Korean Drinking Culture Vocabulary: Word List with Audio and Examples

Korean Drinking Culture Vocabulary at a Glance

This page is a vocabulary list, not advice to drink. Many Korean social events, from company dinners to birthday gatherings, include alcohol, and the language around them is rich. You will hear these words in dramas, in variety shows and from colleagues, so they help even if you rarely drink yourself. The list belongs to Drinks, and it has 35 words in five groups of seven.

The groups follow a night out. You start with the drinks (술, 소주, 맥주), move through the rounds of the evening (일차, 이차), follow the customs that make a gathering polite, share a toast or a game, and end with the morning after. Where a custom is described, the page treats it as a common practice that changes from group to group and not as a fixed rule. For the wider set of manners, see language etiquette.

Which Drinking Culture Words Should You Learn First?

Learn 술, 소주, 맥주, 건배 and 회식 first. With those five you can follow most conversations about a night out: 오늘 저녁에 회식이 있어요 (There is a company dinner this evening). Add 사양하다 early, too, because it is the polite way to turn down another drink. Declining is normal, and 저는 술을 잘 안 마셔요 (I don't drink much) is a complete and polite answer.

• Words to say. 술, 소주, 맥주, 건배, 사양하다. They cover ordering, toasting and declining.
• Words to recognise. 소맥, 안주, 일차, 회식, 포장마차. They describe the setting and the rounds.
• Words to understand when spoken. 짠, 원샷, 러브샷, 폭탄주, 해장. They are casual and appear in dramas and shows.

Drinks are counted by the container, using native numbers: 소주 한 병 (one bottle of soju), 맥주 두 잔 (two glasses of beer). The scene below shows a table with food and drinks, with twelve numbered labels that match words in the tables.

Word · 12

1. 1

   술

   Play

   sul

   alcohol; alcoholic drink

2. 2

   소주

   Play

   soju

   soju

3. 3

   맥주

   Play

   maekju

   beer

4. 4

   막걸리

   Play

   makgeolli

   makgeolli (rice wine)

5. 5

   소맥

   Play

   somaek

   soju-beer mix

6. 6

   일차

   Play

   ilcha

   first round (1차)

7. 7

   이차

   Play

   icha

   second round (2차)

8. 8

   술집

   Play

   suljip

   bar; pub

9. 9

   안주

   Play

   anju

   side dish for drinks

10. 10

    잔

    Play

    jan

    glass; cup

11. 11

    건배

    Play

    geonbae

    toast; cheers

12. 12

    숙취

    Play

    sukchwi

    hangover

Drinks (소주, 맥주, 막걸리)

Drink words come first. The general word is 술, and the three drinks you will hear most are 소주 (a clear spirit), 맥주 (beer) and 막걸리 (a milky rice drink). A mix of the first two has its own name, 소맥. Use the verb 마시다 (to drink) with all of them.

Drinks are counted by container: 병 (bottle), 잔 (glass) and 캔 (can), with native numbers, as in 소주 한 병 and 맥주 두 잔. The Drinks page lists the soft drinks, coffee and tea words, and the Korean Cafe Menu Vocabulary page covers what to order at a cafe. For single words, see alcohol in Korean and soju in Korean.

Example Sentences

The examples use three frames. The first is noun + 을/를 + 마셔요, as in 와인을 마셔요. The second is noun + 이/가 + descriptive verb, as in 도수가 높아요. The third is noun + 에서 + verb for the place, as in 술자리에서 이야기했어요. The particle follows the last sound of the noun: 술을 (consonant, so 을), 와인을 (consonant, so 을), 안주가 (vowel, so 가) and 회식이 (consonant, so 이). Say each sentence aloud after the audio and replace the noun with another from the table.

How Do You Say Drinking Rounds (1차, 2차) in Korean?

Koreans often describe a night out in rounds. The first place is 1차, the second is 2차 and the third is 3차. Each round is a different venue: dinner first, then a bar, then perhaps a karaoke room. Read the numbers with Sino-Korean numbers, 일차 and 이차, and add 차 (round). The other words name the occasion, the place and the food.

A night out is therefore described in stages: 일차는 저녁, 이차는 술집 (first round dinner, second round a bar). A person who leaves after the first round says 저는 일차만 할게요 (I'll only do the first round). The pair is also used outside drinking, for any event that moves on to another place. The word 회식 is a work event, so you will see it in the School and Work vocabulary too.

Etiquette

Etiquette words describe how people behave around a drink. Two words matter most for a learner: 어른 (an older or respected person) and 윗사람 (someone senior to you). Common customs include pouring for others and receiving a glass with both hands, especially from someone older. These are usual habits in many groups, not laws, and practice differs between families, offices and friends.

