Korean Smartphone Vocabulary: 35 Words with Romanization and Audio

Key facts

Korean Smartphone Vocabulary at a Glance

This list has 35 words in five groups of seven. It starts with the phone itself, moves to the settings you tap, the calls and messages you send, the camera and the photos, and ends with charging and repair. It belongs to Technology and Internet and sits beside Korean Social Media Vocabulary. Every word has an example sentence, so the page doubles as a ready deck.

Most are nouns. Some take 하다 to become verbs, such as 충전하다, 저장하다 and 수리하다. The next section picks the words to learn first.

Which Smartphone Words Should You Learn First?

Learn 화면 (screen), 배터리 (battery), 충전기 (charger), 와이파이 (Wi-Fi) and 설정 (settings) first. These five let you ask for a charger, say you have no battery, find the network and open the menu where the language lives. After that, add the call and message words, because they appear on every notification.

• Words to say. 충전기, 와이파이, 사진, 전화. These go into requests and short sentences.
• Words to recognise. 설정, 언어, 알림, 업데이트, 잠금. These are screen labels, so you read them rather than say them.
• Words to understand when spoken. 고장, 수리, 액정, 서비스 센터. The shop staff use them when they explain a repair.

There are three words for the phone itself. 스마트폰 is the plain loanword, 휴대폰 is the form used in forms and notices (the full official term is 휴대 전화), and 핸드폰 is the most common word in daily speech. Any of them is understood, and the single-word pages on cell phone in korean and smartphone in korean look at each one more closely.

Word · 8

1. 1

   스마트폰

   Play

   seumateupon

   smartphone

2. 2

   화면

   Play

   hwamyeon

   screen

3. 3

   배터리

   Play

   baeteori

   battery (phone)

4. 4

   충전기

   Play

   chungjeongi

   charger

5. 5

   케이스

   Play

   keiseu

   phone case

6. 6

   설정

   Play

   seoljeong

   settings

7. 7

   카메라

   Play

   kamera

   camera

8. 8

   사진

   Play

   sajin

   photo

Phone Parts

Most words for the parts of a phone are loanwords from English, so you can often guess them. A few, such as 화면 and 액정, are Sino-Korean and worth learning by heart. These seven words name the phone itself and the parts you point at in a shop.

Example Sentences

The sentences use three frames. The first is object + 을/를 + verb, as in 스마트폰을 써요 (I use a smartphone). The second is noun + 이/가 + state, as in 화면이 깨졌어요 (the screen is cracked). The third is noun + 있어요? (do you have noun?), as in 충전기 있어요?. After a noun that ends in a vowel, the subject particle is 가, as in 배터리가 없어요. After a consonant it is 이, as in 화면이. Say each sentence aloud after its audio clip.

How Do You Say Settings and Notifications in Korean?

Settings words matter most when you want to switch a phone or an app into Korean or back to English. The screen labels use a small set of nouns. Once you know them, you can find the language option, turn on a connection or read a notification on any Korean phone.

How Do You Switch a Phone to Korean or Back to English?

On most phones the path is the same: open 설정, look for 언어, and pick the language. The icon for settings is a gear, so you can find it even if you cannot read the label. The words you will see on a Korean-language settings screen are in the table below.

Because the icons and the order of menu items do not change when the language changes, you can use this table to find your way back if a phone is set to Korean.

Calls and Messages

Calling and messaging words mix native Korean verbs with Sino-Korean nouns. The noun 전화 means both the phone call and the phone as a machine. This group also holds the words you see on a missed-call screen.

The counter 통 is used for calls and letters, so a missed call count reads 한 통, 두 통, 세 통. The native numbers 하나, 둘, 셋 shorten to 한, 두, 세 before a counter. For fixed phrases to use on the phone, such as introducing yourself and ending a call, see the phone phrases.

How Do You Say Camera and Photos in Korean?

Photo words are plain loanwords or short Sino-Korean nouns. Two of them, 셀카 and 직캠, are everyday words in Korea that you will not find in older textbooks.

The verb 찍다 pairs with 사진 (photo), 셀카 (selfie) and 동영상 (video). You do not use a different verb for each. Fans link 직캠 to concerts and music shows, and you can read more of that vocabulary in the K-pop vocabulary section.

Charging and Repairs

The last group covers a dead battery and a broken screen, the two problems that send visitors to a phone shop. The vocabulary is practical: what is wrong, who fixes it and what you add to protect the phone afterwards.

What Do You Say at a Phone Repair Shop?

A short exchange uses only words from this page and a few polite endings. The sentences below show the order: describe the problem, ask about the repair and then ask about the price.

The ending 수 있어요 means "can" or "is able to", so 수리할 수 있어요? asks whether the shop can repair it. The word 쯤 means "about" and follows a time or amount, and 마다 in 모델마다 means "each" or "every". 부탁드려요 is a polite way to say "I would ask you for that".

How Do You Pronounce These Words?

Phone words are mostly loanwords, so the vowels are close to English, but several have sound changes. 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.

Three of these changes are tensing (설정, 액정 and 문자). A tense consonant is said with a tight throat and no puff of air. For 배터리 (baeteori), say bae-teo-ri, with the vowel ㅐ close to the vowel in "bed" and a light ㄹ at the start of the last 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 Smartphone Words?

These five mistakes come up often when people use a Korean phone.

1. Using 전화 when you mean your mobile phone. 전화 is mainly the call, as in 전화를 받아요 (I answer the call), and a landline set is 전화기. For the mobile itself, say 휴대폰, 핸드폰 or just 폰.
2. Confusing 충전 and 충전기. 충전 is the act of charging and 충전기 is the charger. Ask 충전기 있어요? for the cable, not 충전 있어요?.
3. Using 배터리 for household batteries. A remote control takes 건전지. 배터리 is for phones, cars and power banks. The Korean Convenience Store Vocabulary page uses 건전지.
4. Mixing 문자 and 메시지. 문자 usually means a text message, while 메시지 is the wider word used by chat apps. Both are understood, but a bank text is a 문자.
5. Using 화면 when you ask about the repair part. 화면이 깨졌어요 is a fine way to say the screen is cracked. When you ask the price of the fix, the shop says 액정 for the glass panel. 화면 is what you see; 액정 is the part that gets replaced.

One extra habit helps: say the noun first and the verb last. 사진을 찍어요, not 찍어요 사진.

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, open your own phone settings, switch the language to Korean for a day and read the labels against the table in this page. Matching real screens to words is the quickest way to learn them.

Where to Go Next

After this page, continue with Korean Social Media Vocabulary, which teaches the app and posting words, or Korean Computer and Internet Vocabulary. To move up a level, return to Technology and Internet.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Screen in Korean?

The word for screen is 화면 (hwamyeon). It means any screen, including a phone, a television and a computer. On a phone, the glass panel that repair shops talk about is 액정 (aekjeong). To say the screen is cracked, use 화면이 깨졌어요 (hwamyeoni kkaejyeosseoyo).

How Do You Pronounce 배터리 (baeteori)?

Say bae-teo-ri, in three even syllables. The first vowel ㅐ is close to the vowel in "bed", the second ㅓ is an open o sound, and the last syllable has a light ㄹ. Press the audio button on this page for the normal and slow versions.

How Many Smartphone Words Should I Learn First?

Five first: 화면, 배터리, 충전기, 와이파이 and 설정. At five new words a day, the whole list of 35 takes seven days plus review. Add the call and message words next, since they appear on every notification and every missed-call screen.

Where Can I Practise Smartphone 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 Smartphone 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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