Korean vocabulary · 13 words
Korean greetings and polite phrases
These are the phrases you will use from the first day: hello, goodbye, thank you, sorry and yes or no. Korean has two goodbyes, and you pick one by whether the other person is leaving or staying.
Examples are written in Hangul. New to it? Start with the hangul chart.
Good to know
- 안녕히 가세요 is said to someone who is leaving, and 안녕히 계세요 to someone who is staying.
- 안녕 is the casual hi and bye between friends. Use 안녕하세요 with everyone else.
- 주세요 after a noun is the everyday please: 물 주세요, water please.
Hello and goodbye
| Korean | Romanization | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 안녕하세요 | annyeonghaseyo | hello (polite) | |
| 안녕 | annyeong | hi / bye (casual) | |
| 반갑습니다 | bangapseumnida | nice to meet you | |
| 안녕히 가세요 | annyeonghi gaseyo | goodbye (to person leaving) | |
| 안녕히 계세요 | annyeonghi gyeseyo | goodbye (to person staying) |
Thanks, apologies and requests
| Korean | Romanization | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 감사합니다 | gamsahamnida | thank you (formal) | |
| 죄송합니다 | joesonghamnida | I'm sorry (formal) | |
| 괜찮아요 | gwaenchanayo | it's okay / I'm okay | |
| 주세요 | juseyo | please give (me) | |
| 도와주세요 | dowajuseyo | please help (me) | |
| 기다려 주세요 | gidaryeo juseyo | please wait (for me) |
Yes and no
| Korean | Romanization | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 네 | ne | yes | |
| 아니요 | aniyo | no |
Practice this in Open Lingo
This page comes from the Open Lingo course. In the app it is a short interactive lesson with listening, speaking and spaced-repetition review. Free, and no account needed to try it.
Keep going
- NumbersThe two Korean number systems for beginners: Sino-Korean 일, 이, 삼 and native 하나, 둘, 셋, when to use each, plus counters, with audio.
- Family wordsKorean family vocabulary for beginners, including why older-sibling words depend on the speaker's gender (형, 오빠, 누나, 언니).
- The polite present tenseHow to conjugate Korean verbs and adjectives into the polite 요 form: 아요 vs 어요, 하다 → 해요, the ㅡ drop and vowel contractions.