Korean Bus and Taxi Vocabulary: 35 Words with Romanization and Audio

Korean Bus and Taxi Vocabulary at a Glance

The list has 35 words in five groups of seven. It follows the road: a bus and its stop, paying the fare, taking a taxi, using a ride app and travelling between cities. It belongs to Transportation. Most words are nouns, and a few are loanwords you can already half-guess, such as 버스 and 택시.

For a single word with a full entry, see bus in Korean, taxi in Korean, bus stop in Korean or transit card in Korean. This page is the themed list that puts them together.

Which Bus and Taxi Words Should You Learn First?

Start with 버스 (bus), 택시 (taxi), 정류장 (stop), 요금 (fare) and 기사님 (driver). They let you board, pay and talk to the driver. If you carry a card, add 교통카드 and the verb 타다 (ride), whose polite form is 타요.

• Words to say. 버스, 택시, 요금, 기사님, 영수증.
• Words to recognise. 단말기, 하차, 배차, 도착 예정. They appear on screens and readers.
• Words for long trips. 터미널, 승차권, 좌석, 휴게소.

For spoken requests to a driver, such as asking to stop at a corner, see the taxi and transport phrases. The scene below numbers ten objects from the word list.

Word · 10

1. 1

   버스

   Play

   beoseu

   bus

2. 2

   시내버스

   Play

   sinaebeoseu

   city bus

3. 3

   버스 정류장

   Play

   beoseu jeongnyujang

   bus stop

4. 4

   교통카드

   Play

   gyotongkadeu

   transit card

5. 5

   단말기

   Play

   danmalgi

   card reader

6. 6

   미터기

   Play

   miteogi

   taxi meter

7. 7

   영수증

   Play

   yeongsujeung

   receipt

8. 8

   호출

   Play

   hochul

   calling (a car)

9. 9

   앱

   Play

   aep

   app

10. 10

    고속버스

    Play

    gosokbeoseu

    express bus

Bus Types and Stops

Korean has a separate name for each kind of bus, and every name tells you how far the bus goes. A 시내버스 stays inside a city, a 마을버스 runs small loops through neighbourhoods, and a 공항버스 links the airport to the city. Add the stop and the route and you can plan a journey.

Bus numbers use the counter 번. To ask which bus, say 몇 번 버스예요? (Which number bus is it?), and to answer, give a number plus 번, as in 오백 번 버스. Subway lines use 호선 instead. The verb 다니다 in the late-night sentence means to run regularly along a route, and it becomes 다녀요.

How Do You Say Fares and Cards in Korean?

On a Korean bus you tap a card on the way in and tap again on the way out, and the reader works out the fare. The nouns below name the card, the money and the reader. They also cover the last action of every bus ride: getting off and pressing the stop button.

Two verbs carry these sentences. 대다 (touch against) gives 대요, and 누르다 (press) gives 눌러요, a 르 verb whose stem gains an extra ㄹ. The opposite of 하차 is 승차, getting on. You will see 승차 and 하차 printed on readers inside a bus, so recognise both even if you say 타요 and 내려요 in speech.

Taxi Vocabulary

Taxis are a common choice for visitors in Korean cities, and the vocabulary is short. The key social point is how to address the driver. Koreans say 기사님, which adds the respectful 님 to the word for driver. Calling out 아저씨 works in speech but sounds less polite.

The sentence 영수증 주세요 shows the simplest request pattern: noun + 주세요 means please give me this. It needs no verb conjugation. In the driver sentence, 께 is the respectful form of the particle 에게 (to a person), which suits 기사님. The verb 켜다 (switch on) gives 켜요.

How Do You Say Ride Apps in Korean?

Many people in Korean cities call a taxi from an app rather than hailing one on the street, and the app screens use a small set of fixed words. They tell you where you start, where you end, how long the car will take and how to cancel. These seven words are the ones you see on a ride app screen.

The pair 출발지 and 목적지 follows the same pattern: 지 (place) after a word for leaving or aiming. You will see it again in 도착지 (arrival place). Note the tense sound in both: after the final ㄹ of 출발 and the final ㄱ of 목적, the ㅈ of 지 is said as a tense [ㅉ].

