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Basic Korean Words You Need to Learn First

111 Core Korean Words —

Basic Korean Words You
Need to Learn First

written by
Full disclosure: This post
CAITLIN
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Did you know you can understand about 50%

of all Korean by learning the 100 most common
Korean words?
That’s right! The 100 basic Korean words are so
common they make up around half of spoken and
written Korean. It’s just a matter of learning the
right words first!
That’s why you need this list of 100 common
Korean words by word-frequency method, which
I’ll tell you more about later in this post.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• 10 Must-Know Basic Korean Words

• 10 Core Korean Pronouns
• 42 Basic Korean Nouns
• Korean Words for Time
• Korean Words for Places
• Korean Words for Things
• Korean Words for People
• 25 Common Korean Verbs
• 19 Simple Korean Adjectives and
Adverbs
• 5 Core Korean Conjunctions and
Connectors
• Bonus: 10 Cool Korean Words and Slang
to Boost your Korean Vocabulary
• How to Learn the Most Common Korean
Words With the Word-Frequency Method
• Big Gains for Your Korean Language
Learning Muscles

I’ll be writing using 한글 (hangeul), the Korean

writing system. It’s helpful to learn
Hangul first because it helps with pronunciation.
And, while the writing system may look complex…

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Hangul was made to be easy to learn! In fact, you

could learn it in only an hour or two. So brush up
on your Hangul first, then start working on the list
below!
If you already feel confident enough reading
Hangul, let’s dive in.
A note from the Fluent in 3 Months team before we
get started: You can chat away in Korean for at
least 15 minutes with the "Fluent in 3 Months"
method. All it takes is 90 days. Tap this link to find
out more.

···

10 Must-Know Basic
Korean Words
If you’re only going to learn 10 Korean words,
these are the must-knows!
• 안녕하세요 (annyeong haseyo) – “Hello”
• 안녕히 가세요 (annyeonghi gaseyo) or 안녕히 계
세요 (annyeonghi gyeseyo) – “Goodbye”
• 네 (ne) or 예 (ye) – “Yes”
• 예 (ye) or 괜찮다 (gwaenchanhda) – “Okay”
• 아니요 (aniyo) – “No”
• 주세요 (juseyo) – “Please”
• 감사합니다 (gamsahamnida) or 고마워요
(gomawoyo) – “Thank you”
• 천만에요 (cheonmaneyo) – “You’re welcome”
• 미안해요 (mianhaeyo) – “I’m sorry”
• 몰라요 (mollayo) – “I don’t know”
Related learning: Find 57 more must-know Korean
words and phrases in this article.

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10 Core Korean Pronouns

As in Japanese or even Spanish, pronouns are
often omitted from Korean sentences. That’s
because they’re understood by context.
But…
You still need to know them! Because if
it’s not clear what you’re talking about, then you
need to be able to make it clear.
• -씨 (-ssi) – “Mr., Mrs., Ms.”
• 나 (na) – “I”
• 여자 (yeoja) – “She”
• 그 (geu) – “He”
• 그들 (geudeul) – “They”
• 우리 (uli) – “We”
• 이 (i) – “This”
• 그 (geu) – “That”
• 저기 그거 (jeogi geugeo) – “That over there”
• 그것 (geugeos) – “It”
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Pro tip: “You” is 당신 (dangsin) in Korean.

However, I’m not counting it as a “core word”
because it’s not used often.
“You” in Korean is only used if you don’t know the
other person’s name. Otherwise, it’s a bit rude. So
instead, use the person’s name + the honorific -씨
listed above. That’s the best way to go about it!
If you need more information about Korean
honorifics, you can head to this guide I wrote.

42 Basic Korean Nouns

If you’re familiar with Fluent in 3 Months founder
Benny Lewis’ Language Hacking method, then you
know he suggests learning words based on
what you personally say in everyday life. These
would be the most helpful nouns and verbs to
learn to start speaking fast.
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And the best way to practice is by creating Korean

scripts with words you use a lot.
I use that method, too. Especially after I learn the
100 most common words in a language. So I still
suggest you do that, too.
But as for the words below? They’re the ones
you’ll hear most often because they’re nouns for
time, places, getting around, people, and so on.
Maybe you never ride a train to work, and so you
won’t say the word for train. But other people do,
so it’s a good idea to learn it.

Korean Words for Time

• 일 (il) – “Day”
• 주 (ju) – “Week”
• 달 (dal) – “Month”
• 년 (nyeon) – “Year”
• 오늘 (oneul) – “Today”
• 어제 (eoje) – “Yesterday”
• 내일 (naeil) – “Tomorrow”
• 시 (si) – “Hour”
• 분 (bun) – “Minute”
• 시간 (sigan) – “Time”
• 전에 (jeon-e) – “Before”
• 후 (hu) – “After”
• 지금 (jigeum) – “Now”

···

Korean Words for Places

• 여기 (yeogi) – “Here”
• 그곳에 (geugos-e) – “There”
• 장소 (jangso) – “Place”
• 학교 (haggyo) – “School”
• 가게 (gage) – “Shop”
• 일 (il) – “Work”
• 화장실 (hwajangsil) – “Bathroom”
• 도시 (dosi) – “City”
• 나라 (nara) – “Country”
• 기차역 (gichayeog) – “Train station”
• 방 (bang) – “Room”
• 대한민국 (daehanmingug) – “South Korea”

