Korean Household Appliances Vocabulary: Words and Examples

Korean Household Appliances Vocabulary at a Glance

This list has 30 words in five groups of six: cooling and heating, kitchen appliances, laundry and cleaning, entertainment and small gadgets. It belongs to House and Home. Most words are loanwords or Sino-Korean compounds, so many are easy to guess once you learn the patterns, especially the -기 ending that means a device.

The words also reflect Korean seasons. Summer needs a fan and an air conditioner, and winter needs a boiler and a heater. The next section ranks the words by usefulness and names the pattern that helps you remember them.

Which Household Appliances Should You Learn First?

Learn 에어컨 (air conditioner), 냉장고 (refrigerator), 세탁기 (washing machine), 리모컨 (remote control) and 와이파이 (Wi-Fi) first. They are the machines a guest, a tenant or a traveller asks about most often, because they decide whether a room is comfortable and whether you can do laundry or get online.

• Words to say. 에어컨, 리모컨, 와이파이, 충전기. Use these when you ask for help or an item.
• Words to recognise. 세탁기, 건조기, 전자레인지, 정수기. These appear on labels and in a flat's instructions.
• Words to decode. Any noun that ends in 기 is probably a machine. 가습기 and 제습기 are both devices that change humidity.

Appliance names follow a clear pattern. 기 (機 or 器) means a machine or a device, so 세탁기 is a washing device (세탁 means washing), 청소기 is a cleaning device and 충전기 is a charging device. The refrigerator breaks the pattern: 냉장고 uses 고 (庫), a storehouse, so it is a cold storehouse. The scene below shows a living room and kitchen with numbered objects that match the list.

Word · 9

1. 1

   에어컨

   Play

   eeokeon

   air conditioner

2. 2

   선풍기

   Play

   seonpunggi

   electric fan

3. 3

   보일러

   Play

   boilleo

   boiler (floor heating)

4. 4

   냉장고

   Play

   naengjanggo

   refrigerator

5. 5

   전자레인지

   Play

   jeonjareinji

   microwave oven

6. 6

   세탁기

   Play

   setakgi

   washing machine

7. 7

   청소기

   Play

   cheongsogi

   vacuum cleaner

8. 8

   텔레비전

   Play

   tellebijeon

   television

9. 9

   리모컨

   Play

   rimokeon

   remote control

Cooling and Heating

Korean summers are hot and humid, and winters are cold and dry, so these six words show up often in everyday talk. 에어컨 is a loanword that means only the air conditioner, not air conditioning in general. 선풍기 is an electric fan, built from 선 (扇, fan), 풍 (風, wind) and 기 (機, machine). 보일러 is the boiler that heats the floor in many flats, so it is a heating appliance of a special kind.

Three verbs work with machines. 켜다 means to switch on, 끄다 means to switch off, and 틀다 means to turn on something that runs or plays, such as a fan or a dehumidifier. In casual speech 에어컨을 틀어요 is as common as 에어컨을 켜요.

Example Sentences

Three frames carry the examples. The first is machine + 을/를 켜요 (turn on the machine), as in 에어컨을 켜요. The second is machine + 이/가 어디 있어요? (where is the machine?), as in 리모컨이 어디 있어요?. The third is machine + 이/가 없어요 (there is no machine), as in 충전기가 없어요. Particles matter: 을 follows a final consonant (에어컨을) and 를 follows a vowel (히터를). Say each sentence aloud after the audio, then swap the noun.

How Do You Say Kitchen Appliances in Korean?

Kitchen appliance names mix Sino-Korean words and loanwords. 냉장고 is the refrigerator, and its freezer part is 냉동실. 밥솥 is the rice cooker, one of the most used appliances in a Korean kitchen, because rice is eaten with most meals. A gas hob is a 가스레인지, a loanword from gas range, and a microwave is a 전자레인지, which is literally an electronic range.

Korean homes often have a second refrigerator, called a 김치냉장고 (kimchi refrigerator), made to keep kimchi at a steady temperature. You will see it in many flats, and it tells you something about food habits. The Korean Kitchen Vocabulary page has more cooking words.

Laundry and Cleaning

These six appliances help with laundry and cleaning. 세탁기 is the washing machine and 건조기 is the dryer. 청소기 is the vacuum cleaner, and the robot version is a 로봇 청소기. A clothes iron is a 다리미. 공기청정기 is an air purifier, a common appliance in Korean homes because of seasonal air pollution.

Notice the repeated verb 돌리다, to make something turn. It works for washing machines, vacuum cleaners and fans, because the machine's motion is the point. For the sequence of a laundry day, see the Korean Cleaning Vocabulary page.

How Do You Say Entertainment in Korean?

Entertainment appliances are almost all loanwords, so you can say them by sounding out the English. 텔레비전 is the full word, and 티비 (TV) is the common spoken short form. 리모컨 is the remote control, shortened from the English remote controller. 와이파이 is Wi-Fi, and asking for its 비밀번호 (password) is a useful sentence in cafes and guesthouses.

