Korean Supermarket Vocabulary: 35 Words with Romanization and Audio

Key facts

Korean Supermarket Vocabulary at a Glance

This list has 35 words in five groups of seven. It follows a shopping trip: you walk through the sections, collect a basket, check the package and the label, and finish with the membership and delivery questions at the register. It belongs to Shopping, next to the convenience store and the traditional market. Every word has an example sentence, so the page doubles as a ready deck.

The words are nearly all nouns. A few, such as 계산 and 적립, become verbs when you add 하다, which is why they appear in sentences as 계산해 주세요 and 적립해요. The next section picks the words to learn first.

Which Supermarket Words Should You Learn First?

Learn 과일 (fruit), 채소 (vegetables), 계산대 (checkout), 봉투 (bag) and 유통기한 (sell-by date) first. The first two let you find food, the next two let you pay and answer the cashier, and the last one keeps you safe. After those five, add the sign words 정육 and 수산, because they are not obvious from English.

• Words to read. 정육, 수산, 유제품, 냉동식품, 유통기한, 소비기한. These appear on signs and labels, so you need to recognise them, not say them.
• Words to say. 영수증, 봉투, 계산, 장바구니. You use these at the register, usually in short requests.
• Words to understand when spoken. 회원, 포인트, 적립, 쿠폰. The cashier says these quickly, often as a single question before you pay.

Two habits are worth knowing. Koreans usually call a large supermarket a 마트, from the English "mart", and a small neighbourhood store a 슈퍼. Both words are everyday speech, while 슈퍼마켓 is the full form you meet in writing. Also, the exact words on signs vary between chains, so treat this list as the common core, not a rule that every store follows.

Word · 8

1. 1

   정육

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   jeongyuk

   meat section

2. 2

   수산

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   susan

   seafood section

3. 3

   유제품

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   yujepum

   dairy products

4. 4

   카트

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   kateu

   shopping cart

5. 5

   계산대

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   gyesandae

   checkout counter

6. 6

   봉투

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   bongtu

   bag (paper or plastic)

7. 7

   팩

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   paek

   pack; tray

8. 8

   유통기한

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   yutonggihan

   sell-by date

Sections of the Store

Korean supermarkets hang a sign over each area, and the sign is usually one short noun. Some signs are plain everyday words, such as 과일 and 채소. Others are short Sino-Korean sign words that you rarely say in conversation, such as 정육 for the meat counter. Learn these seven and you can find any part of the shop without asking.

Example Sentences

The examples above use three simple frames. The first is place + 에 가요 (I go to place), as in 슈퍼에 가요. The second is item + 은/는 + place + 에 있어요 (the item is at the place), as in 과일은 입구 쪽에 있어요. The third is place + 에서 + item + 을/를 사요 (I buy item at place), as in 수산 코너에서 생선을 사요. The particle 에서 marks where an action happens, and 에 marks a destination or where something is. The location particles page explains the difference. Say each sentence aloud after its audio clip, and swap in other sections to build new ones.

Once you know the layout, you need the words for carrying and paying.

How Do You Say Basket and Checkout in Korean?

At the front of a Korean mart you pick up a 카트 or a 장바구니, and at the end you pay at a 계산대. The cashier then asks the one question every shopper hears: whether you need a bag. These seven words cover that whole path from the entrance to the exit.

The question 봉투 필요하세요? is built from 필요하다 (to be needed) with the honorific ending 세요, which cashiers use to be polite to customers. A short answer is 네, 주세요 (yes, please) or 아니요, 괜찮아요 (no, thank you). The word 괜찮아요 literally means "it is fine", and Koreans use it to decline politely.

Packaging and Weights

Groceries in Korea are sold by container. A bag of noodles, a tray of strawberries and a can of cola each have their own counter word, and shoppers use the same words on shelf labels and in speech. Weights use loanwords from the metric system. Seven words cover most packages.

The pattern in every example is item + number + unit. With 팩, 봉지, 병, 캔 and 상자 the number is a native Korean number, so you say 한 팩 (one), 두 봉지 (two) and 세 병 (three). With 그램 and 킬로그램 the number is Sino-Korean, as in 삼백 그램 (300 g). The counters for things page lists the full set. The native forms 하나, 둘, 셋 shorten before a counter to 한, 두, 세, so 둘 병 is wrong and 두 병 is right.

How Do You Say Sale Labels in Korean?

Labels on the shelf tell you the price, the discount and, most important for food safety, how long it stays good. Read the date first. The two date words look similar and mean different things, and many learners treat them as one.

How Is a Date Written on a Korean Label?

