Korean Opposites Vocabulary: 35 Words with Romanization and Audio

Korean Opposites Vocabulary at a Glance

This list has 35 words, arranged in pairs so that each word sits next to its opposite. It starts with pairs of nouns about size and quantity, moves to direction, time, people and feelings, and ends with the prefix pair 가능 and 불가능 and the three words you need to talk about opposites. It belongs to Shapes, Materials and Measurements in Korean and follows Korean Quantity Words Vocabulary.

The list is made of nouns, with a few adverbs and noun-like words. Adjective opposites, such as 크다 and 작다 or 뜨겁다 and 차갑다, work with different endings, so they are on the descriptive adjectives pages. Here you learn the nouns, which do not change form. Because the pairs sit side by side in each table, you can learn them two at a time.

Which Opposites Should You Learn First?

Learn 위 and 아래 (above and below), 앞 and 뒤 (front and back), 안 and 밖 (inside and outside), 남자 and 여자 (man and woman), and 시작 and 끝 (start and end) first. These ten words are among the most frequent nouns in the list, and learning them in pairs halves the work. After them, add 아침 and 저녁 (morning and evening), and 왼쪽 and 오른쪽 (left and right).

• Words to say. 위, 아래, 앞, 뒤, 안, 밖, 남자, 여자, 아침, 저녁. They appear in daily talk and directions.
• Words to recognise. 시작, 끝, 왼쪽, 오른쪽, 어른, 아이. You see them on signs, schedules and tickets.
• Words to understand when spoken. 증가, 감소, 확대, 축소, 최대, 최소. A news report or a presentation uses them.

Korean makes a pair in three ways. Some pairs are two unrelated words, such as 위 and 아래. Some pairs are built with a Sino-Korean prefix, such as 가능 and 불가능, where 불 means not. And some pairs keep one syllable and change the other, such as 최대 and 최소, where 최 means most, 대 big and 소 small. Pairs such as 증가 and 감소 or 확대 and 축소 share no syllable, so learn them as unrelated pairs. Spotting the type helps you remember a new pair. For the two position pairs in more depth, see Korean Position Words Vocabulary.

Word · 12

1. 1

   남자

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   namja

   man; male

2. 2

   여자

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   yeoja

   woman; female

3. 3

   어른

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   eoreun

   adult; elder

4. 4

   아이

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   ai

   child; kid

5. 5

   위

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   wi

   above; on top of

6. 6

   아래

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   arae

   below; underneath

7. 7

   앞

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   ap

   front; in front of

8. 8

   뒤

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   dwi

   back; behind

9. 9

   안

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   an

   inside; in

10. 10

    밖

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    bak

    outside

11. 11

    왼쪽

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    oenjjok

    left; left side

12. 12

    오른쪽

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    oreunjjok

    right; right side

Size and Quantity

Four pairs of nouns say that something is whole or partial, more or less, biggest or smallest, bigger or smaller. They are Sino-Korean words, built from short parts that repeat. They are common in news, schoolwork and workplace talk.

Example Sentences

Four of these nouns become verbs with 하다: 증가 becomes 증가하다, 감소 becomes 감소하다, 확대 becomes 확대하다 and 축소 becomes 축소하다. The sentences use both forms: the noun alone (이 부분이 어려워요, where 부분 is the subject) and the noun with 하다 (사진을 확대해요, where 확대하다 is the verb). The frame for the noun is thing + 이/가 + description. The frame for the verb is object + 을/를 + noun + 하다. After a vowel the subject particle is 가, and after a consonant it is 이, so 인구가 but 부분이. Say each sentence aloud after its clip.

Direction and Position

The next four pairs are the most useful in daily life, because they tell you where something is. Each pair is two unrelated words. The first three pairs are position nouns, which take the particle 에, and the last pair names the left and right sides.

All eight are nouns that work with the location particle 에, so you say 선반 위에, 의자 아래에, 극장 앞에, 집 뒤에, 방 안에, 밖에, 왼쪽에 and 오른쪽에. The pairs 위/아래 and 앞/뒤 also appear in Korean Position Words Vocabulary, where they are taught with more position nouns, and 안/밖 appear there too. Here they appear as opposites. The sentence 오른쪽으로 가세요 uses 으로 (toward), which marks direction, and 가세요 is the honorific polite form of 가다. For the particle, see the 으로 particle.

How Do You Say Opposites about Time in Korean?

Time pairs mark the parts of a day, the beginning and the end, and the past and the future. Two of them, 아침 and 저녁, also name meals. The parts of a day take the time particle 에 when you say when something happens.

The time of day is useful in a sentence: 아침에, 낮에, 저녁에, 밤에. Each takes the particle 에 (at, in), and the sentences above show the pattern. The pairs 아침 and 저녁 are interesting, because the words also name meals: 아침 is breakfast, and 저녁 is dinner. The middle meal, lunch, is 점심. So 아침을 먹어요 can mean I eat breakfast.

The words 시작 and 끝 are a pair that you will hear and read all the time. Schedules print 시작 and 끝 on the same line, as in 시작 시간 (start time) and 끝나는 시간 (end time). If you need an alternative pair, 처음 (the first time, the beginning) and 마지막 (the last) are also opposites: 처음 and 마지막 are the first and last items in a list.

How Do You Say Man and Woman, Adult and Child in Korean?

People pairs help you describe who is in a room, and the feelings pair names joy and sorrow. The first four are plain nouns for kinds of people. The last two are emotion nouns that you will also meet in stories and songs.