Declining is part of etiquette too. The respectful way to say no is not 싫어요 (I don't like it), which is blunt, but 괜찮아요 (I'm fine) or 사양할게요 (I'll pass). If someone insists, you can add a reason in a gentle sentence: 내일 일찍 일어나야 해요 (I have to get up early tomorrow). The sentence uses the polite present of 일어나다 inside an obligation pattern.

How Do You Say Drinking Games and Toasts in Korean?

Toast words are the most cheerful vocabulary on the page. The classic is 건배, and the short, playful version is 짠, which imitates the sound of glasses touching. Some groups add drinking games, and the words 원샷, 러브샷, 폭탄주 and 벌주 belong to those games. They are casual and tied to friendly moments; nobody has to join, and water is a normal drink at any table.

The toast 위하여 follows the thing you drink to: 우리의 건강을 위하여 (to our health). The particle 을 appears before 위하여 because the phrase is object + 을 + 위하여. Because drinking games are optional, a gentle way to opt out is 저는 물로 할게요 (I'll have water).

Morning After

The last group covers the day after and some health and safety words. The Korean hangover (숙취) has its own cure (해장), and a whole soup category takes its name from it. The group also includes 과음 (drinking too much), 금주 (giving up drinking) and 음주 (drinking), the last of which appears in the safety phrase 음주 운전 (drunk driving).

Safety words matter. 음주 운전 is a serious matter in Korea, and you will see it on signs, in news reports and in public notices. The phrase 절대 안 돼요 (never acceptable) is how people say it plainly. If you are with people who plan to drive, 대리운전 (a driver you can book) is the usual alternative, and taking a taxi is also common.

How Do You Pronounce These Words?

Drinking words contain some of the most common tense consonants in Korean, because many are compounds. The Hangul shows the written form, while the spoken form shifts where one sound meets another. Standard pronunciation follows the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) rules, and the romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which writes double-letter tense consonants but does not show tensing caused by a neighbouring sound.

Tense sounds are the hardest part of drinking vocabulary for learners. A tense consonant is said with a tight throat and no puff of air, so in 맥주 the ㄱ closes briefly and the "ju" comes out tight. The romanization writes 맥주 as maekju, not maekjju, because the Revised Romanization follows the spelling and not the tense sound. Press the audio before you copy these words.

Audio and Slow Playback

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

Five mistakes appear often.

1. Using only 먹다 for alcohol. The usual verb for drinking is 마시다: 술을 마셔요. 술을 먹다 is also common in casual speech and is not wrong, but 마시다 is the safe choice in polite or written Korean.
2. Treating 1차 and 2차 as courses of a meal. They are rounds at different venues. Dinner is 1차 and the next stop is 2차, even if both serve food.
3. Using 짠 or 원샷 with elders or in formal settings. Both are casual. At a formal event, say 건배 and let the senior person lead.
4. Calling 소맥 a brand. It is a mix of 소주 and 맥주, made at the table. The same idea has other names, such as 폭탄주 for a dropped shot glass.
5. Declining with 싫어요. That means "I don't like it" and sounds blunt. Use 괜찮아요 or 사양할게요, and say 저는 물로 할게요 if you prefer water.

If you only fix one, fix the way you decline. A polite 괜찮아요 is accepted almost everywhere.

Practice: Flashcards and Worksheet

Study in three steps. First, run the flashcard deck in recognition mode until you recognise all 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, write three sentences about a night out: where the first round was, what you ordered and how you declined a second drink.

Where to Go Next

After this page, return to Drinks for water, coffee, tea and traditional drinks, or open Korean Cafe Menu Vocabulary for ordering a coffee. For the manners around a table, see language etiquette. For single words, open alcohol in Korean and soju in Korean.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Soju in Korean?

Soju is 소주 (soju), written the same way in English. Say so-ju in two even beats with a plain ㅈ. To order, use the counter 병 (bottle): 소주 한 병 주세요 (soju han byeong juseyo) means "one bottle of soju, please". Press the audio button to hear it.

How Do You Pronounce 맥주 (maekju)?

Say maek-ju, written [맥쭈]. The final ㄱ of 맥 is closed and not released, and the ㅈ after it becomes tense, said with a tight throat and no puff of air. The Revised Romanization writes maekju, because it follows the spelling and not the tense sound.

How Many Drinking Culture Words Should I Learn First?

Five first: 술, 소주, 맥주, 건배 and 회식. At five new words a day, the 35-word list takes seven days plus review. Learn 사양하다 in the same week, because knowing how to decline politely is as useful as knowing how to order.

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

Is There a Printable Worksheet for Drinking Culture 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.