Korean Kids and Toys Vocabulary: 30 Words with Romanization and Audio

What you'll learn

• Match all 30 kids and toy 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 장난감 (toy) and 인형 (doll).
• Tell 아이, 어린이 and 애 apart, and know which baby-talk words are for small children only.

Prerequisites: you can read Hangul and know the polite ending -아요/-어요. Estimated time: about 75 minutes, plus short reviews on the following days.

Korean Kids and Toys Vocabulary at a Glance

The list has 30 words in five groups of six. It follows a child's day: play with toys indoors, go out to the playground, read a story, have a snack, and talk to a parent in the short sounds small children use. It sits in People and Relationships, next to the lists for family, feelings and jobs.

This page is a themed list. If you want the single word for a toy with its meaning and one use, the dedicated page on toy in Korean gives that answer, and doll in Korean does the same for 인형.

Which Kids and Toy Words Should You Learn First?

Learn 장난감 (toy), 인형 (doll), 공 (ball), 놀이터 (playground) and 과자 (snack) first. With only these five you can say what a child plays with and where. A short sentence such as 놀이터에서 놀아요 (I play at the playground) needs just one noun and one verb. Then follow this order:

1. Step 1: the five words above.
2. Step 2: the playground rides: 그네, 미끄럼틀 and 시소.
3. Step 3: story words: 동화, 동화책 and 이야기.
4. Step 4: the baby-talk group, which you mainly need if you spend time with small children.

The scene below numbers ten of the objects in the play area, so you can tie each word to something you can point at.

Word · 10

1. 1

   장난감

   Play

   jangnangam

   toy

2. 2

   인형

   Play

   inhyeong

   doll

3. 3

   공

   Play

   gong

   ball

4. 4

   풍선

   Play

   pungseon

   balloon

5. 5

   놀이터

   Play

   noriteo

   playground

6. 6

   그네

   Play

   geune

   swing

7. 7

   미끄럼틀

   Play

   mikkeureomteul

   slide

8. 8

   동화책

   Play

   donghwachaek

   storybook

9. 9

   과자

   Play

   gwaja

   snack; cookie

10. 10

    아이스크림

    Play

    aiseukeurim

    ice cream

Tap a number to hear the word. The words in this list are everyday nouns, and most take the particle 이/가 or 을/를 like any other noun.

Toys

The toy group starts with the general word 장난감 and then names five popular toys. Four of them, 공, 풍선, 블록 and 퍼즐, are single objects you can point at in a shop. 인형 is the doll or stuffed toy, and 장난감 is the umbrella word for all of them.

The verbs matter as much as the nouns. 던지다 (to throw), 불다 (to blow), 쌓다 (to stack) and 맞추다 (to fit together) are the actions children do with these toys, so learn each noun with its verb. Notice that 인형 covers stuffed toys too: a teddy bear is 곰 인형, with 곰 (bear) in front.

How Do You Say Playground in Korean?

Playground is 놀이터 (noriteo), made from 놀이 (play) and 터 (a place or site). The word names the whole area, and the rides inside have their own names: 그네 (swing), 미끄럼틀 (slide), 시소 (seesaw) and 철봉 (the horizontal bar). 모래 (sand) is the sandpit.

Rides use the verb 타다 (to ride), the same verb as for buses and bicycles. That is why you ride a swing in Korean: 그네를 타요, not 그네를 놀아요. The same is true of 미끄럼틀을 타요 (go down the slide) and 시소를 타요 (play on the seesaw). The particle 에서 marks the place where an activity happens, as in 놀이터에서 놀아요, while 에 would mark a destination, as in 놀이터에 가요 (I go to the playground).

Fairy Tales and Stories

Korean children grow up with folk tales as well as translated stories. Two classics are 흥부와 놀부 (Heungbu and Nolbu, two brothers, one kind and one greedy) and 선녀와 나무꾼 (the fairy and the woodcutter). The six words below name the books and the characters you meet in them.

이야기 has two jobs. As a story it fits 이야기를 읽어요 (I read a story), and as a talk it fits 친구랑 이야기해요 (I talk with a friend). 도깨비 is worth a note, because English texts often call it a goblin, a ghost or a demon. A 도깨비 is a playful folk creature that can reward or trick people. The related word 귀신 means a ghost.

