Korean Tools and Hardware Vocabulary: Words and Examples

Korean Tools and Hardware Vocabulary at a Glance

The list follows a small repair job. You walk into a 철물점, name the tool, pick the right fastener, check the size and the safety gear, and then finish the work. That is why the groups run from hand tools to power tools, then fasteners, then measuring and safety, and last repair and DIY. The page belongs to House and Home and it sits next to the Korean Everyday Objects Vocabulary page, which covers the household items you already own.

Almost every word here is a noun. Only a handful behave differently: 못 also has a second life as the adverb for cannot, 위험 and 주의 are sign words that take 하다 to become a describing word or a verb, and 공사 is the word on the sign outside a building site. The next section ranks the words by how soon you will need them.

Which Tools and Hardware Words Should You Learn First?

Learn 망치 (hammer), 드라이버 (screwdriver), 못 (nail), 나사 (screw) and 철물점 (hardware shop) first. With those five you can walk into a shop, name the thing you need and say where you are shopping. Add 펜치 (pliers) and 톱 (saw) when you start real repair work.

• Words to say. 망치, 드라이버, 펜치, 못, 나사, 테이프. These are the things you ask a shop owner for.
• Words to recognise. 위험, 주의, 공사. You read these on signs and fences, so you do not need to say them.
• Words to understand when spoken. 수리 and 공사 in a landlord's or building manager's message, and the size and count words below.

Many learners meet this vocabulary in a rented flat. A shelf has to go up, a drawer handle comes loose, or a landlord says a repair person is coming. If you plan to rent in Korea, learn the third group, fasteners, before the power tools.

At the counter, sizes are given in millimetres and centimetres, and Korean uses Sino-Korean numbers for those units. A 30 mm screw is 삼십 밀리 나사 (samsip milli nasa), and a 2 cm nail is 이 센티 못 (i senti mot). Counts of items use native numbers and the counter 개: 못 열 개 (mot yeol gae) is ten nails. The page on counting things explains why 열 stays 열 before 개 and why 하나 shortens to 한.

This scene puts eight of the 30 words on one picture, so you can see what each one looks like.

Word · 8

1. 1

   망치

   Play

   mangchi

   hammer

2. 2

   드라이버

   Play

   deuraibeo

   screwdriver

3. 3

   펜치

   Play

   penchi

   pliers

4. 4

   톱

   Play

   top

   saw

5. 5

   드릴

   Play

   deuril

   drill

6. 6

   못

   Play

   mot

   nail

7. 7

   나사

   Play

   nasa

   screw

8. 8

   사다리

   Play

   sadari

   ladder

Where Do You Buy Tools in Korea?

The classic place is a 철물점, a small shop whose name means ironware shop. It stocks nails, screws, hinges, locks, pipe parts and simple tools, and the owner usually knows where everything is. Learners do well here because you can ask for an item by pointing, then learn its name. The owner is normally called 사장님 (sajangnim), a title for the person who runs a shop, rather than by name.

Larger home-improvement stores and cheap household-goods shops also sell basic tools, and many people buy small items online. The word list below works in all of them. When you cannot remember a name, say the job: 이거 어디에 써요? (Where do you use this?) is a safe, polite question, and the answer teaches you the word.

One more habit helps. Many tool names are loanwords, so sound out the Hangul slowly: 드라이버 read syllable by syllable is deu-ra-i-beo, and you will often hear the English word inside it.

Hand Tools

The first group holds the words for ordinary hand tools. 공구 (gonggu) is the general word for a tool, and the words after it name the five tools most households own. Notice how many are loanwords: 드라이버 and 렌치 came into Korean from English and 펜치 came in through Japanese, while 망치 and 톱 are old native words that every Korean child knows.

With 주세요 (please give me) you can ask for any of these, and 좀 softens the request, as in 렌치 좀 주세요. The ending -(으)로 means with or by means of: it becomes 로 after a vowel, as in 망치로, and 으로 after a consonant, as in 톱으로. Say each sentence aloud after the audio, then change the tool and say it again.

