Hanja 氣 (기): the Air, Spirit and Mood Word Family

Hanja 氣: the Essentials

Hanja 氣 is one of the most flexible characters in Korean. Its 음훈 (the pair of the native meaning word and the Korean reading, as dictionaries list it) is 기운 기. The meaning word 기운 is itself a word built from this character (氣運, energy), so the dictionary explains 氣 by pointing at a word it helps to make. The reading you hear inside Sino-Korean words is 기.

The character has two parts. On top is 气, the radical for steam or vapour, which dictionaries use to file it. Below is 米 (rice), and the picture usually given is steam rising from cooking rice: a visible kind of energy. In Chinese and Japanese the same idea is read qi and ki, and in Korea it connects to traditional ideas of vital energy as well as to ordinary words for air and mood.

In practice 氣 does three jobs. It is air or weather (공기, 기온, 기후, 기상), it is energy or spirit (기운, 용기, 활기, 원기) and it is the mood or feel of a thing (기분, 분위기, 인기). The card below sums up the character.

The same character is read 기 in every word, so it is a good first example of a hanja with a very wide range of meaning and a very stable sound. Weather has a native word, 날씨, and 氣 gives the formal science words that sit beside it.

Which Words Does 氣 Build?

These 12 words are the best ones to learn first. They cover mood, air, weather, energy and popularity. Revised Romanization (RR) appears only as a learning aid, and square brackets show the spoken form where it differs from the spelling.

Two patterns are worth knowing. At the front of a word, 氣 is about the air or the state of things: 기분, 기온, 기후, 기상, 기운. At the end, it adds the idea of energy or feeling to the first part: 공기, 인기, 용기, 활기, 원기, 분위기, 전기. As a suffix, -기 (氣) is also in 감기 (感氣, a cold), 열기 (熱氣, heat or enthusiasm) and 경기 (景氣, the state of the economy). The word 기침 (cough) is not from 氣; it is a separate word.

The 12 Words One by One

기분 (氣分, gibun): mood, feeling. The mood you are in right now: 기분이 좋아요 (I feel good), 기분이 안 좋아요 (I am in a bad mood), 기분 나쁘다 (to feel offended). 分 (분) means a share or part, so the word is the "part of spirit" that you feel at the moment. It is a short-term feeling, not a lasting character trait.

공기 (空氣, gonggi): air. The air around you: 공기가 좋아요 (the air is fresh), 공기 청정기 (air purifier), 실내 공기 (indoor air). 空 (공) means empty or sky and also appears in 공항 (airport) and 공중 (in the air). Do not mix it up with 공기 (空器, a small rice bowl), which shares 空 but ends in 器 (vessel), or with 공기놀이 (a game played with small stones).

인기 [인끼] (人氣, ingi): popularity. Popularity, the energy that people give to someone or something: 인기가 많다 (to be popular), 인기 가수 (a popular singer), 인기 메뉴 (a popular menu item). The ㄱ is tense, [인끼], although RR does not mark this and writes ingi. The opposite idea is 인기가 없다 (to be unpopular).

전기 (電氣, jeongi): electricity. Electricity as power: 전기 요금 (electricity bill), 전기차 (electric car), 전기가 나가다 (the power goes out). 電 (전) is the character for lightning and is the subject of another family page. Note that 전기 (傳記, biography) sounds the same.

기후 (氣候, gihu): climate. The long-term pattern of weather in a place: 기후 변화 (climate change), 한국의 기후 (Korea's climate), 온난한 기후 (a mild climate). 候 (후) means a season or a sign and also appears in 증후군 (syndrome). It is not the same as the weather today, which is 날씨.

용기 (勇氣, yonggi): courage. The spirit to do something hard: 용기를 내다 (to find the courage), 용기가 있다 (to have courage). 勇 (용) means brave and also appears in 용감하다 (to be brave). Use 용기를 내다 as a set phrase when you want to say "I plucked up courage".

