all the words that are essential in your daily life. In this article, we’ve covered some of the most basic Korean words and phrases which will help you to communicate in many common settings, such as when you meet people for the first time and when you go to Korean restaurants.

Now that you have a basic knowledge of Korean words, it’s important to build on this knowledge and continue to study Korean regularly – after all, the more words you know, the more you’ll be able to communicate. 다음에 봐요! (See you next time!)