Key Facts
- Hangul: 어지럽다 (eojireopda)
- Meaning: to be dizzy
- Level: A2
- Part of speech: adjective
- Stem: 어지럽
- Conjugation class: ㅂ-irregular
- Grammar: A descriptive word; the body part or place takes 이/가 (머리가 어지러워요).
- Polite present and past: 어지러워요, 어지러웠어요
What Does 어지럽다 Mean?
어지럽다 describes a spinning feeling, as in 머리가 어지럽다 (to feel dizzy). A second sense is messy or confusing, as in 방이 어지럽다 (the room is a mess).
Patients use 어지러워요 at clinics and pharmacies, so it is a practical health word. The messy sense is less common; 지저분하다 is also heard. The body part or place takes 이/가.
How Do You Pronounce 어지럽다?
The dictionary form is read [어지럽따]. The ㅂ stays before consonants, so 어지럽습니다 is [어지럽씀니다] and 어지럽지 않아요 is [어지럽찌 아나요]. Before a vowel it becomes 우: 어지러웠어요 is [어지러워써요].
How Do You Use 어지럽다 in a Sentence?
일어나면 머리가 어지러워요.
I feel dizzy when I stand up.
일어나면 머리가 어지러워요 uses 일어나면 (when I get up) as the condition for the dizziness.
차를 타서 어지러웠어요.
I felt dizzy from riding in the car.
차를 타서 어지러웠어요 gives the reason first, riding in the car, then the past feeling.
어지러우면 앉아서 쉬세요.
If you feel dizzy, sit down and rest.
어지러우면 앉아서 쉬세요 gives advice: if you feel dizzy, sit and rest.
Three forms of the stem appear: 어지러워요, 어지러웠어요 and 어지러우면.
How Does Eojireopda Conjugation Work?
어지럽다 is a ㅂ-irregular adjective. The ㅂ becomes 우 before a vowel and merges with the ending: 어지러워요, 어지러웠어요, 어지러워서, 어지러우면. The modifier is 어지러운. Before consonants the ㅂ stays: 어지럽습니다, 어지럽지 않아요.
Negatives: 안 어지러워요 or 어지럽지 않아요. The honorific polite form is 어지러우세요.
어지럽다
| Form | Korean | Romanization | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polite present | 어지러워요 | ||
| Polite past | 어지러웠어요 | ||
| Polite future (plan) | 어지러울 거예요 | ||
| Polite future (intention or guess) | 어지럽겠어요 | ||
| Formal present | 어지럽습니다 | ||
| Formal past | 어지러웠습니다 | ||
| Formal future | 어지러울 것입니다 | ||
| Casual present | 어지러워 | ||
| Casual past | 어지러웠어 | ||
| Casual future | 어지러울 거야 | ||
| Honorific polite | 어지러우세요 | ||
| Because / and then | 어지러워서 | ||
| If (conditional) | 어지러우면 | ||
| Present modifier (before a noun) | 어지러운 | ||
| Past modifier (before a noun) | 어지러웠던 | ||
| Future modifier (before a noun) | 어지러울 | ||
| Negative with 안 (short) | 안 어지러워요 | ||
| Negative (long form) | 어지럽지 않아요 |
There is no want-to row for dizzy: that ending attaches to verbs, not to descriptive words.
Sound Changes
| Form | Korean | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| Polite past | 어지러웠어요 | [어지러워써요] |
| Polite future | 어지러울 거예요 | [어지러울꺼예요] |
| Polite future guess | 어지럽겠어요 | [어지럽께써요] |
| Formal present | 어지럽습니다 | [어지럽씀니다] |
| Formal past | 어지러웠습니다 | [어지러웓씀니다] |
| Formal future | 어지러울 것입니다 | [어지러울꺼심니다] |
| Casual past | 어지러웠어 | [어지러워써] |
| Casual future | 어지러울 거야 | [어지러울꺼야] |
| Past modifier | 어지러웠던 | [어지러웓떤] |
| Long negative | 어지럽지 않아요 | [어지럽찌 아나요] |
Common Mistake
Wrong: ✗ 어지럽어요
Correct: ✓ 어지러워요
Why: Adding 어요 to the stem leaves the ㅂ. It has to become 우 first, giving 어지러워요.
What Is 어지럽다 Compared with 아프다 and 졸리다?
아프다 covers pain or illness in general, while 어지럽다 is specifically the feeling that things spin or you may faint. 졸리다 means sleepy, which is a different problem. A doctor will likely hear 어지러워요 together with 머리가.
What Is Easy to Confuse with 어지럽다?
| Word | How to tell it from 어지럽다 |
|---|---|
| 아프다 | Pain or illness in general. 어지럽다 is specifically the feeling that things spin or you may faint. |
| 졸리다 | Sleepy. 어지럽다 is dizzy, not about wanting to sleep. |
Describing Dizziness at a Clinic
A clinician asks about a patient’s current feeling and yesterday’s experience. The patient gives the symptom in the present and past; the clinician uses the honorific question form.
Clinician
지금도 어지러우세요?
