Korean Family Words: 40 Family Members with Romanization and Audio

Korean Family Members at a Glance

This list has 40 words in five groups. It starts with the household, moves to grandparents, then siblings, then your own spouse and children, and ends with the wider family. It sits inside People and Relationships, next to Jobs and Occupations and Relationships and Titles.

English has one word for a mother's brother and a father's brother, "uncle". Korean has several, and the last group of this page shows why a single English gloss is never enough. The next section says which words to learn first.

Which Korean Family Words Should You Learn First?

Learn 가족 (family), 엄마, 아빠 and the sibling words for the people you will actually talk about: 언니 or 누나 for an older sister, 오빠 or 형 for an older brother, and 동생 for a younger sibling. These words cover most self-introductions. Add 어머니 and 아버지 when you need to speak politely about your parents to a teacher, a boss or an older stranger.

• Words to say about yourself. 엄마, 아빠, 동생, 아들, 딸, 남편, 아내.
• Words to say politely to others. 어머니, 아버지, 부모님, 할머니, 할아버지.
• Words to recognise. 친척, 조카, 사촌 and the maternal and paternal labels such as 외할머니.

One habit surprises English speakers. Koreans usually say 우리 (our) where English says "my" for family and home, so a person calls their mother 우리 엄마, literally "our mom". The word 우리 marks the family as a group, not one person's property.

Word · 8

1. 1

   가족

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   gajok

   family

2. 2

   엄마

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   eomma

   mom

3. 3

   아빠

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   appa

   dad

4. 4

   할머니

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   halmeoni

   grandmother

5. 5

   할아버지

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   harabeoji

   grandfather

6. 6

   언니

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   eonni

   older sister (a woman's)

7. 7

   동생

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   dongsaeng

   younger sibling

8. 8

   아들

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   adeul

   son

Family and Parents

Every conversation about family starts with the household itself. These eight words name the family as a unit and the two people at its centre, each in a casual and a formal form. Learn them as pairs, since the choice between them says how polite you are being.

The pairs 엄마 and 아빠 against 어머니 and 아버지 are the clearest register contrast on the page. With friends, 엄마 and 아빠 are fine. In a self-introduction to someone older, say 어머니 and 아버지, or use the safe plural 부모님. To ask about someone else's mother politely, use 어머님, the more respectful form, with the verb ending 세요. For the other titles used outside the family, see terms of address.

Grandparents

Korean splits grandparents by family side more often than English does. Seven words cover the basic pair, the written plural and the four side-specific terms, which you will hear when a speaker needs to say which grandmother they mean.

The prefixes 친 and 외 do the work English leaves to a clause such as "my mother's father". Most families say 할머니 and 할아버지 alone and add the prefix only when both sets of grandparents are in the same conversation. The deeper set, with aunts and uncles on each side, is on the paternal and maternal relatives page.

Siblings

Sibling words carry more information than their English equivalents, because Korean always marks who is older and, for older siblings, who is speaking. Ten words cover the set, including birth-order labels for the youngest child and an only child.

Use the table below to pick the right word. The word depends on who is speaking and on whether the sibling is older.

Age decides the word. To say "my brother" in Korean, you first need to know whether he is older or younger. Older siblings do not call a younger sibling 동생 to their face; they use the name with 아 after a consonant or 야 after a vowel, as in 지현아 or 민수야.

Spouse and Children

These eight words name your own partner, your children and your grandchildren. They are plain, widely used words, and most of them also appear on forms and in the news.

You can say 아들 and 딸 about people of any age. English speakers sometimes expect a word for "kid"; Korean uses 아이 for a child in general and 자녀 only for "one's children" on forms and in news. In-laws, such as a husband's parents, have their own titles on the in-law titles page.

Relatives

The last group names the wider family. Korean separates the father's side from the mother's side at this level, and the seven words below show the main distinctions.

Notice how the word shapes show the side of the family. 고모 is the father's sister and 이모 the mother's sister, and 삼촌 against 외삼촌 shows the same split for uncles. A cousin is just 사촌 on every side. The wide gap with English is why the dedicated page is worth reading; here the goal is to recognise the words.

Do Koreans Say 우리 가족 or 내 가족?

Koreans usually say 우리 가족 (our family), not 내 가족 (my family). 내 is a short form of 나의 (my), and it is not wrong, but it sounds as if the family belongs to one person. The group form 우리 matches how Korean treats the household as a unit. The same rule applies to places the speaker's group shares, such as 우리 집 (our house) and 우리 학교 (our school).

The habit is fixed in everyday speech. A person calls their mother 우리 엄마, their older brother 우리 형, and their company 우리 회사. In polite speech to an older person, use the humble form 저희 (our): 저희 어머니, 저희 가족. For one's own spouse, 제 남편 and 우리 남편 are both used, and 제 남편 is common with strangers.

