Korean Trees and Plants Vocabulary: Word List with Audio and Examples

Korean Trees and Plants Vocabulary at a Glance

Trees and plants fill Korean life more than a word list may suggest. Pines stand on mountains and around old buildings, ginkgo trees turn city streets yellow in autumn, persimmons hang from branches in village yards, and ginseng and mugwort are part of the Korean kitchen and medicine cabinet. This list starts with the common trees, moves to the trees that carry a cultural meaning, names the parts of a plant, covers grasses and herbs, and ends with the nouns for a garden. It sits in Plants and Flowers. For blossoms, see Korean Flower Names.

Which Tree and Plant Names Should You Learn First?

Learn 나무, 소나무, 대나무, 잎, 뿌리 and 정원 first. They are the words for what you see in a park and the parts you point to. Add 은행나무 and 단풍나무 in autumn, since they are the trees people talk about most when the leaves change.

• Words to say. 나무, 소나무, 대나무, 잎, 뿌리, 정원.
• Words to recognise. 은행나무, 단풍나무, 참나무, 무궁화. They appear in news, street names and holiday greetings.
• Words to match. 줄기, 가지, 열매, 씨. Match them to a drawing of a tree and they become easy to recall.

The key rule is word-building. Many tree names are a plant name plus 나무: 소나무 is pine, 대나무 is bamboo, 감나무 is the persimmon tree and 버드나무 is the willow. If you learn the fruit or the plant, you can often guess the tree. The scene below shows a garden with numbered trees and plant parts that match the list.

Word · 10

1. 1

   나무

   Play

   namu

   tree; wood

2. 2

   소나무

   Play

   sonamu

   pine tree

3. 3

   대나무

   Play

   daenamu

   bamboo

4. 4

   은행나무

   Play

   eunhaengnamu

   ginkgo tree

5. 5

   뿌리

   Play

   ppuri

   root

6. 6

   줄기

   Play

   julgi

   stem; trunk

7. 7

   잎

   Play

   ip

   leaf

8. 8

   열매

   Play

   yeolmae

   fruit; berry

9. 9

   정원

   Play

   jeongwon

   garden

10. 10

    화분

    Play

    hwabun

    flowerpot; potted plant

Common Trees

Six names cover the trees you see most. 나무 is the general word. 소나무 is the pine, a tree that appears in Korean art, poems and even the national anthem. 대나무 is bamboo, which grows in the south and is used for baskets and chopsticks. 은행나무 is the ginkgo that turns street corners gold in autumn, 단풍나무 is the maple with red leaves and 벚나무 is the cherry tree that fills streets with blossom in spring.

Example Sentences

Tree sentences use three simple frames. The first is place + 에 + tree + 가 + 있어요 / 많아요, as in 산에 소나무가 많아요 (there are many pines on the mountain). The second is tree + 는 + verb, as in 대나무는 빨리 자라요 (bamboo grows fast). The third is tree + part + 가 + adjective, as in 은행나무 잎이 노래요 (the ginkgo leaves are yellow). The particles 이 and 가 mark the subject, and 에 marks the place. Read each sentence aloud after its audio.

The next group holds trees that carry a meaning beyond the plant.

How Do You Say Trees in Culture in Korean?

Some trees matter because of what they give or what they stand for. 감나무 is the persimmon tree, whose orange fruit hangs from bare branches in late autumn. 밤나무 gives chestnuts and 대추나무 gives jujubes, a small red fruit used in tea and soups. 참나무 is the oak that gives acorns, and 버드나무 is the willow by rivers. 무궁화 is the rose of Sharon, a flowering shrub that Korea treats as its national flower by long custom (no law designates it).

Names like 감나무 and 밤나무 follow the rule from the first group: fruit name plus 나무. Learn the fruit and the tree comes free.

Plant Parts

Plant parts are short, native Korean words. 뿌리 is the root, 줄기 is the stem or trunk and 가지 is a branch. 잎 is a leaf, 열매 is the fruit or berry and 씨 is a seed. They are the words you use in school, in a garden and when you describe a tree to someone. Notice that 가지 is also the word for eggplant, and the word for a kind or sort, so the sentence matters.

The verb 열리다 appears with 열매 and with 감 in the group before. It is the verb for a plant bearing fruit.

How Do You Say Grasses and Herbs in Korean?

Small plants have their own vocabulary. 풀 is grass and 이끼 is moss. 잡초 is a weed. Three plants matter in Korean food and medicine: 인삼 is ginseng, 쑥 is mugwort, which is picked in spring and used in rice cakes and soup, and 도라지 is the bellflower, whose root is eaten as a side dish. These words appear on shop signs, in markets and in recipes. For more on the food side, you can pair them with the ingredients on a restaurant menu.

Pair 풀 and 잡초 carefully. 풀 is a neutral word for grass or herb, while 잡초 is a plant you do not want in your garden.

Gardening

Gardening nouns finish the list. 정원 is a garden, usually a decorated one with plants, while 텃밭 is a small plot for growing vegetables. 화분 is a flowerpot. 씨앗 is a seed for planting, 흙 is soil and 비료 is fertilizer. Korean also uses counters for plants. A tree is counted with 그루, a flower with 송이 and a clump of grass or a cabbage with 포기. Use the native numbers with them: 나무 한 그루, 나무 두 그루.

Learn 정원 and 텃밭 as a pair: one is for looks and the other for food.

How Do You Pronounce These Words?

Most plant words are said as written, but words that end in a consonant change when a vowel follows. Standard pronunciation follows the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) rules, and the romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which does not show every sound change.

Words with two final consonants, such as 흙 and 굵다, are the hardest. Say the stand-alone form first: 흙 is [흑]. Then add a vowel and listen to the audio for the linked form.

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 Tree and Plant Names?

Five mistakes come up again and again.

1. Forgetting 나무 in tree names. 소나무 is the pine tree, and 소 alone does not name a tree.
2. Saying 벚나무 as [벚나무]. The right sound is [번나무].
3. Mixing up 가지. It means branch, eggplant and kind. A sentence about a tree means branch.
4. Thinking 씨 and 씨앗 are different things. Both mean seed, and 씨를 뿌려요 (I sow seeds) is normal. 씨앗 is the usual word on seed packets, while only 씨 is used for the seed inside a fruit you eat.
5. Counting trees with 개. Use 그루: 나무 두 그루, not 나무 두 개.

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 a tree and label five parts in Korean: 뿌리, 줄기, 가지, 잎, 열매.

Where to Go Next

After this page, continue with Korean Landscape Words for the places where trees grow, or return to blossoms on Korean Flower Names. To move up a level, return to Plants and Flowers.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Tree in Korean?

Tree is 나무 (namu). Say 정원에 나무가 있어요 for there is a tree in the garden. The same word means wood as a material. Trees are counted with 그루: 나무 한 그루 is one tree.

How Do You Say Pine Tree and Bamboo in Korean?

Pine tree is 소나무 (sonamu) and bamboo is 대나무 (daenamu). Both end in 나무, which is the word for tree. Say 대나무는 빨리 자라요 for bamboo grows fast.

What Are the Parts of a Plant in Korean?

Root is 뿌리, stem or trunk is 줄기, branch is 가지, leaf is 잎, fruit is 열매 and seed is 씨. A seed for planting is 씨앗.

How Do You Count Trees and Flowers in Korean?

Trees use the counter 그루, flowers use 송이 and clumps of grass use 포기. Combine them with native numbers: 나무 두 그루 means two trees.

How Many Tree and Plant Words Should I Learn First?

Start with about six: 나무, 소나무, 대나무, 잎, 뿌리 and 정원. 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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