Korean Traffic and Road Signs Vocabulary: Words and Examples

Korean Traffic and Road Signs Vocabulary at a Glance

The list has 30 words in five groups of six. It follows what a driver or a walker meets on the road: a warning, an arrow, a ban, a parking or speed rule and the name of the road itself. It belongs to Transportation, next to the words for the vehicles that use these roads. Nearly all the words are nouns, and many are Sino-Korean, built from short parts that you can reuse.

Which Road Sign Words Should You Learn First?

Learn 정지 (stop), 서행 (slow down), 주의 (caution), 일방통행 (one way) and 금지 (banned) first. They cover most signs you see in a first week on Korean roads, whether you drive, ride a bike or walk. Together with 주차 (parking), they also let you read parking signs, which cause most trouble for visitors.

• Words to say. 정지, 서행, 주의, 주차.
• Words to recognise. 일방통행, 진입 금지, 출입 금지, 공사 중. They are written, not spoken.
• Words for drivers. 제한 속도, 단속 카메라, 고속도로, 교차로, 좌회전, 우회전.

The scene below numbers ten of the 30 words, and the audio on each item plays the headword. The learner who only walks can skip the driving words and still read every crossing.

Word · 10

1. 1

   정지

   Play

   jeongji

   stop

2. 2

   서행

   Play

   seohaeng

   slow down; driving slowly

3. 3

   어린이 보호구역

   Play

   eorini bohoguyeok

   school zone; child protection zone

4. 4

   일방통행

   Play

   ilbangtonghaeng

   one way

5. 5

   좌회전

   Play

   jwahoejeon

   left turn

6. 6

   진입 금지

   Play

   jinip geumji

   no entry (for vehicles)

7. 7

   주차 금지

   Play

   jucha geumji

   no parking

8. 8

   제한 속도

   Play

   jehan sokdo

   speed limit

9. 9

   단속 카메라

   Play

   dansok kamera

   enforcement camera

10. 10

    횡단보도

    Play

    hoengdanbodo

    crosswalk

Warning Signs

Warning signs tell you to do something now: stop, slow down or take care. They use the shortest words in the list, often just two syllables, because a driver has a second to read them. The same words are painted on the road surface, which is why you meet 서행 and 정지 at school gates and junctions. The sixth word is a place, but it works like a warning, because it tells drivers to expect children.

Signs write the noun, not a sentence, so 서행 is enough to mean "drive slowly". If you want to say it as a sentence, add 하다 to make 서행해요. Most of these words work the same way: 정지해요 (I stop) and 주의해요 (I take care) follow the pattern noun + 해요. The word 중 in 공사 중 is a handy suffix. It turns a noun into "in the middle of", so 사용 중 means in use and 영업 중 means open for business. The adjective 위험하다 changes to 위험해요, while 미끄럽다 (be slippery) changes to 미끄러우니까 before -니까, with the ㅂ turning into 우.

How Do You Say Direction Signs in Korean?

Direction signs show which way traffic moves. Their words are built the same way: a direction plus 회전 (turning), or a short noun for the move itself. Learning 좌 (left) and 우 (right) lets you read two signs at once. You will meet these words on overhead boards at junctions and in car navigation voices.

Navigation apps and in-car voices use the same nouns with 하세요, as in 좌회전하세요 (turn left). In everyday speech people more often say the plain direction words 왼쪽 (left side) and 오른쪽 (right side), as in 오른쪽으로 가세요 (go to the right). Sign words are written, while the plain words are spoken, so learn both. For help with plain directions and position words, see the directions list.

Prohibition Signs

A ban in Korean is almost always the banned thing followed by 금지 (geumji). That one pattern gives you six signs from this table and dozens more. 금지 itself means prohibition, and a sign that says 추월 금지 is saying "overtaking: banned". Learn the pattern once and you can read a sign you have never seen, as long as you know the first word.

The first word tells you who the ban applies to. 진입 금지 is for vehicles going into a road, 출입 금지 is for people going in and out of a place, 정차 금지 is for any vehicle stopping and 통행 금지 stops everything passing through. Signs often write the pair without a space, as 진입금지 or 정차금지, while dictionaries and this page space the two words. Both forms are understood. The pattern also works outside traffic: 흡연 금지 (no smoking) and 촬영 금지 (no filming) use the same ending. In speech people say 안 돼요 (it is not allowed) instead.

How Do You Say Parking and Speed in Korean?

Parking and speed have the most words that appear in news and conversation, not only on signs. People complain about 주차 (parking) in crowded neighbourhoods, and drivers talk about 과속 and the cameras that catch it. The words below are written on signs, parking lots and car navigation screens, so they come with the most chances to hear them.

