- Family Tree

가족 나무 - Family Tree

In Korea, there are two sides of the family (much like western culture). Although, unlike western culture, they actually go by a different name. While you still call your mother’s sister your aunt - even without specifying that she’s on your mother’s side - there are completely different names / titles to use. 

가족 - family

어머니 / 엄마 - mother / mom (formal / casual)

아버지 / 아빠 - father / dad

할아버지 - grandpa

할머니 - grandma

부모 - parents

조부모 - grandparents

친척 - relatives

사촌 - cousin

형제 - brothers

자매 - sisters

형 - older brother (male)

오빠 - older brother (female)

누나 - older sister (male)

언니 - older sister (female)

동생 - younger sibling (여동생 - little sister, 남동생 - little brother)

고모 - father’s sister

이모 - mother’s sister 

you can say this when ordering at a restaurant. If the woman looks old enough to be your aunt, that is.

삼촌 - uncle

Other names and titles in Korean:

아저씨 - older man (can be used as uncle)

아줌마 - older woman

아가씨 - woman (not married)

총각 - man (not married)

-씨 - 희주씨 (used after a name)

선생님 (쌤) - teacher (slang)

-님 - 의사님 (used after an occupation)

선배 - older university student (used if you are in freshman / first-year uni)

여자친구 (여친) - girlfriend (slang)

남자친구 (남친) - boyfriend (slang)

여자사람친구 (여사친) - female friend (slang)

남자사람친구 (남사친) - male friend (slang)

There are…hundreds of honorific titles in Korean, and if I went through all of them this post wouldn’t be about family anymore and it would be unnecessarily long. When I finish the ‘Jobs in Korea (for foreigners)’ blog, I will add workplace honorifics. But for now, that’s all! I hope you enjoyed this lesson. 

Happy Learning :)

~ SK101

Vocabulary: Must-Know Adjectives

안녕, 여러분! In this vocab list, I want to present some very important adjectives to build your beginner vocabulary! 시작해볼까요? Shall we start?

기쁘다 = to be happy/to be glad

길다 = to be long 

as in physical length

to describe a noun, drop the ㄹ to make 긴 

Ex. 긴 머리 = long hair

귀엽다 = to be cute

괜찮다 = to be okay

그렇다 = to be like that/to be so

conjugated in the present tense as 그래요

그래요 actually can be used to mean “yes” or “sure.” You can think of it as “yes, that is so.”

그래요 can also be used as a question: “그래요?” It can be translated as “really?” or “is that so?”

나쁘다 = to be bad

느리다 = to be slow

다르다 = to be different 

conjugated in the present tense as 달라요

덥다 = to be hot 

used to describe weather

똑똑하다 = to be smart

뜨겁다 = to be hot used to describe an object. Ex. 뜨거운 커피 = hot coffee

맛있다 = to be delicious

맛없다 = to taste bad

많다 = to be many/to be a lot

멋있다 = to be cool 

as in something that is “awesome” or “great” (as opposed to temperature lol)

못 생겼다 = to be ugly 

conjugated in the present tense as 못 생겼어요—literally means “came out bad”

빠르다 = to be fast 

conjugated in the present tense as 빨라요

비싸다 = to be expensive

슬프다 = to be sad

싸다 = to be cheap

새롭다 = to be new

쉽다 = to be easy

시끄럽다 = to be loud/to be noisy

예쁘다 = to be pretty

아름답다 = to be beautiful

어렵다 = to be difficult

오래되다 = to be old 

used to describe an object. 

Ex. 오래된 책 = old book

이렇다 = to be like this

conjugated in the present tense as 이래요

작다 = to be small

잘 생기다 = to be good-looking 

conjugated in the present tense as 잘 생겼어요—literally means “came out well”

좋다 = to be good

짧다 = to be short 

as in physical length

ex. 짧은 치마 = short skirt

조용하다 = to be quiet

착하다 = to be kind

차갑다 = to be cold 

used to describe an object 

Ex. 차가운 물 = cold water

춥다 = to be cold 

used to describe weather

크다 = to be big

특별하다 = to be special

편하다 = to be comfortable

화가 나다 = to be angry

행복하다 = to be happy

Another long vocab list, huh? Building some basic vocabulary is important, so I hope these many adjectives helped! See you in the next lesson! 안녕!

Is ㄹ pronounced as L or R?

This is probably one of the most common questions that beginners ask when learning 한글. Just like every beginner learners, I went through this as well which is why I decided to study pronunciation rules too. I created this post to help clear up any confusion.

When ㄹ is located at the beginning of a word, it sounds more like an R.

Example: 라디오 (ra-di-o), 레슨 (re-seun), 로맨틱 (ro-man-tik)

When ㄹ is located between two vowels, it sounds like an R.

