Korean Jobs Vocabulary: 50 Words with Romanization and Audio

Korean Jobs Vocabulary at a Glance

This list has 50 job words in six groups. The groups follow the workplace: offices, hospitals, public service, schools and labs, the arts, and the trades. The list sits inside People and Relationships, between Relationships and Titles and Body Parts.

Most entries are nouns made from a root plus a suffix, so the page also explains the suffix pattern. Rank words such as 부장 and 과장 belong to a different list, the company ranks page.

Which Job Words Should You Learn First?

Learn 학생 (student), then 회사원, 의사, 선생님, 간호사 and 요리사. These six cover most introductions, and they follow one frame: job + 이에요 after a consonant or 예요 after a vowel. Add the job of the person you are talking to, using 선생님 for teachers and 사장님 for a shop owner or boss.

• Words to say about yourself. 회사원, 직원, 공무원, 주부, 아르바이트생.
• Words to recognise on signs and in the news. 경찰관, 소방관, 검사, 판사, 외교관.
• Words that double as titles. 선생님, 교수, 사장, 의사. Add 님 to address a person by their job.

In Korean, you often introduce a job with a place or a company first: 은행에서 일해요 (I work at a bank) or 회사에 다녀요 (I go to a company, i.e. I am an office worker). The job noun is the answer when someone asks directly.

Word · 8

1. 1

   회사원

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   hoesawon

   office worker

2. 2

   의사

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   uisa

   doctor

3. 3

   간호사

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   ganhosa

   nurse

4. 4

   경찰관

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   gyeongchalgwan

   police officer

5. 5

   소방관

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   sobanggwan

   firefighter

6. 6

   선생님

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   seonsaengnim

   teacher; also a polite title

7. 7

   요리사

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   yorisa

   chef; cook

8. 8

   농부

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   nongbu

   farmer

Office and Business

Most adults you meet will answer with a job from this group. The words describe people in an office, a bank or a shop, and several end in -원 (member of an organisation) or -사 (a skilled specialist).

Notice the suffix endings: 회사원, 은행원 and 판매원 all end in 원. The suffix means a member of a group, so you can build similar words when you meet a new workplace. The next group follows the same logic with different suffixes.

Medical and Care

Medical jobs have the most fixed vocabulary, because each has a licensed title. Seven words cover the people you meet at a hospital, a pharmacy and a clinic.

The same pattern repeats: 간호사, 약사, 영양사 and 의사 all end in 사, a syllable that marks a trained specialist (written 師 or 士 in Chinese characters). For the hospital itself, see the hospital in korean page.

Public Service

Public-service jobs appear constantly in news and drama. Eight words cover the people who protect, govern and judge, and several end in -관 (an official) or -인 (a person of that field).

One of these words has a trap. 검사 has two uses: prosecutor and "examination, inspection", as in 시력 검사 (eyesight test). Context decides which, so look at the word around it. The two meanings are different words that happen to be spelled the same.

Education and Science

Teachers and researchers share one title, 선생님, in daily speech, but the written words differ. Seven words cover schools, labs and engineering.

The ending -자 (as in 과학자 and 학자, scholar) marks someone who studies or works in a field. You can say 선생님 to a teacher at any level, but 교사 only describes the job in writing. Try to hear the difference: 선생님 is what students say, 교사 is what a form says.

Arts and Media

Arts jobs show up in K-drama and K-pop talk. These nine words name performers, writers, visual artists and journalists, and many are short and easy.

Many arts words end in 가, as in 작가 and 화가; 가수 starts with 가 (song) and does not belong to this pattern. The ending 가 means a person with a specialised skill, so 음악가 (musician) and 만화가 (cartoonist) follow the same pattern. Korean fans also say 배우님 and 가수님 when speaking about a performer, adding 님 as a mark of respect.

Food, Trades and Service

The last group names the people who feed, drive and serve. Ten words cover the trades you meet every day, plus the part-time job that most students do.

아르바이트 is the origin of the short word 알바, which is how students and workers refer to part-time jobs in daily speech. Use 아르바이트생 for the person and 아르바이트 for the job. Typical places are a 편의점 (convenience store), a 카페 and a 식당.

How Do the Suffixes -가, -사, -원, -관 and -자 Work?

Many job words are built from a root plus a short ending that says what kind of worker it is. Learning the five endings lets you guess and build words. The table shows each ending with examples from this page.

The endings are Sino-Korean, so they combine with Sino-Korean roots. They do not attach to loanwords: a loanword such as 디자이너 or 엔지니어 keeps its English shape, which is why those words look so different from the rest.

How Do You Ask and Answer 무슨 일을 하세요?

The standard question is 무슨 일을 하세요? (What kind of work do you do?). The answer uses the job noun with 이에요 or 예요, or a workplace verb. Below are ten ready answers, each built from a word above.

