Korean Body Organs Vocabulary: 25 Words with Romanization and Audio

What you'll learn

• Match all 25 organ words to their English meanings.
• Say five of them aloud with the help of the Revised Romanization and the audio.
• Write two original sentences that use words such as 심장 (heart) and 폐 (lung).
• Tell an organ word from the everyday body part next to it, such as 위 (stomach) and 배 (belly).

Prerequisites: you can read Hangul and know the outer body words on Body Parts. Estimated time: about 75 minutes, plus short reviews on the following days.

Korean Body Organs Vocabulary at a Glance

The list has 25 words in five groups of five. It starts in the chest, moves down through the digestive system, goes up to the brain, and ends with the frame of the body and the blood. It belongs to Body Parts, which covers the outside of the body: head, arms, legs and hands.

This page is a themed list, so it gives you the words and a short model sentence for each one. For illness and doctor visits, continue with the health vocabulary, where symptoms and treatments are listed.

Which Body Organ Names Should You Learn First?

Learn 심장 (heart), 폐 (lung), 간 (liver), 위 (stomach) and 뇌 (brain) first. These five appear most often in health talk, news and school books. A short sentence such as 심장이 빨리 뛰어요 (my heart is beating fast) needs only the noun and a common verb. Then add the rest in this order:

1. Step 1: the five core organs above.
2. Step 2: 대장 and 소장 (the two intestines), plus 신장 (kidney) and 혈관 (blood vessel).
3. Step 3: 뼈, 근육 and 관절, the words for the body's frame.
4. Step 4: the medical extras, such as 횡격막, 척수 and 맥박.

The scene below numbers ten organs, so you can connect each word to a place in the body.

Word · 10

1. 1

   심장

   Play

   simjang

   heart

2. 2

   폐

   Play

   pye

   lung

3. 3

   간

   Play

   gan

   liver

4. 4

   위

   Play

   wi

   stomach

5. 5

   대장

   Play

   daejang

   large intestine

6. 6

   소장

   Play

   sojang

   small intestine

7. 7

   신장

   Play

   sinjang

   kidney

8. 8

   뇌

   Play

   noe

   brain

9. 9

   뼈

   Play

   ppyeo

   bone

10. 10

    혈관

    Play

    hyeolgwan

    blood vessel

Tap a number to hear the word. Notice how many names end in -장: it means an internal organ in many Sino-Korean words, which the next section explains.

Chest Organs

The chest holds the organs people mention most often. 심장 and 폐 are the headwords, and 가슴 is the everyday word for the chest as a body part. Doctors and patients use them together: you point to your 가슴 and name the organ that worries you.

The -장 in 심장 is the same 장 (臟, organ) that ends 대장, 소장 and 신장 below. Once you know it, a new word ending in -장 is very likely an organ. 가슴 is the exception in this group, because it is a native word and names a part of the outside of the body as well. In the sentence 가슴이 답답해요, the word 답답해요 comes from the adjective 답답하다, which describes a stuffy or tight feeling.

How Do You Say Digestive Organs in Korean?

The digestive organs are 위, 간, 대장, 소장 and 식도. The group is called 소화 기관 (sohwa gigwan, digestive organs) in textbooks, and the whole system is the 소화계 (sohwagye). Learners meet 위 and 간 first, because both appear in health checks and in set phrases.

Do not confuse 위 (stomach) with 배 (belly). 배 is the outside of the body, the part you can pat, and it is the word you use for a stomach-ache in daily talk: 배가 아파요. 위 is the organ itself and is the word doctors and pharmacists use: 위가 안 좋아요 (my stomach is not good). The pair 대장 and 소장 is easy to remember because 대 and 소 mean big and small, as in 대형 (large size) and 소형 (small size). Watch out for the other 대장 (a leader or captain), which has the same spelling.

Brain and Nerves

Five words cover the nervous system. 뇌 is the organ, 두뇌 is the same organ seen as the seat of ability, 신경 means nerve, 척수 is the spinal cord, and 감각 is the sense of touch or feeling. They appear in medicine and also in everyday remarks about nerves and smartness.

신경 is the most useful word here because it has a second life outside the body. 신경 쓰지 마세요 means do not worry about it, and the phrase 신경이 쓰이다 means something bothers you. Keep the literal body meaning and the figurative meaning in separate notes. 두뇌 is a good example of a word that is organ and ability in one: Koreans say a person has a good 두뇌 where English says a good head or a good brain.

How Do You Say Bones and Muscles in Korean?

The frame of the body has five words you will meet in sports, accidents and exercise talk. 뼈 is bone, 근육 is muscle, 관절 is joint, 척추 is the spine and 갈비뼈 is a rib. Only 뼈 is a native word; the others are Sino-Korean.

