Korean Sea Animals Vocabulary: 30 Words with Romanization and Audio

Korean Sea Animals Vocabulary at a Glance

Korea is surrounded by water on three sides, so sea animals show up in conversation, school books, markets and menus. A learner who knows the animal names can follow a visit to an aquarium, read a fish-market sign and order seafood with confidence. This list begins with fish, then moves to the large sea mammals, shelled animals, soft-bodied animals and the words for an aquarium visit. It sits in Animals. If your goal is cooking or eating, the Korean Seafood Vocabulary page covers the food side, and the beach and market words are on Korean Ocean and Beach Vocabulary.

Which Sea Animal Names Should You Learn First?

Learn 물고기, 고래, 상어, 게, 새우 and 오징어 first. They are the sea animals that children's books, aquariums and menus mention most, and the first three are easy to say. After that, add 수족관 so that you can talk about where you saw them.

• Words to say. 물고기, 고래, 상어, 게, 새우, 수족관.
• Words to recognise. 생선, 문어, 낙지, 전복. They show up on menus and at fish markets.
• Words to match. 지느러미, 비늘, 산호. Match them to a picture of a reef and they become easy to recall.

The most important distinction on this page is 물고기 versus 생선. 물고기 is a living fish, the animal in the water. 생선 is a fish that is sold, cooked or eaten. A Korean says 물고기가 헤엄쳐요 for a swimming fish and 생선을 구워요 for grilling a fish. The scene below shows an underwater view with numbered animals that match the list.

Word · 10

1. 1

   물고기

   Play

   mulgogi

   fish (the animal)

2. 2

   상어

   Play

   sangeo

   shark

3. 3

   고래

   Play

   gorae

   whale

4. 4

   돌고래

   Play

   dolgorae

   dolphin

5. 5

   물개

   Play

   mulgae

   fur seal; seal

6. 6

   새우

   Play

   saeu

   shrimp; prawn

7. 7

   해파리

   Play

   haepari

   jellyfish

8. 8

   문어

   Play

   muneo

   octopus

9. 9

   수족관

   Play

   sujokgwan

   aquarium

10. 10

    바다거북

    Play

    badageobuk

    sea turtle

Fish

Six words cover the fish you meet most. 물고기 is the general word and 생선 is the food word. 상어 is the shark, which is the fish most children want to learn first. 고등어, 연어 and 참치 are the mackerel, the salmon and the tuna, three fish that are as common on a Korean table as in a Korean sea. Notice that these three are fish that people eat, so their names do double duty as the name of an animal and of a dish.

Example Sentences

Sea animal sentences use three simple frames. The first is animal + 가 + verb, as in 물고기가 헤엄쳐요 (the fish swims). The second is food + 을 + verb, as in 생선을 구워요 (I grill fish). The third is animal + 는 + adjective, as in 상어는 무서워요 (sharks are scary). The verb 먹다 (to eat) joins the food frame, and the verb 살다 (to live) joins the animal frame: 고래는 바다에 살아요. Read each sentence aloud after its audio.

The next group holds the animals that look like fish but are not.

How Do You Say Mammals in Korean?

Sea mammals breathe air and give birth to live young, though they look like fish at a glance. 고래 is the whale, 돌고래 is the dolphin and 범고래 is the orca. 물개 and 바다표범 are the seals, and 바다코끼리 is the walrus. Look at the compound words: 범고래 is a tiger whale, 바다표범 is a sea leopard and 바다코끼리 is a sea elephant. Korean often builds a new animal name by adding a word for a familiar animal to 바다 or 고래.

Learn 고래 first, and the rest of the group builds on it. When you see a new animal ending in 고래, you can guess it is a kind of whale.

Shellfish

Shelled animals are a large part of Korean seafood. 조개 is the general word for clam or shellfish, and 굴, 전복 and 홍합 are the oyster, the abalone and the mussel. 게 is the crab and 새우 is the shrimp, and strictly they are crustaceans, but Koreans group them with the shellfish at a market. These are some of the first words a visitor to a coastal town needs, since a tank outside a restaurant shows them live.

