Learn the top 25 nouns
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| Hi everyone, I am Jaehwi. In this video, we will be talking about Top 25 Korean Nouns. Okay let’s see what we have first? |
| 1. 것 (geot) A thing or a object. So when you are doing some shopping, you like something. That you like – that you don’t like, then you can say 저는 이것이 좋아요. but 저는 저것이 싫어요.. I don’t like this, I don’t like that. |
| 2. 수 (su) way, method, number. It has three different meanings. Method, way, numbers. For example, 사람 수가 많이 있다 In that case 수 (su) means number and if you are in a big trouble and you don’t know what to do, you can also say 수가 없다. |
| 3. 나 (na) I. So this is the informal way to say I as a pronoun. So you can say 나는 나야 I myself 나는 김치가 좋아/ 나는 한국이 좋아/ 나는 한국사람이 좋아 can be good examples but when you talk with someone older than you, you cannot say 나 (na). Instead you have to say 저 which is formal version to say I. |
| 4. 사람 (saram) Person. When you talk about a person, don’t use 것 (geot) because 것 (geot) is for a thing. So you cannot say 이것이 좋아 when you talk about someone you love. Instead you can say 이 사람이 좋아 사람 (saram) means person. |
| 5. 우리 (uri, wuri) We or our. And it literally means our or we but even if it’s only about myself talking about my country, then I will say 우리나라, meaning our country even though you are not Korean, I will just say our country 우리나라 when talking about Korea. Even with your friend, you can say 우리가족 literally meaning our family, even though you want to mean my family. The way to improve your Korean first is to use 우리 (uri, wuri) more often. |
| 6. 그 (geu) He, that. We usually don’t use 그 (geu) or he 그녀 (geunyuh)she when we make sentences because it doesn’t sound natural to use a specific pronoun about the person. So when you hear 그 (geu) you can just think that it’s about that – that person. |
| 7. 거 (geo) thing. This is a little bit casual way to say 것 (geot) which also mean thing. 그거 주세요/ 저거 주세요/ 이거 싫어요 /저거 좋아요 When you talk with your friend, you just use 거 (geo) not 것 (geot). |
| 8. 년 (nyeon) year. So when you talk about year in Korean, you have to use this noun after numbers. For example 2001년, the year of 2001. You cannot simply say 2001. So with all you can say 저는 삼년전에 서울에 왔습니다. which means I came to Seoul three years ago. |
| 9. 한 (han) One or single. So when you want to talk about one, something like one place, one person, you can use this word with the other noun. For example 한 사람 one person 한 곳 a place. |
| 10. 말 (mal) Words. When you talk about Korean, you can say 한국어 but also you can say 한국말 which literally means Korean words. So when you want to say I love Korean, you can say both 한국어를 공부합니다. and 한국말을 공부합니다. and there is another word meaning Horse with the same pronunciation. So make sure you understand it correctly. |
| 11. 일 (il) work. So when Korean people want to ask you what is your job or what do you do and they will say 무슨일 하세요? So here 일 (il) was used to mean work, and also Korean people have a lot of work. Usually they work like more than 10 hours a day. They also have a lot of work to do. So in that case, I can say 저도 일이 많이 있어요. |
| 12. 씨 (ssi) honorific suffix to mean Mr. Miss, Mrs. So let’s say you want to call someone who is not your friend but whom you know their name. In that case, you can simply say their name and put 씨 (ssi), but make sure that you don’t put family name there like you do in English. You have to put their first name. So my family name is Lee, So if you just call me Lee씨 (ssi) using my family name and that honorific suffix, it sounds rude. So don’t do that. You can just call me Jeawhi씨 (ssi) using my first name instead of family name. We have another suffix 님 which is more formal than 씨 (ssi). So you can use it when you call your teacher like saying 선생님. |
| 13. 일 (il) day. It has the same pronunciation of the word meaning “work”. Usually you can use it when you read the date. For example, you can say 칠월 이일 to mean July 2nd or you can also find this word in the word like 내일 meaning tomorrow and say 내일이 좋아요 which means tomorrow is good. |
| 14. 사회 (sahoe) Society. Korean people talk a lot about politics and in that case, we use 사회 (sahoe) a lot. So if someone is critical about the situation going around in Korean society, he might say 한국사회에는 문제가 많이 있다. or someone will say 한국 사회는 살기 좋다. |
| 15. 그것 (geugeot) that thing. So it has two words that we learned earlier. 그 (geu) meaning that 것 (geot) meaning thing. So for example, when you don’t know how to read something in Korean, you can just say 그것 어떻게 읽어요? |
| 16. 집 (jip) house, home. So if you are in Korea, you might hear some phrases like 우리집에 놀러와. So 집 (jip) literally means house, home. So even though you want to say my home, make sure to use the pronoun 우리 (uri, wuri) and say 우리집. |
| 17. 문제 (munje) Problem. For example like when you take a test and the questions are so difficult, you can say 문제가 너무 어려워. |
| 18. 저 (jeo) that. You can use this pronoun when you talk about something away from you. So when you do shopping and the item you want to have is far away from you, then you can say 저거(jeogeo). |
| 19. 속 (sok) Inside. So usually you can use it when you talk about something inside of something. For example 가방 속에 뭐가 있어요? meaning what’s inside your bag and there is a lot of words meaning inside which is 안 to mean the same. |
| 20. 데 (de) place. For formal situation, we use (06:40곳 but for casual like informal, we use 데 (de). For example 먹을데 place to eat. |
| 21. 경우 (gyeongu) case. To make you look more smart, you can use this word. For example 이 경우 this case 저경우 (jeo gyeongu) that case. |
| 22. 중 (jung) Center. So you can use this word when you want to say in the middle of something. For example, you can say 한국음식 중에 뭐가 가장 좋아요? which literally means in the middle of Korean food, which one do you like the most. So usually it’s used with a group of something. |
| 23. 자신 (jasin) one self. Unlike the English word oneself like we usually use it when we give the advice. For example 너 자신을 알라 which means you should know yourself. Usually we also use this word to mean confidence and say 자신 있다. |
| 24. 원 (won) Korean Won. In Korean, you have to say Won every time when you talk about money. For example, 이만원/이천원 so when you want to exchange US dollar to Won, you can just simply say 달러를 원으로 바꿔주세요. |
| 25. 사랑 (salang) love. In Korea, we usually try to be a little bit indirect when talking about love. So we usually use the phrase something like 사랑하는 사람 which means people who are in love. So with the one, you can say 사랑해 I love you or 사랑합니다 I love you formally. |
| Okay that’s all top 25 Korean nouns that we have in this video. Make sure to subscribe. I will see you next time |
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