Key Facts
- Hangul: 시끄럽다 (sikkeureopda)
- Meaning: noisy
- Level: A2
- Part of speech: adjective
- Stem: 시끄럽
- Conjugation class: ㅂ-irregular
- Grammar: 이/가 marks the noisy place or sound, as in 옆집이 너무 시끄러워요.
- Usage: Saying 시끄러워! to someone is rude; a polite request is 좀 조용히 해 주세요.
What Does 시끄럽다 Mean?
시끄럽다 describes loud or disturbing sound: 시끄러운 거리 is a noisy street. It points at the unpleasant side of noise, so it is a complaint more than a neutral description.
Aimed at a person, a bare 시끄러워! is rude, close to 'shut up'. A polite speaker asks for quiet instead.
How Do You Pronounce 시끄럽다?
The dictionary form is read [시끄럽따]: ㅂ followed by ㄷ tenses the ㄷ. The vowel forms drop the ㅂ, so 시끄러워요 has no final ㅂ sound; the past 시끄러웠어요 is pronounced [시끄러워써요].
How Do You Use 시끄럽다 in a Sentence?
옆집이 너무 시끄러워요.
The house next door is too noisy.
옆집이 names the noisy house, and 너무 says it is more than the speaker can accept.
시끄러워서 잠을 못 잤어요.
It was noisy, so I couldn't sleep.
시끄러워서 gives the reason, and 잠을 못 잤어요 states the result: the speaker could not sleep.
시끄러운 음악은 싫어요.
I dislike noisy music.
시끄러운 modifies 음악은, and 싫어요 states the dislike.
Each example is a complaint: about neighbours (시끄러워요), about lost sleep (시끄러워서) and about music (시끄러운), because the word rarely sounds neutral.
How Does Sikkeureopda Conjugation Work?
시끄럽다 is a ㅂ-irregular adjective. The ㅂ of the stem 시끄럽 becomes 우 and joins 어 as 워: 시끄러워요, 시끄러웠어요, 시끄러워서. Before a consonant it stays, so you see 시끄럽습니다. The modifier is 시끄러운.
To say something is not noisy, put 안 in front for 안 시끄러워요 or use the long negative 시끄럽지 않아요. The because-form is 시끄러워서, the if-form 시끄러우면, and the modifiers are 시끄러운 (now), 시끄러웠던 (earlier) and 시끄러울 (later); the honorific polite form is 시끄러우세요.
시끄럽다
| Form | Korean | Romanization | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polite present | 시끄러워요 | ||
| Polite past | 시끄러웠어요 | ||
| Polite future (plan) | 시끄러울 거예요 | ||
| Polite future (intention or guess) | 시끄럽겠어요 | ||
| Formal present | 시끄럽습니다 | ||
| Formal past | 시끄러웠습니다 | ||
| Formal future | 시끄러울 것입니다 | ||
| Casual present | 시끄러워 | ||
| Casual past | 시끄러웠어 | ||
| Casual future | 시끄러울 거야 | ||
| Honorific polite | 시끄러우세요 | ||
| Because / and then | 시끄러워서 | ||
| If (conditional) | 시끄러우면 | ||
| Present modifier (before a noun) | 시끄러운 | ||
| Past modifier (before a noun) | 시끄러웠던 | ||
| Future modifier (before a noun) | 시끄러울 | ||
| Negative with 안 (short) | 안 시끄러워요 | ||
| Negative (long form) | 시끄럽지 않아요 |
No want-to row: -고 싶다 suits verbs.
Sound Changes
| Form | Korean | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| Polite past | 시끄러웠어요 | [시끄러워써요] |
| Polite future | 시끄러울 거예요 | [시끄러울꺼예요] |
| Polite future guess | 시끄럽겠어요 | [시끄럽께써요] |
| Formal present | 시끄럽습니다 | [시끄럽씀니다] |
| Formal past | 시끄러웠습니다 | [시끄러웓씀니다] |
| Formal future | 시끄러울 것입니다 | [시끄러울꺼심니다] |
| Casual past | 시끄러웠어 | [시끄러워써] |
| Casual future | 시끄러울 거야 | [시끄러울꺼야] |
| Past modifier | 시끄러웠던 | [시끄러웓떤] |
| Long negative | 시끄럽지 않아요 | [시끄럽찌 아나요] |
Common Mistake
Wrong: ✗ 시끄럽어요
Correct: ✓ 시끄러워요
Why: Adding 어요 straight onto the stem gives 시끄럽어요. The ㅂ becomes 우 first, so the answer is 시끄러워요.
How to Complain without Being Rude
Neighbours and roommates hear 좀 조용히 해 주세요 more often than a bare complaint. Keep it apart from 복잡하다: a busy street can be both 복잡하다 (crowded) and 시끄럽다 (noisy), but only 시끄럽다 is about sound.
What Is Easy to Confuse with 시끄럽다?
| Word | How to tell it from 시끄럽다 |
|---|---|
| 조용하다 | 조용하다 is the opposite, quiet. |
| 복잡하다 | 복잡하다 is crowded or complicated, not about sound. |
Finding a Quiet Seat in a Café
Two friends want to talk in a café, but the music near the entrance makes conversation difficult. They compare seats before settling down.
Jisu
여기는 너무 시끄러워요.
