Learn 20 must-know words about family
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| Hi, everyone, I'm Jaewhi. Welcome back to Korean Weekly Words. In this video, we'll be talking about 20 must-know family words. Let's begin! |
| 1. 어머니 (eomeoni) "mother" |
| For Korean family words, actually there are two types for most of the words. First one is very formal and the other one is very casual, so when you call your mother politely or when you address someone else's mother, you can use the word 어머니(eomeoni). |
| But when you just call your mom very casually you can say 엄마(eomma). |
| So 어머니(eomeoni) formal, 엄마(eomma) casual. |
| In Korea, there's no Mother's Day, but instead we have Parents’ Day, which is 어버이날(eobeoinal). So in a sentence, you can say, |
| 어버이날 어머니에게 편지를 썼습니다. (Eobeoinal eomeoniege pyeonjireul sseotsseumnida.) |
| "I wrote a letter to my mother on Parents' Day." |
| 2. 아버지 (abeoji) "father" |
| So it's the same, 아버지(abeoji) is for the formal situation, and for casual situation you can say 아빠(appa). |
| 아버지(abeoji) formal, 아빠(appa) casual. |
| So in a sentence, we can say that, |
| 아버지 생신 선물로 넥타이를 샀습니다. (Abeoji saengsin seonmullo nektaireul satsseumnida.) |
| "I bought a necktie for my father’s birthday gift.” |
| 3. 여동생 (yeodongsaeng) "younger sister" |
| So here we have the word 여(yeo), which means female, feminine, or woman; and 동생(dongsaeng) means "younger siblings.” Altogether, it means "younger sister.” |
| So in a sentence, we can say that, |
| 여동생이 조카를 낳았습니다. (Yeodongsaengi jokareul naatsseumnida.) It can be translated as "my younger sister gave birth." |
| 4. 언니, 누나 (eonni, nuna) "older sister" |
| If you're male speaker you have to say 누나(nuna); but if you're female speaker you have to say 언니(eonni). So for example, if you're male speaker you have to say, |
| 누나가 내일 결혼합니다.(Nunaga naeil gyeolhonhamnida.) "My older sister will get married tomorrow.” |
| But if you’re a female speaker, you have to say, |
| 언니가 내일 결혼합니다.(Eonniga naeil gyeolhonhamnida.) "My older sister will get married tomorrow.” |
| Male speaker, 누나(nuna); female speaker, 언니(eonni). |
| 5. 남동생 (namdongsaeng) "younger brother" |
| 남동생 (namdongsaeng) can be used by both female or male speaker. |
| So you can say something like, |
| 남동생이 다음 달에 군대를 갑니다. (Namdongsaengi daeum dare gundaereul gamnida.) "My younger brother will join the army next month." |
| 6. 형제 (hyeongje) "brother" |
| Someone asked you 형제가 몇 명 있어요? (Hyeongjega myeot myeong isseoyo?) you can translate it as "How many brothers do you have?" But also how many brothers and sisters you have. |
| 7. 사촌 (sachon) "cousin" |
| so 사촌(sachon) literally means "relative who is four steps away.” So there's some words, something like 삼촌(samchon), which means "uncle.” So that means the relative with three steps away. So you can see 삼촌(samchon) is closer to me than 사촌 (sachon). So you can say that, |
| 사촌 결혼식에 갔습니다. (Sachon gyeolhonsige gatsseumnida.) "I went to my cousin's wedding." |
| 8. 삼촌 (samchon) "uncle" |
| So you can say that, |
| 설날에 삼촌 집에 놀러 갔습니다. (Seollare samchon jibe nolleo gatsseumnida.) |
| "I visited my uncle's house on New Year's Day." |
| 9. 할머니 (halmeoni) "grandmother" |
| So when you talk about grandmother in general, you can just say 할머니(halmeoni); but when you address someone else's grandmother or you want to address your own grandmother politely, you can say that 할머님(halmeonim). And also, like, if you just say 할머니(halmeoni) that means the grandmother on your father's side. If you want to say grandmother on your mother side, which is your mother's mother, then you have to say 외할머니(oehalmeoni). |
| So in a sentence, we can say that |
| 할머니 생신에 떡국을 먹었습니다. (Halmeoni saengsine tteokgugeul meogeotsseumnida.) |
| "We had rice cake soup on my grandmother's birthday." |
| 10. 할아버지 (harabeoji) "grandfather" |
| So 할아버지 (harabeoji) means "grandfather”, 아버지 (abeoji) means ”father”. And if you want to talk about your mother's father, like grandfather on mother's side, you can say 외할아버지(oeharabeoji). |
| 우리 할아버지는 70대까지 일하셨습니다. (Uri harabeojineun chilsip daekkaji ilhasyeotsseumnida.) |
| "My grandfather worked until he was in his 70s." |
| 11. 부모님 (bumonim) "parent" |
