Korean Vegetables Vocabulary: 40 Words with Romanization and Audio

Korean Vegetables Vocabulary at a Glance

This list has 40 words in five groups. It belongs to Fruits and Vegetables. The groups follow how vegetables are laid out in a Korean market: leaves, roots, onions and peppers, vine vegetables, and mushrooms with sprouts. Many of the words are native Korean, and a few such as 토마토, 파프리카 and 브로콜리 are loanwords.

Because Korean cooking uses so many vegetables as side dishes, vegetable words are among the most useful food words you can learn. Almost every table has at least a few.

Which Vegetable Names Should You Learn First?

Learn 배추, 무, 양파, 마늘, 파 and 고추 first. They are the base of kimchi, soups and stews, so you will meet them on most recipe lists and menus. A sentence such as 마늘을 다져요 (I mince garlic) uses one of them with a useful kitchen verb.

• Words to say. 양파, 마늘, 파, 감자, 당근. Use these when you shop and cook.
• Words to recognise. 깻잎, 나물, 도라지, 미나리. These show up on menus and at the table.
• Pairs to separate. 파 and 대파; 무 (radish) and 물 (water) differ by one final consonant.

Vegetable words also help at a restaurant, where banchan is made of them. The scene below shows a vegetable market with numbered objects that match the list.

Word · 20

1. 1

   채소

   Play

   chaeso

   vegetables

2. 2

   양배추

   Play

   yangbaechu

   cabbage

3. 3

   상추

   Play

   sangchu

   lettuce

4. 4

   미나리

   Play

   minari

   water dropwort

5. 5

   무

   Play

   mu

   Korean radish

6. 6

   감자

   Play

   gamja

   potato

7. 7

   도라지

   Play

   doraji

   bellflower root

8. 8

   우엉

   Play

   ueong

   burdock root

9. 9

   파

   Play

   pa

   green onion; scallion

10. 10

    쪽파

    Play

    jjokpa

    small green onion

11. 11

    양파

    Play

    yangpa

    onion

12. 12

    고추

    Play

    gochu

    chili pepper

13. 13

    오이

    Play

    oi

    cucumber

14. 14

    애호박

    Play

    aehobak

    Korean zucchini

15. 15

    토마토

    Play

    tomato

    tomato

16. 16

    파프리카

    Play

    papeurika

    bell pepper (paprika)

17. 17

    브로콜리

    Play

    beurokolli

    broccoli

18. 18

    표고버섯

    Play

    pyogobeoseot

    shiitake mushroom

19. 19

    느타리버섯

    Play

    neutaribeoseot

    oyster mushroom

20. 20

    숙주

    Play

    sukju

    mung bean sprouts

Leafy Greens

Leafy greens are the backbone of Korean food. 배추 (napa cabbage) is the main kimchi vegetable, 상추 (lettuce) wraps grilled meat, and 나물 covers the many seasoned greens served as side dishes. The general word for vegetables is 채소, and you also hear 야채 in daily speech.

나물 is both an ingredient and a dish. It names wild or cultivated greens that are blanched and tossed with sesame oil, salt or soy sauce. You will see it on the banchan table in nearly every meal.

Example Sentences

Three frames carry most of the examples. The first is vegetable + 을/를 + cooking verb, as in 당근을 볶아요 (I stir-fry the carrot). The second is vegetable + 이/가 + describing word, as in 고추가 매워요 (the chili is spicy). The third is vegetable + 로/으로 + dish, as in 배추로 김치를 담가요 (I make kimchi with napa cabbage). Say each aloud after the audio and swap in another vegetable. Use 를 after a vowel (감자를) and 을 after a consonant (당근을), and 로 after a vowel (배추로) but 으로 after a consonant.

Which Root Vegetables Should You Know?

Root vegetables store well, so they traditionally carried Korean households through winter. The Korean radish 무 is thicker and denser than the long white daikon sold in many English-speaking markets, and it is the base of 깍두기 (cubed radish kimchi) and many soups. 감자 and 고구마 are the two starchy roots, and 도라지 is a bellflower root also used in folk remedies for sore throats.

Most of these words end in a vowel or a nasal, so they take 를 or 을 in a regular way: 무를, 당근을, 감자를, 고구마를. The one trap is sound: 무 (radish) and 물 (water) differ only by a final ㄹ, so say the vowel short and stop.

Alliums and Peppers

Alliums and peppers supply the flavour base of Korean cooking. 파 is the general word for green onion or scallion, and shoppers distinguish the thick 대파 (large green onion) from the thin 쪽파 (small green onion). Garlic and chili peppers sit at the top of nearly every recipe.