Use 이에요 after a consonant (회사원이에요) and 예요 after a vowel (의사예요). The question has a close relative, 직업이 뭐예요? (What is your occupation?), which uses 직업 (jigeop, occupation) and sounds more formal, like a form. For a student, the answer is 학생이에요, or 대학생이에요 for a university student. Learn more self-introduction lines on the introducing yourself page.

Which Job Titles Take 님?

A few titles also work as polite address. Add 님 to the title to speak to a person with respect.

• 선생님. Teachers, and also doctors, lawyers and other experts: 의사 선생님.
• 사장님. A boss, a shop owner or a restaurant owner. Customers use it as the default polite call.
• 교수님. A university professor.
• 기사님. A taxi or bus driver.

Some titles do not take 님 when you address the person. You would not call a colleague 회사원님. Use the person's name plus 씨 or the company rank instead. The terms of address page explains the full system.

Korean job titles are mostly gender-neutral. 배우 covers actor and actress, 의사 covers doctors of any sex, and there is no separate word like English "waitress". Where gender words still exist, they are add-ons such as 여배우 (actress) or 여의사 (woman doctor), used only when the sex matters.

Which Part-Time Jobs Appear in K-Drama?

Student and part-time work shows up a lot in drama and everyday talk. The words are 아르바이트생 (part-time worker), 편의점 직원 (convenience store staff), 카페 직원 (cafe staff) and 배달원 (delivery worker). The first is on this page. The next two join a workplace and 직원 (편의점 + 직원), and 배달원 joins 배달 (delivery) and the suffix 원. A drama line such as 편의점에서 알바해요 (I work part-time at a convenience store) uses the casual short form 알바.

How Do You Pronounce Korean Job Words?

Several job words contain sound changes that the spelling hides. The Revised Romanization of Korean records the spelling and ignores some changes, and the standard pronunciation rules published by the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) give the spoken form.

The tense [ㄲ] and [ㅉ] sounds in 작가 and 과학자 are the most common stumbling point. Say the second syllable tight, with no puff of air, as if you stopped just before saying it. The Hangul does not show this change, so the audio is the best guide.

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 Job Words?

These five mistakes come up most when learners talk about work.

1. Using 회사원 for every job. It means an office worker for a company. Doctors, teachers and farmers use their own titles.
2. Adding 님 when talking about yourself. Say 저는 교사예요 when you are a teacher, and do not call yourself 교수님 or 사장님. 선생님 already contains 님, so adults avoid it about themselves, although teachers use it with young pupils.
3. Looking for an "actress" word. 배우 covers both. Add 여 only when the sex matters.
4. Mixing 검사 (prosecutor) with 검사 (examination). The sound is the same. Context shows which meaning applies.
5. Using 직업 as the answer. 직업 means "occupation" as a category. The answer to 직업이 뭐예요? is the job itself, such as 의사예요.

If you remember only one, remember the 이에요 and 예요 frame, because it carries every answer.

Practice: Flashcards and Worksheet

Study in three steps. First, run the flashcard deck in recognition mode until you know each of the 50 words. Second, switch to listening mode and answer from the audio alone. Third, take the quiz. The deck covers all 50 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 50 words by hand and write the job next to each. Write three sentences about people you know, such as 아버지는 공무원이세요, to fix the frame.

Where to Go Next

After this page, continue with Body Parts, the next list in the section, or Relationships and Titles for the words used to address people. For work vocabulary inside a company, see company ranks. To move up a level, return to People and Relationships.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Doctor in Korean?

Doctor is 의사 (uisa). Use it for the profession, as in 저는 의사예요 (I am a doctor). When you speak to a doctor, say 의사 선생님 or just 선생님. A dentist is 치과 의사, and a doctor of traditional Korean medicine is 한의사.

How Do You Say Actor in Korean?

Actor is 배우 (baeu). The word covers actors and actresses, so there is no separate word. If the sex matters, add 남 or 여 in front, as in 여배우 (actress). Say bae-u, with two clear vowels and no sound change.

How Do You Say Chef in Korean?

Chef is 요리사 (yorisa). 요리 means cooking and 사 marks a skilled worker, so the word also means cook. In a simple polite sentence, say 저는 요리사예요 (I am a chef). A baker is 제빵사.

How Do You Pronounce 배우?

Say bae-u. The first syllable 배 has the vowel ㅐ, close to the vowel in "bet", and the second syllable 우 is a rounded [u]. There is no sound change between them. Use the audio button on this page for the normal and slow versions.

What Does the Suffix -사 Mean in Korean Job Titles?

The ending 사 marks a licensed or skilled specialist. It appears in 간호사 (nurse), 약사 (pharmacist), 요리사 (chef) and 미용사 (hairdresser). It combines with Sino-Korean roots, so it is not attached to loanwords such as 디자이너.

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.