Hand tools do the shaping. Power tools do the same work with electricity, and they come with their own vocabulary.

Power Tools and Electricity

Power tool names are almost all loanwords, so they are easy to guess once you know how Korean writes English sounds. 드릴 is drill, 그라인더 is grinder, and 배터리 is battery. Two plain Sino-Korean words, 충전기 and 전선, cover charging and wiring. All of them come up in a repair conversation.

The verb 꽂다 (to plug in, to stick into) is the verb for a plug, a key or a flower in a vase. The verb 뚫다 (to drill through, to pierce) is said [뚤타] in its dictionary form but [뚜러요] in 뚫어요, because the ㅎ of the final cluster ㅀ is silent before a vowel and the ㄹ moves across.

These words matter most for safety. If a landlord says 전선 or 배터리 in a message about your flat, treat it as a reason to read the message slowly.

Next come the small pieces that hold things together.

Fasteners and Hardware

Fasteners are what you actually buy most often. 못 and 나사 are the two everyday words, and 볼트 and 너트 are always a pair. 접착제 and 테이프 cover the things that stick instead of screw. Shop shelves group them by size, so the size words in the earlier section help here.

Notice 조여 주세요. The verb 조이다 (to tighten) becomes 조여, and 주세요 turns it into a polite request, which is the same pattern as 렌치 좀 주세요. The frame verb + -아/어 주세요 is how you ask someone to do something for you, and it appears all through this page.

The word 못 deserves a warning. As a noun it is a nail. As an adverb it means cannot and goes in front of a verb, as in 못 가요 (I cannot go). A noun nail takes particles, as in 못을 and 못이, so the particle or the verb that follows tells you which 못 you are hearing.

Fasteners are chosen by size, and a mistake in size is the commonest repair error. That brings us to measuring and safety.

Measuring and Safety

The fourth group mixes a measuring tool with the gear and the signs that keep you safe. 줄자 is a tape measure. 안전모, 장갑 and 보안경 are protective gear. 위험 and 주의 are the two warning words that you will see on signs, fences and product labels long before you need to say them.

Two sign phrases are worth recognising. 공사 중 (gongsa jung) means under construction. 감전 주의 (gamjeon juui) means beware of electric shock. You can learn both by recognising 주의 and 공사 from this list.

Korean units of length follow the metric system: 밀리미터 (millimetre), 센티미터 (centimetre) and 미터 (metre), usually shortened in speech to 밀리, 센티 and 미터. The measuring verb is 재다, as in 길이를 재요 (I measure the length). The related noun 길이 (length) is said [기리] because the ㄹ moves across to the vowel.

Safety words let you read a site. The last group is for talking about the work itself.

Repair and DIY

The last group is the work itself. 철물점 is the shop where you buy supplies. 수리 is repair, and 공사 is a larger construction or renovation job. 페인트 and 사다리 are two things almost every home job needs, and 공구함 is the box that holds your tools.

The verb 맡기다 (to leave something with someone, to entrust it) is the natural verb for a repair: you leave the object with a repair person. If you do the job yourself, the verb is 고치다 (to fix, to mend), as in 제가 고쳐요 (I fix it).

Putting a short job together uses almost every group. For a loose shelf you would say: 철물점에 가요. 나사하고 드라이버가 필요해요. (I go to the hardware store. I need screws and a screwdriver.) Read that aloud, then swap in 못 and 망치.

Which Tools and Hardware Words Come from English?

A third of this list, ten words, are loanwords, and they follow predictable patterns. Korean writes English sounds with its own letters and adds a vowel after a final consonant: bolt becomes 볼트 (bol-teu), nut becomes 너트 (neo-teu), paint becomes 페인트 (pe-in-teu) and tape becomes 테이프 (te-i-peu). The extra ㅡ vowel is why English words look longer in Hangul.