Ask whether a menu item is the animal or the dish only when the sentence is unclear. In most cases the same word covers both.

How Do You Say Jellyfish and Octopus in Korean?

Soft-bodied animals have no shell. 해파리 is the jellyfish and 불가사리 is the starfish. 성게 is the sea urchin, a spiny animal that is also eaten. 문어 is the large octopus, 낙지 is the small octopus and 오징어 is the squid. The three tentacled animals are easy to mix up, and the size rule helps: 문어 is big, 낙지 is small and thin, and 오징어 has a long body with ten arms.

Both 문어 and 오징어 are also the names of dishes. If you see 오징어 on a menu, it is squid served in some form.

Aquarium Words

The last group gives the words for a visit to an aquarium. 수족관 is the aquarium and 어항 is a fish bowl. 지느러미 is a fin and 비늘 is a scale. 산호 is coral, and 바다거북 is the sea turtle that swims past in the big tank. A school trip to a 수족관 is a common memory for Korean children, and these are the words they use in the drawing they bring home.

Use 수족관 for a large public aquarium and 어항 for a small tank at home or in a shop.

How Do You Pronounce These Words?

Most sea animal names are said as written. A few have a tense sound or a linking sound (even 물고기, the first word on the list), and 먹물 changes its first consonant to a nasal. Standard pronunciation follows the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) rules, and the romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which does not show tensing caused by a neighbouring sound.

The tense sounds in 물고기, 수족관 and 낙지 are the hardest. Close your throat slightly and say the sound without a puff of air. Compare the plain ㅈ in 조개.

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 Sea Animal Names?

Five mistakes come up again and again.

1. Using 생선 for a living fish. 생선 is fish as food. For the animal in the water, say 물고기.
2. Mixing up 문어, 낙지 and 오징어. 문어 is the big octopus, 낙지 is the small octopus and 오징어 is the squid.
3. Calling every seal 물개. 물개 is the fur seal and the aquarium seal, and 바다표범 is the true seal of cold coasts.
4. Saying 굴 for both oyster and cave without context. 굴 is both. A sentence about eating means oyster.
5. Skipping the tense sound in 수족관. Say [수족꽌], not [수족관].

The practice section turns the list into drills.

Practice: Flashcards and Worksheet

Use three steps. Run the flashcard deck in recognition mode until the 30 words come quickly. Switch to listening mode, then take the quiz. The deck holds every word on this page 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, draw the sea and label five things in Korean: 물고기, 고래, 상어, 문어, 해파리.

Where to Go Next

After this page, continue with Korean Wild Animals Vocabulary for land animals, or go back to the small creatures on Korean Insects Vocabulary. For the shore itself, see Korean Ocean and Beach Vocabulary. To move up a level, return to Animals.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Whale in Korean?

Whale is 고래 (gorae). Say 고래는 바다에 살아요 for whales live in the sea. A dolphin is 돌고래 and an orca is 범고래, both built from 고래.

What Is the Difference between 물고기 and 생선?

물고기 is a fish as an animal, alive in the water. 생선 is a fish as food, sold in a market or served on a plate. Say 물고기가 헤엄쳐요 for a swimming fish and 생선을 구워요 for grilling a fish.

How Do You Tell 문어, 낙지 and 오징어 Apart?

문어 is the large octopus, 낙지 is the small octopus and 오징어 is the squid. All three also name dishes, so check the context on a menu.

How Do You Say Shark, Crab and Shrimp in Korean?

Shark is 상어, crab is 게 and shrimp is 새우. Use 상어는 무서워요 for sharks are scary, and 새우를 먹어요 for I eat shrimp.

How Many Sea Animal Words Should I Learn First?

Start with about six: 물고기, 고래, 상어, 게, 새우 and 오징어. The whole list of 30 takes about six days at five new words a day, with review.

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.

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