TOPIK Vocabulary: 100 Words with Romanization and Audio

TOPIK Vocabulary at a Glance

TOPIK vocabulary is the set of words that Korean learners study to prepare for TOPIK, the Test of Proficiency in Korean. The exam has two parts, TOPIK I for levels 1 and 2 and TOPIK II for levels 3 to 6. This page gives you a core list of 100 words, grouped into the starter words that suit TOPIK I, abstract words that suit TOPIK II, and workplace words for the separate EPS-TOPIK. Each word has Hangul, Revised Romanization, audio and one example sentence. The groups are editorial selections and not official word lists. For the exam itself, the official source is topik.go.kr.

The list belongs to Korean Vocabulary. The full TOPIK sections of this site have the exam guide, the level pages and the longer word lists by topic: TOPIK exam guide, TOPIK 1 vocabulary list and TOPIK 2 vocabulary list. This page is the short, core set you can learn first.

Which TOPIK Words Should You Learn First?

Learn the exam words first: 시험, 문제, 답, 읽기, 듣기 and 쓰기. They are the words in the instructions and in the names of the sections. Then learn the daily life words, because TOPIK I questions are built on school, shopping, work and family. The abstract words of TOPIK II come after that.

1. Day one. The exam words: 시험, 문제, 답, 읽기, 듣기, 쓰기, 점수 and 합격.
2. Days two to four. The TOPIK I daily life words: 학교, 친구, 가족, 집, 음식, 시간 and the rest of the first table.
3. Day five. The nine basic verbs and adjectives: 가다, 오다, 먹다, 마시다, 보다, 하다, 좋다, 크다 and 많다.
4. Days six to eight. The TOPIK II words: 경제, 사회, 환경, 정보 and the rest of the second table.
5. Days nine and ten. The EPS-TOPIK words, if you plan to take that test.

At 10 to 12 words a day, the list takes about nine or ten days plus review. Use this as a starter: it is a small core, not the full vocabulary of any level.

TOPIK I Word List (levels 1-2)

TOPIK I is the test for levels 1 and 2. It tests listening (듣기) and reading (읽기). Its questions use everyday topics, so the words below are about school, family, food, time and basic actions. The first eight are exam words: you will read them in instructions and in the name of the sections.

The two tables that follow use the same format.

Example Sentences

The examples in this group are short polite sentences. They use three patterns. The first is noun + 이/가 + adjective, as in 문제가 어려워요 (The question is difficult). The second is noun + 을/를 + verb, as in 물을 마셔요 (I drink water). The third is noun + 에 + verb, as in 학교에 가요 (I go to school). Say each sentence aloud, then swap the noun for another word from the table. For instance, 학교에 가요 becomes 병원에 가요.

What Are the TOPIK II Words for Levels 3 to 6?

TOPIK II covers levels 3 to 6. Its sections are listening (듣기), writing (쓰기) and reading (읽기), and its passages are about society, the economy, culture and the environment. The words below are abstract, and almost all are Sino-Korean, so they repeat common syllables. For instance, 경 appears in 경제 and 경험, and 계 appears in 관계 and 계획. Once you know the syllable, new words are easier to guess.

A word such as 증가 (increase) and its opposite 감소 (decrease) are very useful in TOPIK writing, because charts and graphs use them. Learn them as a pair. The written style of TOPIK II essays uses plain endings such as 증가했다, and the examples on this page use the polite -어요 ending that you speak. Both styles use the same words.

EPS-TOPIK Words

EPS-TOPIK is a different test from the TOPIK this page mostly describes. It is the Korean language test for people who want to work in Korea under the Employment Permit System. Its content is practical: workplaces, safety, wages and daily life as a worker. The words below are the kind that appear there. The rules, the dates and the format of EPS-TOPIK are set by its official administrators and can change, so read the current official EPS-TOPIK notices and not an old summary. The page TOPIK vs EPS TOPIK explains the difference.

Several of these words also appear in the other groups. 안전 (safety) is useful at any workplace. The word 사고 (accident) has a homograph, 사고 (thinking), and the sentence decides which one is meant. A worker who knows 근무, 출근 and 퇴근 can follow most notices on a workplace wall.

How Many Words Does Each Level Need?

There is no single, official figure to quote here. Numbers such as "level 1 needs 800 words" circulate widely, but they come from different sources, and they change from list to list. This page gives none. For the official picture, read the TOPIK information on topik.go.kr, and see the page on how many words TOPIK needs for the comparison of sources.

What you can use is the level map in the table. It shows how the levels of the exam relate to the level labels used on this site. The labels are editorial estimates, not official levels, and the link between them is approximate.

Grammar and vocabulary are tested together, so a vocabulary list alone will not be enough. See TOPIK grammar for the patterns that go with the words.

Study Order

A plan that uses the lists on this site takes four steps. Each step ends with a self-check: write the Hangul from memory and say it aloud.