The tense sounds in this group are worth hearing. In 제한 속도 the ㄷ of 도 is said as a tense [ㄸ], because it follows the final ㄱ of 속. The same happens in 고속도로 in the next group. Revised Romanization writes sokdo and gosokdoro, so it does not show the tense sound. The verb 주차하다 gives 주차해요, as in 여기에 주차해요 (I park here). Notice the particle 에 in 주차장은 지하에 있어요, which marks where something is; for where an action happens, use 에서, as in 주차장에서 기다려요 (I wait in the parking lot). For the vehicles themselves, see Korean Car and Driving Vocabulary.

Street and Highway Names

The last group names the road itself and the places where people cross it. It also explains the endings you see in Korean street names. In the road-name address system, 대로 marks the widest roads, 로 is used for mid-sized roads and 길 for smaller streets, so 세종대로 is a wide road in Seoul, while a name ending in 길 is a smaller street. Learning the endings tells you the size of a road before you arrive.

A Korean address ends with the road name and a building number, as in 세종대로 110. The name comes first and the number last, and a landmark is often easier than the full address when you talk to a driver. The word 길 has two meanings, road and way, and it appears in the common question 길을 몰라요 (I do not know the way). Compare 도로, which is the road as a thing, with 길, which is the road as a route. Foot traffic has its own words: 횡단보도 is the marked crossing and 보행자 is the person who walks across it. The related word 신호등 (traffic light) names the lights that control both.

How Do You Pronounce These Words?

Road sign words are short, so the sounds that change are easy to spot. Final consonants move to the next syllable, a plain consonant becomes tense after a final ㄱ, and ㄹ does not tense a following ㅂ. Standard pronunciation follows the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) rules. Revised Romanization shows some of these changes and ignores the tensing, so use the audio for the rest.

Audio and Slow Playback

Each word and example has its own clip, and five more replay the hardest words slowly. Play 일방통행 first and check that your ㅂ is plain, not tense, then compare the tense sounds in 제한 속도 and 고속도로 with the clip.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with Road Sign Words?

Five slips are common when reading Korean signs.

1. Reading 금지 as a word on its own. 금지 needs a first word. A sign with only 금지 is unusual, so look for the thing before it, such as 주차 or 추월.
2. Mixing 진입 금지 with 출입 금지. 진입 금지 is for vehicles entering a road, and 출입 금지 is for people entering a place. Mix them up and you misread who the ban applies to.
3. Saying the tense sound as plain. 제한 속도 is [제한 속또], not [제한 속도]. A plain ㄷ there sounds unnatural.
4. Treating 길 and 도로 as the same. 도로 is the road as an object, and 길 is the way or street, including in street names. Both can be "road" in English.
5. Forgetting the verb ending in speech. On a sign 서행 is enough. In speech you add 해요, as in 서행해요, or use a plain verb such as 천천히 가요 (I go slowly).

Check the first word of every 금지 sign, and say the tense sounds aloud when you practise. Sign wording on real roads can differ in small ways from the dictionary spellings used here, so treat the sign in front of you as the authority.

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 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 a ban for each of the five prohibition patterns, such as 주차 금지 and 추월 금지, and say each aloud.

Where to Go Next

After this page, continue with Korean Car and Driving Vocabulary for the car itself, or go back to Transportation for subway, bus and train lists. For the plain words you use to give directions in speech, see directions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Stop in Korean?

Stop is 정지 (jeongji) on a sign, and 일시정지 is a brief full stop. As a verb, 정지하다 gives 정지해요. In speech people also say 서요 (it stops) or 멈춰요 (it halts). Signs are written forms, so a sign usually shows just the noun.

How Do You Pronounce 서행 (seohaeng)?

Say seo-haeng in two even beats. The first vowel is ㅓ, an open sound made with unrounded lips, a little like the u in "bus". The second syllable starts with a light h and ends with the ng sound, as in "sing". The standard pronunciation is [서행], with no sound change. Press the audio button to hear it.

How Many Road Sign Words Should I Learn First?

Five: 정지, 서행, 주의, 일방통행 and 금지. They cover warnings, directions and bans. At five new words a day the full 30 take six days plus review. Add 주차 and 횡단보도 if you walk or park.

Where Can I Practise Road Sign Words with Flashcards?

Use the vocabulary flashcard decks. The deck for this page holds all 30 words with Hangul, romanization and audio. Your progress stays in your browser. Try listening mode for the ban signs, because the tense sounds are easier to hear than to read.

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. It writes tense letters such as ㅉ when they are spelled, but it does not show tensing caused by a neighbouring sound, such as the [ㅉ] in 직진 [직찐], so rely on the Hangul and the audio.

Is There a Printable Worksheet for Road Sign 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, copy the tables by hand and write one example sentence for each of the five groups.

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