활기 (活氣, hwalgi): vitality, liveliness. Lively energy in a person, a place or a market: 활기가 넘치다 (to be full of life), 활기찬 시장 (a lively market). The adjective is 활기차다. 活 (활) means alive and also appears in 생활 (daily life), which is in the family for 生.

기온 (氣溫, gion): air temperature. The temperature of the air, as in a forecast: 기온이 떨어지다 (the temperature falls), 최고 기온 (the highest temperature), 평균 기온 (the average temperature). 溫 (온) means warm and also appears in 온도 (temperature) and 온천 (hot spring). It is a measured number, not a feeling.

기운 (氣運, giun): energy, strength. Physical or mental strength: 기운이 없다 (I have no energy), 기운 내세요 (cheer up, find your strength), 기운이 나다 (to feel strong again). 運 (운) means to move and also appears in 운동 (exercise) and 운명 (fate). Compare it with 기분, which is mood.

분위기 [부뉘기] (雰圍氣, bunwigi): atmosphere, mood of a place. The feel of a place or a moment: 분위기가 좋다 (the atmosphere is nice), 분위기 있는 카페 (a café with a nice feel), 분위기를 읽다 (to read the room). The ㄴ of 분 moves onto the empty ㅇ of 위, so it is said [부뉘기]. RR writes bunwigi.

기상 (氣象, gisang): weather (as a science). Weather as a field of science and news: 기상청 (the Korea Meteorological Administration), 기상 예보 (weather forecast) and 기상 특보 (a weather warning). It is a formal word. The everyday word is 날씨. Note the homophone 기상 (起床, getting up), as in 기상 시간.

원기 (元氣, wongi): vigour, vitality. The basic energy of the body and mind: 원기를 되찾다 (to regain one's vigour) and 원기 회복 (recovering strength). The word is a little old-fashioned and mostly seen in writing, in health talk and in the names of tonics. 元 (원) means origin or first.

Sentences to Hear the Words in Use

Six of the words appear in short sentences. Listen to each one first, then read it aloud with the audio. The brackets in the word table show how the words are said in connected speech.

How Is 氣 Read in Different Words?

The reading of 氣 never changes. It is 기 in every word, whether it comes first or last. It also does not fall under the initial-sound rule (두음법칙), which changes some words that begin with ㄹ or ㄴ, because 기 begins with ㄱ. So you can read every word in the family with one syllable. What changes is the sound around it.

Rule box: two changes. Two words in the family are said differently from how they are spelled.

• 인기 → [인끼]: the ㄱ after the ㄴ of 인 is tense. This tensing is lexical, which means it comes with the word and does not follow a general rule. RR does not mark tensing caused by a sound change, so it gives ingi.
• 분위기 → [부뉘기]: the final ㄴ of 분 moves onto the empty ㅇ of 위. RR writes bunwigi.

In the other ten words nothing happens. In 기분, 기온, 기운, 기상 and 기후, 기 begins the word. In 공기 and 용기, the ㅇ before 기 does not change the ㄱ, so say them as spelled: [공기] and [용기]. In 활기, the ㄹ before ㄱ is plain: [활기]. In 전기 the ㄴ of 전 does not tense the ㄱ, so it is [전기]. In 원기 the final ㄴ of 원 does not tense the ㄱ, so it is [원기]. Why 활기 stays plain is explained on the page about Sino-Korean tensification: in Sino-Korean words a final ㄹ tenses only a following ㄷ, ㅅ or ㅈ, never ㄱ.

English speakers often say 기 with a hard "g", as in "go". Between voiced sounds, as in 공기 or 용기, a plain ㄱ is slightly voiced and sounds like a soft "g". At the start of a word, as in 기분, it is closer to a "k" without a puff of air. Do not add the puff you would use in "key"; that would sound like ㅋ.

What Is Easy to Confuse with 氣?

기분 and 기운. 기분 (氣分) is your mood, the feeling of the moment: 기분이 좋아요. 기운 (氣運) is your energy or strength: 기운이 없어요. You can be in a good mood and have no energy at the same time. Do not say 기분이 없어요 for "I have no energy". Say 기운이 없어요.

