50+ Daily-life Useful Korean Phrases You must Know! 

 June 29, 2022

By  Akshita Agarkar

Below are 50 daily-life Korean phrases you must know while living in Korea or studying Korean. 

  • 화이팅/파이팅 (hwaiting/phaiting) 

A cheering term in Korean. 

  • 또 만나요 (tto mannayo)

It is used to say Let’s meet again. 

  • 가세요 (gaseyo)

It is used for asking somebody to go well or just go. 

  • 걱정하지 마세요 (geokjeonghaji-maseyo) 

One of the most used phrases in K-dramas is 걱정하지마세요. This is used when you want to say Don’t worry to a tense person. And since this is an honorific form you can use this in formal settings as well. 

  • 내일 봐요 (naeil bwayo) 

내일 means tomorrow while 봐요 comes from the verb so it becomes I will meet/see you tomorrow. 

  • 좋은 하루 되세요 (joeun haru doeseyo) 

좋은 is good, 하루 is day, and 되세요 comes from 되다 which means to become or to spend. This means Have a nice day. 

  • 성함이 어떻게 되세요? (seonghami eotteoke doeseyo?) 

성함 is the honorific version of name. Hence you can use this question to ask somebody’s name in a formal and polite way. 

  • 연세가 어떻게 되세요? (yeonsega eotteoke doeseyo?)

연세 is the formal version of age. So this question means What is your age? In Korean. 

  • 네/예 (ne/ye)

Both are the correct way to agree or say yes in Korean. 

  • 아니요 (aniyo)

This is the simple version of saying No in Korean. 

  • 괜찮아요 (gwenchanayo)

The literal meaning of this phrase is to be okay. However, its meaning changes based on different contexts.

If somebody offers you food and you use this, then it means you don’t want to eat and you are fine without eating.  

  • 신경 쓰지 마세요 (singyeong sseuji maseyo) 

If used wisely, it means Don’t worry about me. If used in the informal way without the honorific term 세요, then it can mean that Don’t care about me or Mind your own business. 

So, use wisely. 

  • 이해해요 (ihae-haeyo?)

It comes from the verb 이해하다 which means to understand. Hence this altogether states I understand. 

  • 이게 뭐예요? (ige mwoyeyo?) 

It means What is this? 

  • 저게 뭐예요? (jeoge mwoyeyo?)

means that so this states that What is that? 

  • 이거 아니에요 (igo anieyo) 

It represents that It is not that or I am not like that. 

  • 제 이름이…입니다 (je ireumi…imnida) 

You can use this sentence structure to tell your name. The space given should be used to insert your name.

  • 반갑습니다 (bangap-seumnida) 

It means Nice to meet you. 

  • 잘 부탁드립니다 (jal butak-deurimnida) 

I look forward to your cooperation. 

  • 한국말 못 해요 (hangukmal mot haeyo) 

This simply means I can’t speak Korean. When you are foreign to Korea, you can say this. 

  • 영어를 할 줄 아세요? (yeong-eo-reul hal jul aseyo?) 

This is used when you mean to ask mostly natives that Can you speak

  • 한국말 조금밖에 못 해요 (hanguk mal jogeum bakke mot haeyo) 

It’s just another way to say that I can speak Korean just a little. 

  • 좋아요 (joayo) 

It means something is good. Or if any plan Sounds good. 

  • 안 좋아요 (an joayo) 

It’s just the opposite of 좋아요. 

  • 알겠어요 (algesseoyo)

It can have different meanings, Okay, sounds good; I understood, and many more depending on the context. 

  • 지금 몇 시예요? (jigeum myeot siyeyo?

The literal translation of this question is What time is it now?

몇 here means what, how many. This question noun will only be used with numbers. 지금 is right now, currently and denotes time. 

  • 좀 깎아 주세요 (jom kkakka juseyo) 

You can use this phrase while shopping in Korea. It means Please give me a discount. 

  • 환불해 주세요 (hwanbulhae juseyo)

Now since you bought a product, however, it is not what you wanted, so you want to return it. Then you can use this phrase, which means I want a refund or I want to return it. 

  • 영수증 주세요 ( yongsoo jeong juseyo)

영수증 means receipt, while 주세요 means Please give me. So it becomes Please give me the bill or receipt. 

  • 목 말라요 (mok mallayo) 

stands for throat and altogether it means I am thirsty. 

  • 많이 먹어요 (mani meogeoyo)

많이 comes from 많다 which means to be many, to have many. While 먹어요 comes from 먹다 that means to eat. Hence, 많이 먹어요 means To eat a lot, to have a lot. 