| So in general 부모님 (bumonim) is the word meaning "parent,” but when we talk about Parents’ Day we use the word 어버이(eobeoi), which address both father and mother inside one word. So 어버이날(eobeoinal) means Parents’ Day, but in general you can just use 부모님 (bumonim) to mean parent. For example, |
| 부모님이 어제 학교에 오셨습니다. (Bumonimi eoje hakgyoe osyeotsseumnida.) |
| "My parents came to my school yesterday." |
| 12. 딸 (ttal) "daughter" |
| There’s one word, 딸바보(ttalbabo), which literally means "daughter stupid.” People use it when they see a father who always always think about their daughter. So they see, like, you’re stupid because you only, you know, think about your daughter, in a very positive way. |
| So you can say that, 우리 아버지는 딸바보입니다. (Uri abeojineun ttalbaboimnida.) "My father is the father who always think about a daughter.” |
| 13. 아들 (adeul) "son" |
| So 아들 (adeul) means son, and when you want to address someone else's son politely, you can say that 아드님(adeunim). |
| 아드님은 요즘 어떻게 지내세요?(Adeunimeun yojeum eotteoke jinaeseyo?) |
| ”How is your son doing?” |
| 우리 아들은 내년에 군대에 간다. (Uri adeuleun naenyeone gundaee ganda.) |
| "My son will join the army next year." |
| 14. 배우자 (baeuja) "spouse" |
| We usually don't use this kind of word in a casual situation, but in some official situation, for example, |
| 배우자를 찾습니다 (Baeujareul chatsseumnida) "I am looking for partner; I’m looking for spouse" on the ad or on some written paper, you can use the word to mean partner or spouse. |
| 15. 아내 (anae) "wife" |
| So 아내 (anae) means ”wife”, but in daily conversation we use some different words, for example, 아내 분(anae bun) to address someone else's wife politely. But 아내(anae) has a neutral tone, so you can use it as in |
| 제 아내는 회사에서 일을 합니다. (Je anaeneun hoesaeseo ireul hamnida.) |
| “My wife is working at a company." |
| 16. 남편 (nampyeon) "husband" |
| This is also neutral word to mean “husband,” and also when you want to address someone else's husband, you can just add 분(bun) and say 남편 분(nampyeon bun). So for example, |
| 남편 분은 뭐 하세요?(Nampyeon buneun mwo haseyo?) “What does your husband do?” |
| And as an answer you can hear, |
| 제 남편은 선생님입니다.(Je nampyeoneun seonsaengnimimnida.) "My husband is a teacher." |
| 17. 여자 조카 (yeoja joka) "niece" |
| So 조카(joka) means both “niece” and “nephew.” But if you want to make sure that is for “niece”, you can just put 여자(yeoja) and say 여자 조카(yeoja joka). If you want to make sure that it is “nephew,” then you can say 남자 조카 (namja joka). |
| So for example you can say that |
| 여자 조카랑 같이 디즈니랜드에 갔습니다. (Yeoja jokarang gachi dijeuniraendeue gatsseumnida.) "I went to Disneyland with my niece." |
| 18. 시어머니 (sieomeoni) "mother-in-law" |
| If you like Korean drama, I think you’d hear this word a lot. So you can say that |
| 제 시어머니는 정말 저에게 잘해주십니다.(Je sieomeonineun jeongmal jeoege jalhaejusimnida.) |
| "My mother-in-law is taking care of me a lot.” |
| Only female speaker can use it, so if you're male speaker, make sure to use 장모님(jangmonim) to mean mother-in-law. |
| 19. 자식 (jasik) "child" |
| There are many words to mean child, and 자식(jasik) can be used to address your own kids. It’s more common to say 아이(ai) to address, you know, kids in general. So you can say that, 저는 자식이 세 명 있습니다.(Jeoneun jasigi se myeong itsseumnida.) to means “I have three kids.” |
| Or more commonly, you can say that 저는 아이가 세 명 있습니다. (Jeoneun aiga se myeong itsseumnida.) “I have three kids;” but make sure that you don't use this word to address someone else's kid |
| 20. 형, 오빠 (hyeong, oppa) "older brother" |
| For example if you're a male speaker, you have to say 형(hyeong) to mean older brother; if you're female speaker you have to say 오빠(oppa) to mean “older brother.” I think you’ve heard the song Gangnam Style, and there you can hear 오빠(oppa) a lot. It means older brother, but usually Korean women they use 오빠(oppa) to address their boyfriend or partner. So in the lyrics of Gangnam Style it actually means someone who is dating with, not the older brother. So in a sentence, you can say 저는 형이랑 많이 싸웠습니다. (Jeoneun hyeongirang mani ssawotsseumnida.) |
| “I used to fight a lot with my older brother." |
| Okay, that’s all 20 must-know family words! If you want to learn more words, make sure to visit KoreanClass101.com. I’ll see you next time! |
| 다음 시간에 뵙겠습니다 |
| (Daeum sigane boepgetsseumnida) |
| 안녕히 계세요 (annyeonghi gyeseyo). |
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