The word 리모컨 is a good example of how Korean shortens long loanwords. Remote controller becomes 리모컨, and the same cutting gives 에어컨 from air conditioner. Learners can guess many words by thinking of a shortened English phrase.

Small Gadgets

Small gadgets are the smallest group but the one a traveller needs most. A 충전기 is a charger, and asking 충전기 있어요? in a cafe is a common request. A 헤어드라이어 is a hair dryer, usually shortened to 드라이어. A 전기 포트 is an electric kettle, standard in Korean homes for making tea and instant noodles.

Counting machines uses 대 (dae), the counter for vehicles and machines. A television is 한 대 and two fans are 두 대. The counter follows a native Korean number in its short form, as in 세 대 (three units). See counters for things for the other counters.

What Does the -기 Ending Tell You about Appliance Names?

The ending 기 (機 or 器) means a machine or device, and an action noun before it tells you the job. The table decodes seven common names, and the pattern lets you guess new ones. Learn a handful of job words and the names come almost free.

Among the words that are not loanwords, two break the pattern. 냉장고 ends in 고 (storehouse), and 다리미 uses a native Korean word, 다리다 (to iron), plus 미. The other Sino-Korean machine names follow the -기 rule, so a new word that ends in 기 and names a job is nearly always a machine.

How Do You Pronounce These Words?

Appliance words contain tense sounds at syllable boundaries. Standard pronunciation follows the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) rules, and the romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which does not mark every sound change.

The tense sound [ㄲ] after a final stop is the pattern most often missed. Practise it by saying the first syllable with a quick stop and the second with a tight throat. The tense sounds are explained in detail on the pronunciation pages.

Audio and Slow Playback

Each word and sentence has its own clip. The five clips below replay the hardest words slowly. Play one, repeat it aloud, then play it again and compare.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with Household Appliances?

Five mistakes are especially common with appliances.

1. Using 에어컨 for air conditioning in general. 에어컨 names the machine. To say the room is cool, use 시원해요. For the machine on, say 에어컨을 켜요.
2. Using 개 for large machines. Count appliances such as air conditioners and washing machines with 대: 에어컨 한 대 (one air conditioner). 개 is fine for small items such as chargers.
3. Mixing 켜다 and 틀다. 켜다 is to switch on and 틀다 is to run or play. Both are fine for fans and air conditioners, but 켜다 is the safe choice for lights and computers.
4. Treating 냉장고 as a -기 word. 냉장고 ends in 고, not 기. The other cold-storage word, 냉동실, names the freezer part.
5. Forgetting the shortened loanwords. 리모컨, 에어컨 and 티비 are the spoken forms. Full forms like 리모트 컨트롤러 sound odd in daily speech.

Learn the -기 pattern and the 대 counter, and most of these mistakes disappear. The practice section below turns the list into drills.

Practice: Flashcards and Worksheet

Study in three steps. First, run the flashcard deck in recognition mode until you recognise all 30 words. Second, switch to listening mode. Third, take the quiz. The deck holds all 30 words with audio, and your progress stays in your browser. The vocabulary flashcard decks page lists the other decks.

A printable worksheet for these words (word list, matching, writing practice, fill-in-the-blank exercises and answer key) is available in A4 and US Letter from the download card on this page. For practice, walk around your home and write the Korean name of every machine you see. Add 한 대 or 두 대 to practise the counter.

Where to Go Next

After this page, continue with Korean Cleaning Vocabulary or go back to Korean Bedroom Vocabulary. For counters, see counters for things. To move up a level, return to House and Home.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Air Conditioner in Korean?

Air conditioner is 에어컨 (eeokeon), a shortened loanword from English air conditioner. To switch it on, say 에어컨을 켜요, and to switch it off, say 에어컨을 꺼요. Count units with the counter 대: 에어컨 한 대 is one air conditioner.

How Do You Pronounce 선풍기 (seonpunggi)?

Say seon-pung-gi in three even beats. The first syllable seon ends in n, the second pung has an aspirated p with a puff of air and ends in ng, and gi is soft. The word means electric fan. Press the audio button to hear it and the slow version.

How Many Household Appliances Should I Learn First?

Five first: 에어컨, 냉장고, 세탁기, 리모컨 and 와이파이. At five new words a day the whole list of 30 takes six days plus review. Learn the -기 pattern before the rest, because it decodes 12 of the 30 words.

Where Can I Practise Household Appliances with Flashcards?

Use the vocabulary flashcard decks. The deck for this page holds all 30 words with Hangul, romanization and audio, with recognition and listening modes. Your progress stays in your browser. Return daily and review the cards you missed.

Is the Romanization on This Page Official?

It follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which South Korea adopted on 7 July 2000 and whose rules the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) publishes. It is a learning aid and does not mark every sound change, so rely on the Hangul and the audio.

Is There a Printable Worksheet for Household Appliances?

A printable worksheet for these words (word list, matching, writing practice, fill-in-the-blank exercises and answer key) is available in A4 and US Letter from the download card on this page. For practice, copy the tables on this page by hand or use the flashcard deck, which carries the same 30 words.

Save This to Pinterest