This phrase is used mostly by the person who cooks the food for somebody, especially mothers who then ask their children to eat a lot. 

  • 배고파요 (baegopayo)

배고파요 comes from 배고프다 or 배가 고프다 and both means To be hungry. Hence this sentence means I am hungry. 

  • 채식주의자용 식사 있어요? (chaesikjjuijayong siksa isseoyo?)

채식주의자 means vegetarian, 식사 means meal or food, and 있어요 comes from 있다 which means to have, or to exists. 

Hence, the overall meaning is: Do you have vegetarian food option? 

  • 천천히 말해 주세요 (chonchonhi malhae juseyo)

천천히 means to be slow or slowly. 말하다 means to speak.

The overall sentence becomes Please say it slowly. You can use this when you want somebody, especially a native Korean speaker, to say something slowly in order for you to understand them properly. 

  • 다시 말해주세요 (dasi malhaejuseyo) 

Since we have learned how to say Please say it slowly, we should also learn Please say that once again by using 다시 말해 주세요.

다시 means again and 말해주다 means to please say. 

  • 빨리 빨리 해주세요 (ppalri ppalri haejuseyo) 

빨리 comes from 빠르다 which means to be fast. Hence this translates into Please do (some work) faster.

This is also one of the most used phrases in Korean dramas. Not only that, but you will also hear native Koreans using this in their daily life as they believe in doing things faster. 

  • 왼쪽으로 가세요 (wenjjogeuro gaseyo)

왼쪽 means left, while (으)로 is a grammar pattern used to state that somebody go towards somewhere. 가세요 is an honorific version that came from 가다 which means to go.

So the overall phrase becomes Please go to the left side. 

  • 오른쪽으로 가세요 (oreunjjogeuro gaseyo) 

오른쪽 stands for right. The phrase means Please go to the right side. 

  • 이 근처에 은행이 있어요? (i geunchoe eunhaengi issoyo?) 

Another important phrase that you must know should be to ask Is there any bank nearby?
Who knows when we will need this right? 

  • 이해 못 해요 (ihae mot haeyo)

이해하다 represents to understand. Adding in between stats that I don’t understand or I can’t understand. 

  • 비상 전화번호예요 (emergency number) (bisang jonhwabonhoeyo)

비상 states emergency, while 전화번호 means phone number. 예요 represents the helping verb is here. So it becomes, This is the emergency number. 

  • 조심하세요 (josim haseyo) 

조심하다 means to be careful. And using the honorific pattern (세요) with it altogether means to ask somebody of being careful while keeping the honorifics on. 

  • 도와주세요 (dowajuseyo) 

도와주다 states helping somebody. It is already joined with a favour word 주다 and 세요, the honorific format. So when somebody asks this, it means Please help me (with something). 

  • 이미 예약하셨어요? (imi yeyakhassyesseoyo?) 

예약하다 means to book something, while 이미 means already. So the overall question becomes Have you done the bookings already? 

  • 체크인 (chaekeuin) 

If you read this properly, this is just the Konglish version of Check-in In Korean. 

  • 채크아웃 (chaekeuaut) 

And this is the Konglish version of Check out in Korean. 

  • 대박 (daebak) 

대박 means awesome, great, amazing. 

  • 정말이에요? (jongmarieyo) 

정말 means really. Here it is asked in a question format with the noun ending (이에요). So it becomes Is it really?, or really? 

  • 이제 어떻게 해요? (ije ottoke haeyo?)

이제 means now, while 어떻게 하다 represents What to do? So overall it becomes What should I do now?  

  • 여기 앉아도 돼요? ( yogi anjado dwaeyo?) 

여기 has the meaning of here. 앉다 means to sit. The sentence also has a grammar pattern 아/어도 되다, this is used when asking for permission. So when we combine it all, it becomes May I sit here? Or Is it okay if I sit here? 

  • 아마도 (amado)  

아마도 simply means maybe. 

  • 이렇게요? (irokeyo?)

이렇게 comes from 이렇다 which means to be like this. Hence when formed into a question it means Like this? 

  • 화장실 어디예요? (hwajangsil odieyo?) 

화장실 means washroom or restroom. 어디 is a question noun that means where? And 예요 represents a helping verb here, in this case, it is Is?

So the overall question means Where is the washroom? 

These were some important phrases that you can use in everyday life in Korea. 

Akshita Agarkar


Akshita Agarkar graduated from Journalism and Mass Communication while working as a Freelance Content Writer. Currently, she is working with Learn Korean In India as a Content Manager and a Teaching assistant. She is a Korean linguist and culture enthusiast who loves to read linguistics, listen to old-school music, and jam on it.

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