Korean dates run from the largest unit to the smallest: year, then month, then day. A shelf label for a sell-by date usually reads like this.

The label ending 까지 (until, up to) is the particle that tells you the date is the last day. Read the month and day with Sino-Korean numbers and the word 월 (month) and 일 (day). Two months are irregular when spoken: June is 유월 and October is 시월, not 육월 and 십월.

Membership and Points

Most chain supermarkets run a points scheme, and the cashier will ask about it before you pay. These seven words cover the membership question, the discount tools and the delivery services that large marts offer. The first few are questions you hear, and the last few are services you choose.

What Is the Difference between 유통기한 and 소비기한?

The difference is who the date is for. 유통기한 (sell-by date) tells the shop the last day it should sell the item. 소비기한 (use-by date) tells you the last day the food is still safe to eat when stored as the label says. Because the use-by date comes later than the sell-by date for most foods, an item past its 유통기한 is not always unsafe, but you should follow the label on the pack. Korea has been moving its food labels toward 소비기한 since 2023, so you will see both words on shelves while the change settles. On a pack that shows only one date, read the word before the date to know which one it is.

The sentence 유통기한이 지났어요 (the sell-by date has passed) is the most useful one to recognise. 지났어요 is the past tense of 지나다 (to pass), and it also means "it is over" in many other contexts.

How Do You Pronounce These Words?

Supermarket words contain a few sound changes, and the shop signs hide them because Korean spelling keeps each syllable's written form, not the spoken one. Standard pronunciation follows the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) rules, and the romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which records some sound changes and ignores others.

The tense sound in 특가 is the one learners miss most. Say the second sound tight in your throat, with no puff of air. 정육 has no sound change: say [정육], two clear syllables, because a final ㅇ never moves onto the next syllable.

Audio and Slow Playback

Every headword and every example sentence has its own audio. 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 Supermarket Words?

These five mistakes come up often when people shop for the first time in Korea.

1. Treating 정육 as a general word for meat. The everyday word is 고기. 정육 is mainly a sign word for the butcher counter, and 정육점 is a butcher shop.
2. Confusing 병 and 봉지. 병 is a rigid bottle and 봉지 is a soft bag. Say 물 한 병 for a bottle of water and 과자 한 봉지 for a bag of snacks.
3. Using the wrong numbers with units. Packs, bags, bottles and cans take native numbers (한 팩, 두 병). Grams and kilograms take Sino-Korean numbers (삼백 그램). Mixing them up is a common slip.
4. Reading 유통기한 as the safe-to-eat date. It is the sell-by date. The use-by date is 소비기한, and the label says which one you are reading.
5. Answering 봉투 필요하세요? with 괜찮아요 when you want a bag. 괜찮아요 here is a polite "no, thanks". If you want a bag, say 네, 하나 주세요; if you brought a 장바구니, say 아니요, 괜찮아요.

If you meet only one of these on a real trip, make it the bag question, because it comes up on every visit.

Practice: Flashcards and Worksheet

Study in three steps. First, run the flashcard deck in recognition mode until you know each of the 35 words. Second, switch to listening mode and answer from the audio alone. Third, take the quiz. The deck covers all 35 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 35 words by hand and write the meaning next to each. Copying a real label such as 2026.12.31까지 and reading it aloud fixes both the word and the date pattern.

Where to Go Next

After this page, continue with Korean Convenience Store Vocabulary, which teaches the quick-meal and service words, or Korean Traditional Market Vocabulary. For produce words in detail, see fruits and vegetables. For the single query on its own, see supermarket in korean. To move up a level, return to Shopping.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Meat Section in Korean?

The meat section is 정육 (jeongyuk). You see it on the sign above the butcher counter, as in 정육 코너 (the meat corner). In ordinary speech, meat is 고기 (gogi). A butcher shop is 정육점. Ask 정육 코너가 어디예요? (Where is the meat section?) to find it.

How Do You Pronounce 수산 (susan)?

Say su-san, with two short syllables and no sound change. The first vowel is a rounded [u], and the second syllable ends in [n]. The word means fisheries, and on a supermarket sign it marks the seafood section. Press the audio button on this page for the normal and slow versions.

How Many Supermarket Words Should I Learn First?

Five first: 과일, 채소, 계산대, 봉투 and 유통기한. At five new words a day, the whole list of 35 takes seven days plus review. Add the sign words 정육 and 수산 on day two, since they do not look like their English meanings.

Where Can I Practise Supermarket Words with Flashcards?

Use the vocabulary flashcard decks. The deck for this page holds all 35 words with Hangul, romanization and audio, and it offers recognition and listening modes. Your progress stays in your browser, so 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 Supermarket 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 35 words.

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