The pair 남자 and 여자 is used as a shorthand in many places, such as on toilet doors and in lists. A boyfriend is 남자 친구, and a girlfriend is 여자 친구, written with a space. The words for a husband and a wife are different, and are on the family words page.

Two other pairs worth knowing are 어른 and 아이, which you will use in tickets (어른 표 and 어린이 표), and the feeling pair 기쁨 and 슬픔. Both feeling words are made by adding the ending -ㅁ to the stem of an adjective: 기쁘다 gives 기쁨, and 슬프다 gives 슬픔. That pattern turns many adjectives into nouns.

How Do Korean Prefixes Make Opposites?

The last group gives one example of a prefix pair and the three words you need to talk about opposites. The pair 가능 and 불가능 shows a very common prefix, 불. The final three words are the dictionary terms for opposite, antonym and synonym.

Four Sino-Korean prefixes make opposites by attaching to a word. Each meaning is a form of "not" or "opposite", and the table below gives one pair for each.

The prefix has to match the word. You cannot freely choose any prefix: 불편 (inconvenient) and 불가능 take 불, but 비정상 takes 비. The safest way is to learn each pair as a unit and not to invent new ones. When you hear a word you do not know with 불 or 무 in front, the meaning "not" or "without" is usually a good guess.

How Do Synonyms and Antonyms Work in Korean?

A synonym (동의어) is a word with the same or nearly the same meaning, and an antonym (반의어) is a word with the opposite meaning. Dictionaries list both. In a Korean dictionary you may see the labels 비슷한말 (similar word) and 반대말 (opposite word), and a learner's dictionary shows them under the main entry.

Korean is rich in synonym pairs because it has two layers of vocabulary: native Korean words and Sino-Korean words. Often a native word and a Sino-Korean word mean the same thing, and the Sino-Korean word sounds more formal.

Antonyms come in different kinds. A pair can be one of three types: a complementary pair (남자 and 여자, where one excludes the other), a gradable pair (아침 and 저녁, which have a middle in between), and a directional pair (위 and 아래, 앞 and 뒤). Learning the type helps you see why 가능 and 불가능 leave no middle, but 아침 and 저녁 do.

How Can You Practise Opposites with Flip Cards?

Opposites are easy to practise with flip cards, because the back of one card is the front of another. Write a word on one side of a card, and its opposite on the other. When you flip the card, you recall the pair.

1. Make a card for each pair: 위 on the front and 아래 on the back.
2. Read the front aloud, say its opposite, and flip to check.
3. Then do the reverse: read the back, say the front.
4. Mix the pairs from different groups, so you do not rely on the order of the table.
5. Finish by writing a sentence that uses both words: 모자는 책상 위에 있고 가방은 책상 아래에 있어요 (the hat is on the desk, and the bag is under the desk).

The sentence in step 5 uses the connective -고 (and), which joins two statements. The deck on this page works the same way: it shows one word, and you recall the meaning and the opposite.

How Do You Pronounce These Words?

Most of these words are short, and a few have sounds that differ from the spelling. The main changes are tensing after a final stop, final consonants that change before a vowel, and the vowel ㅢ in the two terms with 의. 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 vowel ㅟ in 위 (wi) is a quick glide: round the lips for "w" and move to "ee". Do not say 우이 as two separate syllables. Also listen for the final consonants. 앞 sounds like [압] when it stands alone, and 밖 sounds like [박]. Listening to the clip is the fastest fix.

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 Opposites?

These five mistakes come up often with opposite pairs.

1. Treating 안 and 밖 as only position words. 안 is also the negative adverb in 안 가요, and 밖에 followed by a negative means only, as in 하나밖에 없어요 (there is only one). The sentence ending shows which.
2. Mixing up 증가 and 감소 in a sentence. 인구가 증가해요 means the population rises, and 인구가 감소해요 means it falls. Nothing in the spelling tells you which is which, so learn the pair.
3. Inventing opposites with a prefix. 불가능 is correct, but 불큰 and 무가능 are not. Learn each pair as it is.
4. Using 반대 to mean only physical opposite. 반대 also means disagree: 저는 반대예요 means I am against it. The sentence tells which meaning applies.
5. Writing 남자친구 as one word in a formal text. The standard form is spaced: 남자 친구. The closed form is common online, but a formal text uses the space.

A habit that avoids most of these: always learn a word together with its opposite, and say both aloud. A word learned as half of a pair is easier to recall than a word learned alone.

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, make your own flip cards for the pairs on this page, with one word on each side. Saying the pair while you flip the card fixes both words together.

Where to Go Next

After this page, go back to Korean Quantity Words Vocabulary for amounts, or move on to the adjective pairs on the descriptive adjectives pages. To return to the full set, go to Shapes, Materials and Measurements in Korean.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say above in Korean?

Above is 위 (wi). It also means "on top of", so it covers both "on the shelf" and "above the shelf". Say 선반 위에 (on the shelf) with the particle 에. Its opposite is 아래 (arae), meaning below. Both words are nouns, so they follow the place they describe.

How Do You Pronounce 아래 (arae)?

Say a-rae, with two short syllables. The ㄹ between vowels is a light tap, like the "tt" in the American "butter". The final ㅐ is open, like the vowel in "bed". Press the audio button on this page for the normal and slow versions.

How Many Opposites Should I Learn First?

Ten words first: 위 and 아래, 앞 and 뒤, 안 and 밖, 남자 and 여자, and 시작 and 끝. At five new words a day, the whole list of 35 takes seven days plus review. Learn each word with its opposite.

Where Can I Practise Opposites 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 show every sound change, so rely on the Hangul and the audio.

Is There a Printable Worksheet for Opposites?

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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