Example: 다리 (da-ri), 사랑 (sa-rang), 어렵다 (eo-ryeob-dda), 모르다 (mo-reu-da), 노력 (no-ryeok), 매력 (mae-ryeok)

When ㄹ is located at the end of a word, it’s pronounced more like an L.

Example: 딸 (ddal), 아들 (a-deul), 월 (weol), 달 (dal), 칼 (khal), 연필 (yeon-pil), 교실 (gyo-sil)

When ㄹ is followed by a consonant or followed by another ㄹ, it sounds like L.

Example: 딸기 (ddal-gi), 힘들다 (him-deul-da), 몰라 (mol-la), 살자 (sal-ja), 고릴라 (go-ril-la)

When ㄹ comes after any consonant except ㄴ, ㄹ is pronounced as N.

Example: 생리 (saeng-ni), 국립 (gung-nip), 능력 (neung-nyeok)

When ㄹ comes before or after an ㄴ, both ㄹ and ㄴ are pronounced as ㄹ.

Example: 한류 (hal-lyu), 신라 (sil-la), 신랑 (sil-lang), 달나라 (dal-la-ra)

Disclaimer: Hope this helps but remember not to rely too much on romanizations and listen to the sounds properly as well.

This is a post that I shared on Amino app and I decided to post it here as well.

100 Verbs in Korean

묻다 - To ask

물어보다 - To ask

도착하다 - To arrive

대답하다 - To answer

끓이다 - To boil

빌리다 - To borrow, lend

사다 - To buy

태어나다 - To be born

죄송하다 - To be sorry

축하하다 - To congratulate

청소하다 - To clean

울다 - To cry

오다 - To come

요리하다 - To cook

썰다 - To chop, slice

닫다 - To close

고백하다 - To confess

걸다 - To call, dial

꿈꾸다 - To dream

마시다 - To drink

운전하다 - To drive

죽다 - To die

출발하다 - To depart

춤추다 - To dance

튀기다 - To deep fry

하다 - To do

운동하다 - To exercise

먹다 - To eat

들어오다 - To enter

나가다 - To exit

끝나다 - To finish

볶다 - To fry

사랑에 빠지다 - To fall in love

싸우다 - To fight

찾다 - To find,To look for

주다 - To give

일어나다 - To get up

가다 - To go

가지다 - To have

갖다 - To have

도와주다 - To help

듣다 - To hear

서두르다 - To hurry, rush

싫어하다 - To hate, dislike

있다 -To have

소개하다 - To introduce

알다 -To know

거짓말하다 - To lie

배우다 - To learn

사랑하다 - To love

살다 - To live

웃다 - To laugh

좋아하다 - To like

지다 - To lose, be defeated

재다 - To measure, weigh

섞다 - To mix, blend

만들다 - To make

만나다 - To meet

결혼하다 - To marry

모르다 - To not know

없다 - To not have

필요하다 - To need

주문하다 - To order

열다 - To open

내다 - To pay

약속하다 - To promise

연습하다 - To practice

준비하다 - To prepare

굽다 - To roast, grill, bake

읽다 - To read

기억하다 - To remember

쉬다 - To rest

타다 - To ride

휘젓다 - To stir

팔다 - To sell

찌다 -  To steam

자다 - To sleep

앉다 - To sit

시작하다 - To start

보다 - To see

보내다 - To send

공부하다 - To study

가르치다 - To teach

생각하다 - To think

말하다 - To talk, speak

이야기하다 - To talk, chat

전화하다 - To telephone ( call)

찍다 - To take (picture)

사용하다 - To use

벗다 - To undress, take off clothes

입다 - To wear

일하다 - To work

이기다 - To win, defeat

씻다 - To wash

쓰다 - To wear (hat, eyewear

쓰다  - To write

신다 - To wear (shoes, socks, footwear)

기다리다 - To wait

걷다 - To walk

걱정하다  -To worry

10 Korean Proverbs

눈에서 멀어지면, 마음에서도 멀어진다 - Out of sight, out of mind

뜻이 있는 곳에 길이 있다 - Where there is a will, there is a way

웃음은 최고의 명약이다 - Laughter is the best medicine 

고생 끝에 낙이 온다 - At the end of hardship come happiness 

가는 말이 고와야오는 말이 곱다 -  If the outgoing words are beautiful, then the incoming words will be beautiful too

옷이 날개다 - Clothes are wings

하늘의 별 따기 - Plucking a star from the sky

시작이 반이다 - Starting is half the task

원숭이도 나무에서 떨어진다 - Even monkeys fall from trees

제 눈에 안경이다 - Beauty is in the eye of the beholder