What Are Korean Words a to Z?
This index covers single words: nouns, pronouns, counters, adverbs and a few set expressions such as 1월 (January) and the chat laughter ㅋㅋ. A word gets its own entry because learners search for it by its English meaning, such as "snow in Korean" or "Tuesday in Korean". Verbs and adjectives are not in this index. They live in the verbs hub, with the conjugation tables in the verb dictionary.
The index has three levels, based on the site's lexicon plan. The levels are editorial estimates, not official levels such as TOPIK.
| Level | Entries | What it means here |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | 517 | Words a beginner meets in the first weeks |
| A2 | 174 | Words for everyday situations after the basics |
| B1 | 60 | Less common words and more abstract topics |
By origin, 220 of the 517 A1 entries are Sino-Korean words, 189 are native Korean, 74 are loanwords and 34 mix origins. Learn more about the largest group on the Sino-Korean words page. If you are choosing what to study first, the most common Korean words lists rank words by frequency instead.
Entry Layout and Sort Order
Every entry page follows one template, so you always know where to look. Each one has:
- Headword and meaning. The Hangul, the Revised Romanization and the English senses.
- Pronunciation. A bracketed sound where it differs from the spelling, plus audio.
- Part of speech and origin. Native, Sino-Korean, loanword or mixed, with the hanja when there is one.
- Register. A note on whether the word is neutral, formal or casual.
- Three examples. Each with a translation.
- Collocations. Common word partners, such as 눈이 오다 (it snows).
- Confusables. Look-alike words and how to tell them apart.
- A common mistake and a culture note. One specific learner error for that word.
The index is sorted two ways. The English order follows the page address, so "snow-in-korean" sits under S. The Hangul order follows the standard dictionary order of initials: ㄱ ㄲ ㄴ ㄷ ㄸ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅃ ㅅ ㅆ ㅇ ㅈ ㅉ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ.
Korean Words a to Z by English Meaning
Use this index when you know the English word and want the Korean. The table gives the number of A1 entries under each letter and the first three. The full list of every entry is built automatically with the site.
Korean Words in Hangul Order
Use this index when you have seen a Korean word in a sign, a song or a drama and want its meaning. Find the first letter of the word, then open the entries under it; the counts below are for the A1 entries. ㅇ is the largest group because it is also the silent letter that starts every syllable with no initial consonant. Entries that start with a digit, Latin letters or a lone jamo, such as 3월, PC방 and ㅋㅋ, are grouped at the end.
| Initial | Entries | First two entries |
|---|---|---|
| ㄱ | 66 | 가격 (price); 가끔 (sometimes) |
| ㄲ | 2 | 꽃 (flower); 꿈 (dream (while sleeping)) |
| ㄴ | 32 | 나 (I (casual)); 나라 (country) |
| ㄷ | 27 | 다리 (leg); 다음 주 (next week) |
| ㄸ | 5 | 딸 (daughter); 딸기 (strawberry) |
| ㄹ | 2 | 라면 (ramyeon); 레몬 (lemon) |
| ㅁ | 22 | 마늘 (garlic); 막걸리 (makgeolli) |
| ㅂ | 48 | 바나나 (banana); 바람 (wind) |
| ㅃ | 4 | 빨간색 (red (color)); 빨래 (laundry) |
| ㅅ | 59 | 사과 (apple); 사람 (person) |
| ㅆ | 1 | 쓰레기 (trash) |
| ㅇ | 101 | 아기 (baby); 아내 (wife) |
| ㅈ | 37 | 자동차 (car); 자막 (subtitles) |
| ㅉ | 2 | 찌개 (stew); 찜질방 (jjimjilbang (Korean bathhouse and sauna)) |
| ㅊ | 21 | 차 (tea); 창문 (window) |
| ㅋ | 18 | 카드 (card); 카메라 (camera) |
| ㅌ | 9 | 태권도 (taekwondo); 택배 (parcel delivery) |
| ㅍ | 12 | 파 (green onion); 파란색 (blue (color)) |
| ㅎ | 33 | 하늘 (sky); 하얀색 (white (color)) |
| digits, Latin letters or jamo | 16 | 10월 (시월) (October); 11월 (십일월) (November) |
Theme Lists for Your Goal
The index has 98 theme lists behind it, each a short topic page that holds up to about 28 of these words from the same area. A theme list is better than a plain alphabetical index when you want to learn many related words at once. The eight largest are below.