날씨, 기온, 기후 and 기상. 날씨 is the everyday word for weather. 기온 is the number on the thermometer. 기후 is the long-term pattern of a place, 기상 is the formal science and news word and 일기 예보 is the weather forecast. If you want to say "it is nice weather", say 날씨가 좋아요, not 기후가 좋아요.

전기 and 전기. 電氣 (전기) is electricity and 傳記 (전기) is a biography. They sound exactly the same and differ only in their characters. The words around them tell you which one: 전기 요금 (electricity bill) and 위인 전기 (a biography of a great person).

기상: weather or getting up. 氣象 (기상) is weather, and 起床 (기상) means getting out of bed, as in 기상 시간 (wake-up time). A military or camp setting uses the second.

공기: air or a rice bowl. 空氣 (공기) is air. 空器 (공기) is a small bowl, as in 밥 한 공기 (a bowl of rice): the same 空, but 器 (vessel) instead of 氣. For a bowl of rice say 밥 한 공기. For air, say 공기가 맑아요 (the air is clear).

기 as a prefix of other words. Do not assume that every word with 기 contains 氣. 기회 (機會, opportunity), 기억 (記憶, memory) and 기술 (技術, technology) have different characters. Look at the word in a dictionary before you guess.

Practice This Family

The 12 Words as Flashcards

The deck below has one card for each of the 12 words, with audio. The table shows the same cards, so you can study from either one.

Decode Three Unseen Words

景氣 경기 (gyeonggi). 景 "scene" + 氣 "spirit". It means the state of the economy, "business conditions": 경기가 좋다 (business is good). The word 경기 also means a sports match (競技), so look for the context. The sound is [경기].

熱氣 열기 (yeolgi). 熱 "heat" + 氣 "air". It means heat, warmth, or enthusiasm: 응원 열기 (the heat of the cheering). The sound is [열기]; the noun form of the verb 열다 (to open) is spelled the same.

氣體 기체 (giche). 氣 "air" + 體 "body". It is a gas, as opposed to a liquid (액체) or a solid (고체). The sound is [기체].

Check Yourself

Each question asks you to decode a word or answer a question about 氣. The answers are checked as you go.

What to Learn Next

You now have 12 words and the three main jobs of 氣. A good next step is the family for 力 (력/역), which also has to do with energy and ability. The family for 不 (불/부) covers negative feeling words such as 불안 (anxiety). The method behind these pages is set out in how to learn hanja, and a longer list of common hanja characters is on the page of the 100 most useful hanja. To choose another character, return to the hanja word families page. For the big picture, see Does Korean use hanja? and the hanja hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is mood called 기분?

기분 (氣分) joins 氣, the energy or spirit that moves through a person, with 分, a share or part. The word means the "part of spirit" you feel at the moment, which is your mood. This is why 기분 changes from hour to hour: 기분이 좋아요 (I feel good) and 기분이 나빠요 (I feel bad or offended). A lasting trait of character is 성격, not 기분.

How is 기운 different from 기분?

기분 (氣分) is your mood and 기운 (氣運) is your energy or strength. 기분이 좋아요 means "I feel good", and 기운이 없어요 means "I have no energy". The two can differ: you can be in a good mood but tired. Use 기운 내세요 to cheer someone up ("find your strength") and 기분 좋아요 to say that you are pleased.

What is 분위기 made of?

분위기 (雰圍氣) has three characters: 雰 (분), mist or haze, 圍 (위), to surround, and 氣 (기), air or spirit. Together they say that something is "surrounded by a mist of air", the feel that wraps around a place or a moment. Koreans use it for restaurants, rooms and moods, as in 분위기가 좋다 (the atmosphere is nice) and 분위기를 읽다 (to read the room).

Is 氣 ever read differently?

No. 氣 is read 기 in every Korean word. It does not change like 不 (불/부) or 力 (력/역). The only variation is in speech, where the ㄱ can be tense after some sounds, as in 인기 [인끼]. Japanese reads the same character as ki and Chinese reads it as qi, so the syllable is close across the three languages.

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