Korean vocabulary · 26 words
Korean words for people and polite titles: 씨, 님, 선생님, 사장님
Who you are talking to shapes Korean more than most languages, and it starts with what you call people. Seniors go by their title plus 님 (선생님, 사장님, 교수님), peers by name plus 씨, and the people you respect get their own nouns: 성함 for name, 연세 for age, 댁 for home. This list has the people words and the respectful pairs from the course.
Examples are written in Hangul. New to it? Start with the hangul chart.
Good to know
- 씨 goes after a full name or given name for someone at your own level: 김민수 씨, 민수 씨. Never after your own name, and never for a teacher or boss: they get title + 님.
- 이분 and 그분 are the respectful this person and that person; 께서 is the respectful subject marker.
- The respectful nouns describe the other person, never yourself: 성함이 어떻게 되세요? (What is your name?)
People
| Korean | Romanization | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 사람 | saram | person | |
| 여자 | yeoja | woman | |
| 남자 | namja | man | |
| 아이 | ai | child | |
| 아기 | agi | baby | |
| 어른 | eoreun | adult / elder | |
| 친구 | chingu | friend | |
| 손님 | sonnim | customer / guest | |
| 아저씨 | ajeossi | mister (a man of your parents' age) | |
| 여러분 | yeoreobun | everyone (polite, to a group) | |
| 모두 | modu | all / everyone |
Roles and titles
| Korean | Romanization | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 학생 | haksaeng | student | |
| 선생님 | seonsaengnim | teacher | |
| 교수 | gyosu | professor | |
| 사장 | sajang | company president / boss | |
| 씨 | ssi | Mr / Ms (after a name) | |
| 이분 | ibun | this person (respectful) | |
| 그분 | geubun | that person (respectful) | |
| 께서 | kkeseo | subject marker (respectful) |
Respectful words
| Korean | Romanization | Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 성함 | seongham | name (respectful) | |
| 이름 | ireum | name | |
| 연세 | yeonse | age (respectful) | |
| 나이 | nai | age | |
| 댁 | daek | home / house (respectful) | |
| 생신 | saengsin | birthday (respectful) | |
| 말씀 | malsseum | words / what someone says (honorific) |
Test yourself
Five of the 26 words on this page, meaning to word. Pick an answer to check it; nothing is saved.
1.Which Korean word means "person"?
2.Which Korean word means "adult / elder"?
3.Which Korean word means "all / everyone"?
4.Which Korean word means "Mr / Ms (after a name)"?
5.Which Korean word means "name"?
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
- Grammar guideKorean honorificsHow Korean honorifics work: adding -(으)시- to raise the subject, the fused -(으)세요 ending, 드시다 / 주무시다 / 계시다, respectful nouns, and when never to use it.
- Word listFamily wordsKorean family vocabulary for beginners, including why older-sibling words depend on the speaker's gender (형, 오빠, 누나, 언니).
- Word listGreetings and polite phrasesEssential Korean greetings and polite phrases for beginners: 안녕하세요, 감사합니다, the two goodbyes and more, with romanization and audio.
- ChartHangul chartEvery Korean consonant and vowel with romanization, stroke order and example words, how syllable blocks work, and a syllable chart with audio.