| Theme list | Words in the index |
|---|---|
| Time Expressions | 28 |
| Relationships and Titles | 27 |
| Animals | 22 |
| Ingredients | 21 |
| Body Parts | 20 |
| Family Words | 20 |
| Jobs and Occupations | 17 |
| Health and Medicine | 17 |
You can also start from Korean vocabulary, which maps every theme and word list on the site.
What Does Every Word Page Contain?
A short example shows the template. The entry for 눈 (nun, snow) has three examples. One is 눈이 와요, "It is snowing".
Its collocations include 눈이 오다 (it snows), 눈사람 (snowman) and 눈싸움 (snowball fight). Its confusable is 눈 (eye), which has the same spelling, and its learner mistake is exactly that: the verb tells you which one. 눈이 오다 is snow, while 눈이 아프다 is the eye.
The culture note says that the first snow is considered romantic in Korea. Each entry has this mix of use, contrast and context, so you can learn the word in the situation where it is used.
Why Do Some Words Have Two Pages?
Some spellings have more than one entry page. True homographs, such as 눈 (eye, snow), 다리 (leg, bridge) and 배 (stomach, pear, ship), are unrelated words that share a spelling. Others, such as 아침, 저녁, 나무 and 여행, are one word whose senses English splits into two words. The 8 spellings below have 17 pages between them. Context and the verb decide which meaning is meant, and each page lists the other as a confusable.
| Spelling | Entry pages | Why two pages |
|---|---|---|
| 눈 | eye; snow | two unrelated words: eye and snow |
| 다리 | leg; bridge | two unrelated words: leg and bridge |
| 배 | stomach; pear; ship | three unrelated words: stomach, pear and ship |
| 아침 | breakfast; morning | one word: the time and the meal eaten then |
| 저녁 | dinner; evening | one word: the time and the meal eaten then |
| 원 | won; circle | the currency unit and the shape |
| 나무 | tree; wood | one word: the living tree and the material |
| 여행 | trip; travel | one word: a single trip and travel in general |
For one-word pairs such as 아침 and 저녁, the two entries differ in which meaning comes first. Look-alike pairs with different spellings, such as 등 (back) and 뒤 (behind), are in the confusables sections of their own entries: back and behind.
Practice and Next Steps
After you open an entry, say the example sentences aloud and then test yourself with the vocabulary flashcard decks. A good routine is five new words a day from one theme list, with a review of the previous day. Pick a theme from the table above, or follow the order of the most common Korean words.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Are the Korean Words Sorted?
Two ways. By English meaning from A to Z, which follows the page address (for example "snow-in-korean" sits under S), and by the first Hangul letter in dictionary order: ㄱ ㄲ ㄴ ㄷ ㄸ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅃ ㅅ ㅆ ㅇ ㅈ ㅉ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ. Use the English index to look up a meaning and the Hangul index to look up a word you have seen.
Which Korean Words Should I Learn First?
Start with the A1 entries, which are about two thirds of the index, and pick a theme list such as family words, body parts or time expressions. If you prefer a frequency ranking, use the most common Korean words lists.
Why Do Some Words Such as 눈 Have More than One Page?
눈 means both eye and snow. Homographs have different meanings, different example sentences and different mistakes, so each major meaning has its own entry, and each page links to the other. 배 has three entries for stomach, pear and ship.
Are Verbs and Adjectives in This List?
No. This index is for single words that are mostly nouns, plus some adverbs, pronouns and counters. Verbs and adjectives are in the verbs hub, where each verb has a conjugation table.
How Can I Practise These Words?
Use the vocabulary flashcard decks, which hold the same words with audio, or study one theme list at a time. Each entry page also has three example sentences to say aloud.
Is the Romanization 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.