Yeogineun neomu sikkeureowoyo.
It’s too noisy here.
Alex
어제도 시끄러웠어요.
Eojedo sikkeureowosseoyo.
It was noisy yesterday too.
Jisu
시끄러운 곳은 싫어요.
Sikkeureoun goseun sireoyo.
I don’t like noisy places.
Alex
그럼 안쪽에 앉아요.
Geureom anjjoge anjayo.
Then let’s sit farther inside.
시끄러워요 evaluates the current sound level; 시끄러웠어요 recalls yesterday. 시끄러운 moves in front of 곳 to describe a noisy place. The friends are complaining about their surroundings to each other, so the exchange is less confrontational than directing the same complaint at a stranger.
Common Combinations with 시끄럽다
시끄러운 소리 means “a noisy or disturbing sound”. 소리가 크다 says a sound is loud, while 시끄럽다 adds the listener’s negative reaction. Music can be loud and enjoyable at a concert; calling it 시끄러운 음악 suggests that the noise bothers you. The word does more than measure volume.
시끄러운 동네 describes a noisy neighborhood. 시끄러운 곳 describes any noisy place, such as a café near a busy road. These phrases are useful when choosing somewhere to sleep, study, or talk. A review that calls a hotel noisy is reporting a sound problem, even if the room itself is clean and spacious.
시끄러워서 잠을 못 잤어요 gives both the complaint and its consequence: the noise prevented sleep. This is more informative than simply saying the room was bad. The because-form lets a hotel guest explain why they want a different room without needing a stronger adjective.
How Can You Soften a Noise Complaint?
Adding 조금 to a description makes the degree smaller; adding 너무 makes the complaint stronger. A quiet comment to your companion about a noisy room is different from looking straight at another customer and saying 시끄러워요. The polite ending helps, but the sentence can still sound like a rebuke when aimed at the person causing the sound.
좀 조용히 해 주세요 asks the other person to be quieter. 조용히 describes how they should act, and 해 주세요 makes the request. In a shared room, a request for a specific change is often easier to respond to than a general judgment about someone being noisy.
The casual 시끄러워 can describe a situation among close friends. With a sharp tone and a person as its target, it can function like “be quiet” or “shut up”. In drama subtitles, check who is speaking to whom before copying the line. A short exclamation can carry much more force than its dictionary gloss suggests.
Where Will You See Noise Language?
Accommodation and café reviews use 시끄럽다 to explain difficulty resting or talking. At a library or study room, signs are more likely to ask for quiet or prohibit noise than to call visitors noisy. Learn to recognize 소음, “noise”, as well as the adjective; the noun appears in complaints and rules.
Crowding and noise are separate observations. A packed train can be quiet, and an almost empty street can be noisy because of construction. 복잡하다 helps describe the busy or complicated situation. 시끄럽다 identifies what you hear and how it affects you.
Keep the ㅂ Only Where It Belongs
The modifier 시끄러운 and the conditional 시끄러우면 use 우. The polite present 시끄러워요 combines 우 with 어 to make 워. These forms can look as though they have lost an entire syllable, but they belong to the same stem 시끄럽-.
The long negative 시끄럽지 않아요 keeps ㅂ because 지 starts with a consonant. The past 시끄러웠어요 needs its past consonant even though the present is 시끄러워요. Listen for the tense sound shown in the pronunciation table: the past form is not pronounced exactly as its spelling might first suggest.
Words around a Noise Complaint
| Korean | Meaning | Useful note |
|---|---|---|
| 소음 | noise | A useful noun in building rules and complaints. |
| 소리 | sound | A neutral word that can describe pleasant sounds too. |
| 조용하다 | quiet | Describes the condition you want instead. |
| 복잡하다 | crowded / complicated | Describes a different problem from disturbing sound. |
The hotel vocabulary lesson teaches 소음 with a complaint about a neighboring room. Use that noun when naming the problem, and 시끄럽다 when describing the room or surroundings.
Mini Drill: Keep or Change ㅂ
- Give the polite present of 시끄럽다.
- Complete “a noisy place”: ____ 곳.
- Give the polite past.
- Negate the adjective with -지 않아요.
Show drill answers
- 시끄러워요.
- 시끄러운 곳.
- 시끄러웠어요.
- 시끄럽지 않아요; ㅂ stays before 지.
Quick Self-Test
- Does 시끄럽다 describe crowding or disturbing sound?
- Is 시끄러워 always safe to say sharply to a stranger?
- Which noun is neutral: 소리 or 소음?
Show answers
- Disturbing sound.
- No. It can sound like an abrupt order to be quiet.
- 소리 means sound; 소음 means noise.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 시끄러워 Rude?
Yes, said directly to a person it is a rude command-like complaint.
How Do I Ask Politely for Less Noise?
좀 조용히 해 주세요.
What Is the Polite Present?
시끄러워요.
How Do I Say Noisy Music?
시끄러운 음악.
Which Words Are Related to 시끄럽다?
What Should You Learn Next?
Learn 조용하다 as its pair, then 복잡하다 so the two do not blur. The change from 시끄럽 to 시끄러워 is the standard ㅂ pattern described in ㅂ-irregular verbs and adjectives. Check other ㅂ words in the Korean verb conjugator, or go back to the Korean verb dictionary.