The pair 파 and 대파 matters on a shopping list. A recipe that says 대파 wants the thick stalk, and a recipe that says 쪽파 wants the thin one. Buying plain 파 usually gets you whichever the shop has. For single-word notes, see green onion in Korean and garlic in Korean.

How Do You Say Gourds and Fruit-Vegetables in Korean?

Gourds and fruit-vegetables are the vegetables that grow on vines and bushes. 호박 is the general word for pumpkin and squash, and 애호박 is the green zucchini-like type used in stews. Several words in this group, such as 토마토 and 파프리카, are loanwords.

Tomato is a good example of a boundary word. Botanically a fruit, 토마토 sits in the vegetable section in a Korean market, so it belongs in this list.

Mushrooms and Sprouts

Mushrooms and sprouts are cheap, quick to cook and used in almost every soup or side dish. 버섯 is the general word for mushroom, and each type adds its own name before it. 콩나물 and 숙주 are sprouts. 콩나물 are soybean sprouts, while 숙주 are mung bean sprouts.

Notice that 콩나물 contains 나물. Many Korean vegetable names stack a smaller word onto a bigger one: 표고 + 버섯, 콩 + 나물. When you meet a long unknown vegetable word, look for a part you already know.

How Do You Pronounce These Words?

Vegetable words include tense sounds, a hidden ㄴ and a stop-consonant ending. Standard pronunciation follows the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) rules, and the romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which writes the sound you hear in some cases and the spelling in others.

When a particle with a vowel follows 버섯, the original sound returns: 버섯이 is said [버서시]. Compare 버섣 alone with 버서시 and you can hear the ㅅ come back. The same happens with 깻잎이 [깬니피].

Audio and Slow Playback

Each word and sentence has its own clip. 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 Vegetable Names?

Five mistakes appear often.

1. Treating 파 and 대파 as the same. 파 is the general word. When a recipe says 대파, use the thick stalks, and for 쪽파 use the thin ones.
2. Calling 무 daikon in a recipe. The Korean radish 무 is shorter, thicker and denser than the long daikon. Grocers sell it as 무.
3. Using 야채 in formal writing. The National Institute of Korean Language recommends 채소 for writing. 야채 is common in speech and on menus, and both are understood.
4. Mixing up 고추 and 고춧가루. 고추 is the fresh pepper. 고춧가루 is the dried pepper flakes sold in a bag.
5. Spelling 깻잎 as 깨잎. The word is 깻잎, from 깨 (here the perilla seed, 들깨) plus 잎 (leaf), with a linking ㅅ (사이시옷) in between.

Separating these pairs removes most shopping errors. For more help with one word, see vegetables in Korean.

Practice: Flashcards and Worksheet

Study in three steps. First, run the flashcard deck in recognition mode until you recognise all 40 words. Second, switch to listening mode. Third, take the quiz. The deck holds all 40 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, list the vegetables in a favourite Korean dish and write one cooking sentence for each.

Where to Go Next

Once this Korean vegetables vocabulary feels familiar, add the fruit list to complete the produce section. After this page, continue with Korean Fruit Names. For the overview, return to Fruits and Vegetables. Vegetables also fill the banchan list.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Vegetables in Korean?

Vegetables is 채소 (chaeso). The word 야채 (yachae) is also common in speech. A vegetable shop is a 채소 가게 or 야채 가게, and supermarket produce aisles are signed with either word. In formal writing, 채소 is the safer choice.

What Is the Difference between 파 and 대파?

파 is the general word for green onion. 대파 means the large, thick kind, and 쪽파 means the small, thin kind. Recipes name the one they want, so buy the matching size. The single-word page on green onion in Korean has more detail.

Is Korean Radish the Same as Daikon?

They are related but not the same. 무 is the Korean radish, which is shorter and thicker and has a firmer texture than the long white daikon. It is the base of 깍두기, 생채 and many soups.

Which Vegetables Are Used Mostly in Korean Cooking?

The best known are 깻잎 (perilla leaf), 나물 greens, 도라지 (bellflower root), 미나리 (water dropwort) and 쪽파. They are rare in English-speaking supermarkets but appear often in Korean side dishes. Korean grocers abroad usually stock 깻잎 and 미나리 fresh.

How Do You Pronounce 깻잎?

Say kkaen-nip. The spelling 깻잎 is said [깬닙], because the final ㅅ becomes ㄷ and then ㄴ before the added ㄴ sound. The first sound is a tense kk. Press the audio button and repeat. Add a vowel particle and the ㅍ returns, so 깻잎이 is said [깬니피].

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, so rely on the Hangul and the audio.