How Do You Say Kids' Foods and Snacks in Korean?

Children's food words are mostly short loanwords and plain native nouns. 과자 is the general snack, 간식 is the snack time or the snack itself, and 사탕, 젤리, 아이스크림 and 우유 name the treats and drinks children ask for most.

Two words look alike: 과자 is the thing you eat, usually dry and packaged, and 간식 is when or why you eat it. A parent can say 간식 시간이에요 (it is snack time) and then hand over a 과자. Notice that 젤리 means jelly candy, not jam. For jam, Korean uses the loanword 잼.

Baby Talk

Parents and grandparents use a separate set of short, repeated sounds with babies and toddlers. These are not slang for adults, and the words below are for small children only. Using them with an adult is either a joke or a mistake.

Baby-talk words are shorter and more repeated than normal Korean, and they usually come with a gentle tone. The example for 맘마 uses the casual ending -자, which means let's. It is right for a parent speaking to a small child and wrong for an adult stranger. If you spend time around small children in Korea, you will hear these words more than any other group on this page.

아이, 어린이 and 애: Three Words for a Child

Korean has three common words for a child, and each fits a different situation. 아이 (ai) is the general word for a child of any age, used in 아이가 셋이에요 (I have three children). 어린이 (eorini) means a school-age child and is the word on signs, in schools and in the holiday 어린이날 (Children's Day, 5 May). 애 (ae) is a short, casual form of 아이, and it also works for your own child in speech: 우리 애는 여섯 살이에요 (my kid is six years old). When you count children, use the people counter 명 (myeong), as in 아이 두 명. See counting people for the counters.

How Do You Pronounce Korean Kids and Toy Words?

Most words on this list are said as they are written, but a few change their sound. The National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) sets these changes in its standard pronunciation rules. Revised Romanization writes tense consonants (kk, tt) when the spelling has them, 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 ends of the syllables.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with Kids and Toy Words?

Five patterns catch beginners when they talk about children.

1. Using baby talk with adults. 맘마, 까까 and 지지 are for small children. Said to an adult, they sound like teasing.
2. Mixing up 아이, 어린이 and 애. 어린이 is the standard word for a school-age child, as in 어린이날. In casual talk about your own child, use 아이 or 애.
3. Using 놀다 for the swing. A child rides a swing, so the verb is 타다: 그네를 타요. 놀다 is for the whole activity, as in 놀이터에서 놀아요.
4. Reading 놀이터 as written. The sound is [노리터]. Saying nol-i-teo with a separate ㄹ sounds stiff.
5. Counting children with 개. Use 명 for people: 아이 세 명, not 아이 세 개. 개 is for things.

If you learn the 타다 rule and the baby-talk limits, most of the trouble goes away. 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 30 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, draw a toy box and a playground and write the Korean word next to each thing.

Where to Go Next

After this page, continue with Emotions to talk about how children feel, or return to People and Relationships for the other people lists.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Toy in Korean?

Toy is 장난감 (jangnangam). It has three syllables, jang-nan-gam, and is said as written. For one named toy, use the specific noun, such as 인형 (doll) or 공 (ball). The single-word page on toy in Korean gives more detail.

How Do You Pronounce 인형 (inhyeong)?

Say in-hyeong as two syllables. The first ends in a soft n, the second starts with a gentle h and then the vowel hyeo, close to yuh. The word means doll, and the final ng is the same sound as in the English word song. Press the audio button on this page to hear it, then repeat it.

How Many Kids and Toy Words Should I Learn First?

Five first: 장난감, 인형, 공, 놀이터 and 과자. They let you name what a child plays with and where. At five new words a day the 30 words take about a week with review. Add the playground rides next.

Where Can I Practise Kids and Toy Words with Flashcards?

Use the vocabulary flashcard decks. The deck for this page holds all 30 words with Hangul, romanization and audio, in recognition and listening modes. Your progress stays in your browser. Give the baby-talk group extra time in listening mode, because those words are heard, not read.

Is the Romanization on This Page Official?

The romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, the official system of the Republic of Korea since 2000. It is a learning aid, not a replacement for Hangul. Spellings you meet in other places, such as noliteo or nori-teo, are unofficial variants, so use Hangul and the audio as your guide.

Is There a Printable Worksheet for Kids and Toy 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 30 words.

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