When you point out someone else's family, use the honorific title, 어머님 or 부모님, and the honorific subject particle 께서. To speak politely about a friend's father, say 아버님. The pairs are shown above; the register difference is the only extra you need.

How Do You Count Family Members?

A family of three is 세 명 (se myeong) or 세 식구 (se sikgu). Both are natural. Use 명 (person, counter) after a native Korean number that shortens before a counter: 한 명, 두 명, 세 명, 네 명. To ask about someone's family politely, say 가족이 어떻게 되세요? (Who is in your family?). The honorific counter for people is 분. The counting people page lists the full set.

Example: 우리 가족은 네 명이에요. 아빠, 엄마, 형, 그리고 저예요. (There are four in my family: dad, mom, my older brother and me.) The sentence frame is ○○은/는 ○○예요/이에요, with topic marker 은 after a consonant and 는 after a vowel.

How Do You Use These Words in a Self-Introduction?

A short family introduction needs only a few of the words above. Try this frame: 저는 [name]이에요/예요. 우리 가족은 [number] 명이에요. [Relatives] 그리고 저예요. After it, you can add a second sentence about a sibling: 저는 오빠가 한 명 있어요 (I have one older brother). The introducing yourself page has the opening lines.

Two cautions. First, Korean needs no separate verb for "have" here: 있어요 means "there is", so 저는 동생이 있어요 literally says "as for me, a younger sibling exists". Second, the sibling word you choose depends on gender and age, so check the table in the siblings section before you speak.

How Do You Pronounce Korean Family Words?

A few of these words change sound when spoken. The Hangul shows the written form, and the Revised Romanization of Korean records the spelling, not every sound change. The standard pronunciation rules published by the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) decide the spoken form.

The tense sounds in 식구 and 딸 are the ones learners miss most. Compare 딸 (daughter) with 달 (moon): the first is tight, the second is soft. Say 딸 by pressing your tongue tip firmly behind your upper teeth and releasing without a puff of air.

Audio and Slow Playback

Each headword and each example sentence has its own audio clip. The clips below replay the trickiest words at a slower pace. Play one, repeat it aloud, then play it again and compare.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with Family Words?

These five mistakes come up most in Korean family talk.

1. Mixing the speaker's gender in sibling words. A woman who says 형 is using a man's word. A woman says 오빠 and 언니; a man says 형 and 누나.
2. Using 엄마 and 아빠 in formal situations. They are warm and casual. In a job interview, say 어머니 and 아버지, or 부모님.
3. Translating "my" as 나의 every time. Koreans say 우리 엄마 and 우리 가족. In polite speech, use the humble 저희 (저희 어머니).
4. Calling every uncle 삼촌. 삼촌 is the father's brother, usually a younger, unmarried one. The mother's brother is 외삼촌, and the father's older brother has his own term, 큰아버지.
5. Using 동생 as if it were an older sibling. 동생 is always younger. Older siblings use the gendered words in the table above.

If you remember only one, remember the sibling table, because it comes up in almost every introduction.

Practice: Flashcards and Worksheet

Study in three steps. First, run the flashcard deck in recognition mode until you know each of the 40 words. Second, switch to listening mode and answer from the audio alone. Third, take the quiz. The deck covers 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, copy the 40 words by hand and write the meaning next to each. Draw your own family tree and label each person in Korean; this is the fastest way to fix the words.

Where to Go Next

After this page, continue with the paternal and maternal relatives page, which separates the father's and mother's sides, or the in-law titles page. For the next list in the section, see Jobs and Occupations, and for titles used outside the family see Relationships and Titles. To move up a level, return to People and Relationships.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Dad in Korean?

The casual word is 아빠 (appa), used at home and with friends. The formal word is 아버지 (abeoji), used in self-introductions and with elders. In a formal sentence, add the honorific ending: 아버지는 회사에 다니세요 (My father works at a company). The word for both parents is 부모님.

How Do You Say Cousin in Korean?

Cousin is 사촌 (sachon). It covers a first cousin from either the father's or the mother's side, and it does not mark male or female. To be exact, add 남 or 여: 남자 사촌 means male cousin. Said sa-chon, with an aspirated ㅊ.

How Do You Say Daughter in Korean?

Daughter is 딸 (ttal). The ㄸ is tense, so say it tight with no puff of air. The word for son is 아들 (adeul), and the formal word for children of either sex is 자녀 (janyeo).

How Do You Pronounce 사촌?

Say sa-chon. The word is said as written, with no sound change. The first syllable is 사, said like "sah", and the second is 촌, with an aspirated ㅊ followed by a clear [o] and the ending [n]. Use the audio button on this page for the normal and slow versions.

What Is the Difference between 형 and 오빠?

Both mean older brother. 형 (hyeong) is what a male speaker says, and 오빠 (oppa) is what a female speaker says. A man calls an older sister 누나, and a woman calls an older sister 언니. Choose the word by your own gender and by the sibling's age.

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.