Terminal and Long-Distance

Intercity buses run from big terminals, not from kerbside stops. You buy a ticket, find your seat and take the road through a service stop on the way. A 고속버스 is an express bus on highways, and a 시외버스 serves towns outside the city. The distinction matters when you buy a ticket, because in many cities the two leave from different terminals or sell tickets at different counters.

The suffix 소 (place) appears in 매표소 and 휴게소, and 석 (seat) ends 좌석. On the day of travel the quickest check is the line printed on the ticket: 승차권 shows the departure time, the seat and the platform number. 넓다 (to be wide) makes 넓어요, regular, and 쉬다 (to rest) makes 쉬어요.

How Do You Pronounce Korean Bus and Taxi Words?

Bus and taxi words show tensing and nasal sounds, the two changes most likely to surprise you. A plain ㅈ or ㄱ can become tense after certain final sounds, a ㄴ is added in some compounds, and ㄹ can be said as ㄴ. Standard pronunciation follows the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) rules. Revised Romanization shows some of these changes and ignores others.

Audio and Slow Playback

Each word and example has its own clip, and the five below replay the hardest words slowly. Play a clip, say the word aloud, then compare the tense consonants in your version with the clip.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with Bus and Taxi Words?

Five slips are common on Korean roads.

1. Calling the driver 아저씨. It is not rude on its own, but 기사님 is the safe polite choice for a bus or taxi driver.
2. Using 호선 for buses. Subway lines take 호선, and buses take 번, so 2호선 is a subway line and 이백 번 버스 is a bus.
3. Leaving out 번 after a bus number. 백 버스 is incomplete. Say 백 번 버스, with the counter between the number and the word for bus.
4. Saying 택시를 타요 for hailing. 타요 means ride, not call. To call a taxi use 택시를 불러요, or 호출해요 on an app.
5. Confusing 터미널 and 정류장. A 정류장 is a roadside stop, and a 터미널 is a large station where intercity lines start. Intercity tickets (승차권) are sold at terminals or online, not at roadside stops.

Keep the pairs together: 승차 with 하차, 호선 with 번, and 터미널 with 정류장.

Practice: Flashcards and Worksheet

Study in three steps. First, work through the deck in recognition mode until the 35 words feel familiar. Second, switch to listening mode and play the clip before you flip each card. Third, take the five-question quiz. Your deck progress stays in your browser, and 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. Meanwhile, write one sentence for each of the five groups, such as a fare question, a stop and a destination.

Where to Go Next

After this page, continue with Korean Subway Vocabulary for trains underground, or with Korean Train and KTX Vocabulary for intercity rail. To move up a level, return to Transportation.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Bus in Korean?

Bus is 버스 (beoseu), a loanword from English. A bus stop is 버스 정류장, often shortened to 정류장. The bus number uses 번, so bus 100 is 백 번 버스. The single-word page on bus in Korean gives more detail.

How Do You Pronounce 버스 정류장 (beoseu jeongnyujang)?

Say beo-seu, then jeong-nyu-jang. The first syllable of 정류장 ends in the ng sound, and the ㄹ after it becomes n, so the middle sounds like nyu. The standard pronunciation is [버스 정뉴장]. Press the audio button to hear the stop.

How Many Bus and Taxi Words Should I Learn First?

Five: 버스, 택시, 정류장, 요금 and 기사님. They cover boarding, paying and talking to a driver. At five new words a day the full 35 take a week plus review. Add the ride-app group if you plan to use a taxi app.

What Is 기사님 and When Do I Use It?

기사님 is the polite way to address or mention a driver of a bus or taxi. It is the word 기사 (driver) plus the respectful suffix 님. Use it in sentences such as 기사님께 물어봐요, I ask the driver.

Where Can I Practise Bus and Taxi Words with Flashcards?

Use the vocabulary flashcard decks. The deck for this page holds all 35 words with Hangul, romanization and audio. Your progress stays in your browser. Drill the ride-app group in listening mode if you plan to use a taxi app, because those words appear on the Korean app screen.

Is There a Printable Worksheet for Bus and Taxi 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 words.

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