Korean Words for Things

• 것 (geos) – “Thing”
• 아무것도 (amugeosdo) – “Nothing”
• 뭔가 (mwonga) – “Something”
• 집 (jib)- “House”
• 차 (cha) – “Car”
• 말 (mal) – “Words”
• 언어 (eon-eo) – “Language”
• 물 (mul) – “Water”
• 영화 (yeonghwa) – “Movie”

Korean Words for People

• 여자 (yeoja) – “Woman”
• 남자 (namja) – “Man”
• 소녀 (sonyeo) – “Girl”
• 소년 (sonyeon) – “Boy”
• 친구 (chingu) – “Friend”
• 사람 (saram) – “Person”
• 가족 (gajok) – “Family”
• 이름 (ileum) – “Name”
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Related learning: “Family” in Korean: Talking About

Your Family in Korean

25 Common Korean Verbs

These are the 25 most common Korean verbs you
need to know. You can say a lot with only these 25,
especially with verbs like 하다 and 있다 which
combine with other words and nouns to form new
verbs.
• 하다 (hada) – “To do”
• 있다 (issda) – “To be, there is”
• 지다 (jida) – “To become”
• 말하다 (malhada) – “To say”
• 오다 (oda) – “To come”
• 가다 (kada) – “To go”
• 할 수 있다 (hal su issda) – “To be able to do”
• 보다 (boda) – “To see”
• 보내다 (bonaeda) – “To send”
• 가지다 (gajida) – “To have”
• 기다리다 (gidalida) – “To wait”
• 만나다 (mannada) – “To meet”
• 살다 (salda) – “To live”
• 생각하다 (saeng-gaghada) – “To think”
• 주다 (juda) – “To give”
• 받다 (badda) – “To receive”
• 알다 (alda) – “To know”
• 만들다 (mandeulda) – “To make”
• 사용하다 (sayonghada) – “To use”
• 배우다 (baeuda) – “To learn”
• 먹다 (meogada) – “To eat”
• 마시다 (masida) – “To drink”
• 웃다 (udda) – “To laugh”
• 읽다 (ilgda) – “To read”
• 쓰다 (sseuda) – “To write”

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19 Simple Korean
Adjectives and Adverbs
There are so many adjectives you could use to add
color to your Korean. But these are some of the
basic Korean words to get started with.
They’re super helpful as descriptive words,
especially if you don’t know the right one for what
you’re describing.

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• 많은 (manh-eun) – “Many, lots of”

• 조금 (jogeum) – “Few”
• 큰 (keun) – “Big”
• 작은 (jageun) – “Small”
• 긴 (gin) – “Tall”
• 짧은 (jjalb-eun) – “Short”
• 가까이에 (gakkaie) – “Near”
• 멀리 (meolli) – “Far”
• 좋은 (joeun) – “Good, nice”
• 나쁜 (nappeun) – “Bad”
• 쉬운 (swiun) – “Easy”
• 어려운 (eoryeoun) – “Difficult”
• 아름다운 (aleumdaun) – “Beautiful”
• 못생긴 (mossaenggin) – “Ugly”
• 맛있는 (masissneun) – “Delicious”
• 뜨거운 (tteugeoun) – “Hot”
• 춥다 (chubda) – “Cold”
• 매우 (maeu) – “Very”
• 재미 (jaemi) – “Enjoyable”

5 Core Korean
Conjunctions and
Connectors
Conversation connections are the keys to
sounding fluent in any language. They help
smooth out your sentence transitions and give
you a moment to think about what you want to
say. These five are the most helpful:

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• 그러나 (geuleona) – “But, however”

• 또한 (ttohan) – “Also”
• 예를 들어 (yeleul deul-eo) – “For example”
• 그래서 (geulaeseo) – “So”
• 그때 (geuttae) – “Then”

Bonus: 10 Cool Korean

Words and Slang to Boost
your Korean Vocabulary
You always need some cool Korean slang words to
add to your memory bank! These ten slang terms
are a good place to start so you sound more
natural in Korean.
• 대박 (daebak) – “Amazing, great”, or “that’s
crazy”
• 짱 (jjang) – “The best, awesome”
• 꿀잼 (kkuljaem) – “Fun, interesting, or funny”
• 닭살 (dalgsal) – “Cheesy”
• 극혐 (geughyeom) – “Totally
disgusting/repulsive”
• 불금 (bulgeum) – “TGIF”, “Burning Friday” or
“Golden Friday”
• 행쇼 (haengsyo) – “Be happy” (a trendy phrase
made popular by K-Pop idol, G-Dragon)
• 헐 (heol) – “OMG, no way”
• ㅋㅋ (kk) – “Haha” or “lol” (Only used in text)
• 만렙 (manleb) – “Level 10,000” (or as I like to
think of it… “It’s over 9,000!”)

···

If you’d like to learn more Korean slang, I’ve got

exactly what you need: Korean Slang: 80+
Everyday Words and Phrases to Sound Like a
Native.

How to Learn the Most

Common Korean Words
With the Word-Frequency
Method
The word-frequency method is my favorite
method for learning vocabulary in a new target
language.

···

I’ve done this method with core Japanese

words and basic Spanish words as well. It helps
me level up my listening comprehension and
speaking ability fast.
That’s because I’m strategic about learning the
most important, common words first.
I like to think of this method like a beginner’s
approach to fitness: start with compound
exercises that build several muscles at once, so
you get the most out of it, fast.
These words do the same thing for your Korean
language muscles. They strengthen your core and
work your brain in the best way possible. You’ll
see gains fast!
Rather than learn a “beginner’s Korean vocab list,”
which often focuses
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vocab first, you’re learning Korean words used in