1. Start with the most common words. Learn the top 100 Korean words first, then the top 500. These cover many of the everyday words in TOPIK I passages.
2. Add the exam words. Learn the eight exam words at the top of the first table so that the instructions make sense.
3. Study TOPIK I topic lists. Use the TOPIK 1 vocabulary list to cover topics such as shopping, travel and health.
4. Move to TOPIK II. Learn the abstract words in the second table, then use the TOPIK 2 vocabulary list for longer topic lists.

A simple progress checklist: after the first table, you should be able to read the instructions of a practice test. After the second table, you should be able to read a short news paragraph about the economy or society. Check these against a practice paper from the official site.

How Do You Pronounce These Words?

Many words in this list change in speech. The table lists the changes that learners most often miss. Brackets show the spoken sound.

The rules come from the Standard Pronunciation rules (표준 발음법) of the 국립국어원. Revised Romanization is a learning aid. It writes the aspiration in verbs such as 정확하다 (jeonghwakada), but it does not show tensing caused by a neighbouring sound, so 합격 stays hapgyeok.

Audio and Slow Playback

Each word has a normal clip. Five words with tricky sounds also have a slow clip at 0.8 times the speed: 읽기, 듣기, 합격, 정확하다 and 휴게실. Nothing plays until you press a button. The audio is generated with text-to-speech and checked by a Korean teacher before publication.

Listen to 합격 first. You should hear a closed ㅂ followed by a tense g, [합껵], with no puff of air.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make with TOPIK Words?

• Treating this page as the official TOPIK list. Wrong: assuming every word here will appear on the exam, or that no other word will. Correct: the groups are editorial selections. Use the official TOPIK site for the exam and a learner dictionary for word levels.
• Mixing 문제 and 질문. A 문제 is an exam question or a problem. A 질문 is a question that you ask a person. Wrong: 선생님에게 문제를 했어요. Correct: 선생님에게 질문을 했어요.
• Confusing 읽기 with 읽다. 읽기 is the noun "reading", and 읽다 is the verb "to read". The name of the exam section is 읽기.
• Saying 시험을 합격하다. Wrong: 시험을 합격했어요. Correct: 시험에 합격했어요. The usual pattern uses 에 with 합격.
• Mixing the two 사고. 사고 (accident) and 사고 (thinking) share the spelling. The sentence decides: 사고가 났어요 is an accident.
• Reading 읽기 as il-gi with a plain g. Wrong: pronouncing the ㄱ soft. Correct: [일끼], with a tense g.
• Forgetting the aspiration in 정확하다. Wrong: jeong-hwak-ha-da with a clear h. Correct: [정화카다].

The first mistake is about how to use this list, mistakes 2 to 5 change the meaning or the grammar, and mistakes 6 and 7 change how natural you sound.

Practice: Flashcards and Worksheet

Drill these words with the vocabulary flashcard decks and the TOPIK flashcard 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. Progress in the decks is saved only in your browser.

Try this five-question check, then say all 100 words aloud once more.

Where to Go Next

This list sits inside Korean Vocabulary. After TOPIK vocabulary, many learners move on to Korean Word Types, which explains why so many TOPIK II words are Sino-Korean, or to How to Learn Korean Vocabulary. For the exam itself, start with the TOPIK exam guide, and for the characters behind the words, see TOPIK hanja.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do You Say Exam in Korean?

Exam is 시험 (siheom). It is a Sino-Korean word with two syllables. A question on an exam is a 문제 (munje), and passing an exam is 합격 (hapgyeok). To say you have an exam tomorrow, use 내일 시험이 있어요 (naeil siheomi isseoyo). Press the audio button to hear the word.

How Do You Pronounce 문제 (munje)?

문제 is said [문제], mun-je, in two beats. The ㅈ at the start of the second syllable is a plain sound, with no puff of air, and the final ㄴ of the first syllable is a clear n. The vowel ㅔ in the second syllable is a short e as in bed. Use the word clip to match the rhythm.

How Many TOPIK Words Should I Learn First?

Learn the eight exam words first: 시험, 문제, 답, 읽기, 듣기, 쓰기, 점수 and 합격. That takes one day. Then add the daily life words and the abstract words. This core list of 100 takes about ten days at 10 to 12 words a day, with review on the eleventh. It is a starter, not the full vocabulary of any TOPIK level. The topik.go.kr site is the source for the exam itself.

Where Can I Practise TOPIK Words with Flashcards?

Use the TOPIK flashcard decks and the vocabulary flashcard decks, which list every deck with audio. A deck for this core list is planned. Progress stays in your browser. Until then, copy a table above onto cards: Hangul on one side, English on the other, and say each word aloud as you flip it.

Is the Romanization on This Page Official?

It follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, which South Korea officially adopted on 7 July 2000 and whose rules the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) publishes. It is a learning aid that does not show tensing caused by a neighbouring sound, so learn the Hangul and use the audio to hear the real sound.

Is There a Printable Worksheet for TOPIK 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. The vocabulary worksheets page lists the sheets that exist. For practice, write the Hangul from memory, cover the English column and check your answers against the tables above.