Jigeumdo eojireouseyo?
Do you still feel dizzy now?
Patient
네, 일어나면 어지러워요.
Ne, ireonamyeon eojireowoyo.
Yes, I feel dizzy when I stand up.
Clinician
어제도 어지러웠어요?
Eojedo eojireowosseoyo?
Did you feel dizzy yesterday too?
Patient
네, 어제도 어지러웠어요.
Ne, eojedo eojireowosseoyo.
Yes, I felt dizzy yesterday too.
지금도 means “still now” and 어제도 means “yesterday too”. Those small time expressions separate a current feeling from a past episode. The patient uses ordinary polite 어지러워요 about themself. The clinician can use 어지러우세요 to honor the patient who experiences the symptom.
Which Phrases Describe Dizziness or Disorder?
머리가 어지럽다 is a direct way to describe feeling dizzy. 머리 literally means head, but the whole phrase concerns the sensation rather than head pain. 머리가 아프다 instead describes a headache. Choosing 어지럽다 gives the listener a different piece of information from choosing 아프다.
정신이 어지럽다 can describe feeling mentally overwhelmed or confused. 정신 concerns the mind or mental state, so the phrase can occur after a rush of confusing information. It need not describe a spinning room. In a busy scene, the subject helps distinguish mental confusion from physical dizziness.
어지러운 방 means a disordered room. Books, clothes and other things may be scattered around. The room is not literally dizzy. 지저분하다 can overlap when a space is untidy or dirty; 어지럽다 draws attention to disorder. A tidy-looking place can still be dirty, so those descriptions answer different questions.
Where Will You Hear 어지러워요?
A clinic conversation may include 어지러워요 as the patient’s own description. This is symptom vocabulary: the sentence tells the listener how the speaker feels without naming a cause. It does not itself mean motion sickness, anemia or any other diagnosis. The car example above supplies a situation separately.
In a drama, someone may use the word after spinning around, during a crowded argument or while looking at a chaotic room. The surrounding action and the subject clarify the sense. An English subtitle such as “I’m overwhelmed” may therefore be appropriate even though the dictionary’s first gloss is “dizzy”.
어지럽습니다 is a formal way to report the same feeling. 어지러워요 is ordinary polite speech and fits a patient speaking to clinic staff. You do not need to make your own symptom honorific just because the listener is a doctor; the honorific in 어지러우세요 refers to the person feeling dizzy.
What Makes 어지러우면 Easy to Misspell?
The longer stem can hide the small change at its end. Start with 어지럽, replace the final ㅂ with 우 before the vowel ending, and then form 어지러우면. With 어요, 우 and 어 combine into 워, producing 어지러워요. The number of syllables changes with the ending.
The noun modifier 어지러운 works for both major senses. 어지러운 방 is about a room’s disorder, while a phrase about a dizzy person concerns a physical feeling. Conjugation cannot choose the sense for you. Read the noun after the modifier before deciding how to translate the phrase.
Words to Keep Distinct When Describing How You Feel
| Korean | Meaning | What it tells the listener |
|---|---|---|
| 아프다 | to hurt; to be ill | Pain or illness rather than dizziness specifically. |
| 졸리다 | to be sleepy | A desire to sleep. |
| 피곤하다 | to be tired | Fatigue, which can occur without sleepiness or dizziness. |
| 두통 | headache | A noun naming head pain. |
The symptoms and illness lesson builds the wider set. Several feelings can occur together, but learning separate words lets you report each feeling more precisely instead of calling every uncomfortable sensation “sick”.
Mini Drill: Choose the Form
- Give the polite present for “I feel dizzy”.
- Change the report to yesterday’s feeling.
- Complete “if you feel dizzy”: ____.
- Choose the respectful question to a patient: 어지러워요 or 어지러우세요?
Show drill answers
- 어지러워요.
- 어지러웠어요.
- 어지러우면. The ㅂ changes to 우.
- 어지러우세요? The 시 element honors the patient.
Quick Self-Test
- Does 머리가 어지럽다 mean a headache?
- What does 어지러운 describe in 어지러운 방?
- Does 어지러워요 identify the cause of the feeling?
Show answers
- No. It reports dizziness; 머리가 아프다 reports head pain.
- Disorder or mess in the room.
- No. It describes a feeling without giving a diagnosis.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Polite Present of 어지럽다?
어지러워요. 어지럽어요 is not a form.
How Do I Tell a Doctor I Feel Dizzy?
Say 머리가 어지러워요, using the sentence from the examples above.
Does 어지럽다 Mean Messy Too?
Yes, as in 방이 어지럽다, though 지저분하다 is also used.
What Is the Modifier?
어지러운, used before a noun; with the messy sense, 어지러운 방 is a messy room.
Which Words Are Related to 어지럽다?
What Should You Learn Next?
Pair 어지럽다 with 아프다 and 피곤하다 for a health vocabulary set, then review the ㅂ-irregular lesson. The rule behind this entry is explained in ㅂ-irregular verbs and adjectives. To test other words, use the Korean verb conjugator, or browse the Korean verb dictionary.