Several tool words keep a meaning that English does not have. 드라이버 is a screwdriver here, but it is also the golf club called a driver. 배터리 is a rechargeable battery, while 건전지 is the dry cell in a remote control. Native words such as 망치, 톱, 못 and 사다리 are the oldest names on the page. A few words, such as 공구, 수리 and 안전모, are built from Sino-Korean syllables, so the same syllable appears again in other words: 공 (work) appears in 공구, 공사 and 공구함.

A good study habit is to group by shape: the loanwords give you a guess from English, and the Sino-Korean words give you reusable syllables.

How Do You Pronounce These Words?

Tools and hardware words contain several sound changes, because many end in a consonant that changes before the next sound. Standard pronunciation follows the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) rules. The romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which writes tense letters such as kk and tt but does not show tensing caused by a neighbouring sound.

The tense sounds in 접착제, 철물점 and 줄자 are the ones learners most often miss. Say the tense sound with a tight throat and no puff of breath. Remember also that the vowels ㅓ and ㅡ, in 너트, 렌치, 드릴 and 드라이버, are said with unrounded lips. Round lips would turn ㅓ into ㅗ.

Audio and Slow Playback

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

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with Tools and Hardware Words?

These five mistakes cause most of the confusion at a hardware counter.

1. Mixing up 못 the noun and 못 the adverb. 못 is a nail, and 못 before a verb means cannot. Say 못을 박아요 for I drive in a nail. For cannot, put 못 straight before a verb, as in 못 가요.
2. Saying 나사 for any small metal piece. 나사 is a screw, a threaded fastener. A nail without a thread is 못, and a bolt with a nut is 볼트.
3. Forgetting the vowel after a final consonant in loanwords. English bolt has one syllable, but 볼트 has two: bol-teu. Write and say every syllable.
4. Using 드라이버 for a golf driver. In the right context the word has two meanings. At a hardware counter, it is the screwdriver. At a golf shop, it is the club.
5. Reading 위험 and 주의 as the same. 위험 names the danger itself, while 주의 asks you to take care. A sign may use both: 감전 위험 means electric shock hazard, and 감전 주의 means take care about electric shock.

Check each habit against the audio, because the two meanings of a word are said in exactly the same way.

Practice: Flashcards and Worksheet

Study in three steps. First, run the flashcard deck in recognition mode until you recognise each of the 30 words. Second, switch to listening mode. Third, take the quiz. The deck covers 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, copy the 30 words by hand and write the meaning beside each one. Then write two sentences of your own, such as 망치하고 못이 필요해요 (I need a hammer and nails).

Where to Go Next

After this page, continue with Korean Everyday Objects Vocabulary, which covers the household items you use every day, or go back up to House and Home for the other rooms. If you are planning to rent a home, learn the counters for things next, because tools and fasteners are bought by count.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Hammer in Korean?

A hammer is 망치 (mangchi). Add 로 for the tool you use, as in 망치로 못을 박아요 (I drive in a nail with a hammer). 망치 is a native Korean word, so it has no English origin to guess. A nail is 못 (mot), and 박다 is the verb for driving it in.

How Do You Say Screwdriver in Korean?

A screwdriver is 드라이버 (deuraibeo), a loanword from English driver. Ask 드라이버 있어요? (Do you have a screwdriver?) at a hardware shop. The word also means a golf club, so at a golf shop the meaning changes. The screw itself is 나사 (nasa).

How Do You Pronounce 철물점 (cheolmuljeom)?

Say cheol-mul-jeom, but make the last sound tense: [철물쩜]. After a final ㄹ in a Sino-Korean word, the next ㅈ is said tight and unaspirated, with no puff of breath. Press the audio button on this page for the normal and slow versions.

Which Tools and Hardware Words Should Beginners Learn First?

Five first: 망치, 드라이버, 못, 나사 and 철물점. At five new words a day, the whole list of 30 takes six days plus review. Add 위험 and 주의 early because you read them on signs even when you do not speak.

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 show every sound change, so rely on the Hangul and the audio.

Is There a Printable Worksheet for Tools and Hardware Words?

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.

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