갈비뼈 shows how Korean builds new words by joining nouns: 갈비 plus 뼈 gives the rib bone, and 등 plus 뼈 gives 등뼈, the backbone. The same pattern gives 손뼈 (hand bone) and 다리뼈 (leg bone). In the examples, 부러졌어요 and 다쳤어요 are past tense forms of 부러지다 (to break, of a bone or branch) and 다치다 (to get hurt).

Blood and Circulation

This group links the blood to the organs that carry and clean it. 피 is the everyday word for blood, and 혈액 is the medical word. 혈관 are the vessels, 맥박 is the pulse, and 신장 is the kidney, which filters the blood.

The two blood words differ in register, not in meaning. 피 is what you say when you cut a finger, and 혈액 is what a nurse writes on the form. The same split is common in Korean: a native word for daily life and a Sino-Korean word for medicine and law. The verb in the vessel sentence, 흘러요, comes from 흐르다 and belongs to the 르 irregular class, which adds an extra ㄹ: 흐르다 becomes 흘러요. The kidney sentence uses 걸러요 from 거르다 in the same way.

Organ Words in Common Phrases

Organ words show up in sayings, and it is useful to know that the meaning is figurative. 간이 크다 (literally, the liver is big) means a person is bold or daring: 그 사람은 간이 커요 (that person is bold). Its opposite is 간이 작다 (the liver is small), a person who is timid. These are idioms. They do not describe a real liver, and a doctor would never use them. Another common phrase is 가슴이 두근거리다, which describes a pounding heart from nerves or excitement; the word for the organ there is 가슴, not 심장.

How Do You Pronounce Korean Body Organ Words?

Organ words are mostly short, but several change their sound inside the word. The National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) sets these changes in its standard pronunciation rules. Revised Romanization follows the spoken sound for nasal changes and linking, but it does not show tensing that comes from a neighbouring sound.

Audio and Slow Playback

Each word and sentence has its own clip. The five clips below play the harder words slowly. Play a clip, say the word, then play it again and compare the end of each syllable.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with Body Organ Names?

Five patterns catch learners at the doctor's office.

1. Using 위 for the belly. For a stomach-ache people say 배가 아파요. 위가 아파요 is correct but sounds more medical, as if you were describing the organ to a doctor.
2. Mixing 대장 the organ with 대장 the leader. The spelling is the same. 대장 검사 means a colon check, while 골목대장 is the leader of the neighbourhood kids.
3. Missing the second meaning of 신장. 신장 is also the formal word for a person's height, as on forms. Context decides: 신장 next to 체중 (body weight) on a form is height, while 신장이 안 좋아요 at the clinic is about the kidney. In plain talk the kidney is 콩팥.
4. Taking idioms literally. 간이 크다 means bold, not that the liver is large. Learn it as one phrase.
5. Reading 횡격막 as written. The sound is [횡경막]. The final ㄱ becomes ㅇ before ㅁ, so a speaker who says hoeng-gyeok-mak will be understood but sounds unnatural.

Learn the pair of registers first: native or everyday in the clinic waiting room, Sino-Korean in the examination room. The practice section turns the list into drills.

Practice: Flashcards and Worksheet

Study in three steps. First, run the deck in recognition mode until the 25 words feel familiar. Second, switch to listening mode and tap the clip before the card turns. Third, take the five-question quiz below. The deck stores your progress 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 additional practice, copy the five groups by hand and say each word as you write it.

Where to Go Next

After this page, continue with the health vocabulary to use organ names with symptoms and the hospital, or return to Body Parts for the outside of the body.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Heart in Korean?

Heart is 심장 (simjang). It has two syllables and no special sound change. The word is used for the organ and also for the centre of something. In daily talk you can also say 가슴 for the chest area when you feel nervous. The audio on this page plays 심장 and an example sentence.

How Do You Say Lung in Korean?

Lung is 폐 (pye). Korean does not mark the plural here, so 폐가 아파요 can mean my lung hurts or my lungs hurt. An older native word, 허파 (heopa), is still heard in daily speech. The standard allows 폐 to be said as pye or pe, and the audio plays one clear version.

How Many Body Organ Words Should I Learn First?

Five first: 심장, 폐, 간, 위 and 뇌. They let you name the main organs and follow a simple health conversation. At five new words a day the 25 words take a week with review. Add 대장, 소장, 신장 and 혈관 next.

What Does -장 Mean in Korean Organ Names?

In 심장, 대장, 소장 and 신장 the syllable 장 (臟) is a Sino-Korean element that means an internal organ. It helps you guess new organ names. It is not always an organ: 가장 and 시장 contain a different 장, so use it only as a hint.

Where Can I Practise Body Organ Words with Flashcards?

Use the vocabulary flashcard decks. The deck for this page holds all 25 words with Hangul, romanization and audio, in recognition and listening modes. Your progress stays in your browser. Give the group with 횡격막 and 맥박 extra time in listening mode.

Is There a Printable Worksheet for Body Organ 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, the tables on this page can be copied by hand, and the deck carries the same 25 words.

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