Key Facts
- Hangul: 콩나물; Revised Romanization: kongnamul
- Part of speech: noun
- Origin: native Korean
- Register: Neutral; refers to soybean sprouts used in soups and side dishes.
Bean Sprouts in Korean: What Does 콩나물 Mean?
콩나물 means sprouts grown from soybeans, and it is a neutral everyday word. It is not a general word for any sprout. The name is built from 콩 (bean) and 나물 (a seasoned vegetable side dish), which is why it appears in dish names such as 콩나물국 and 콩나물밥. You buy it by the bag and usually blanch it before eating.
How Do You Pronounce 콩나물?
Three syllables: kong-na-mul. The first ends in the ng sound, as in 'song', and the next syllable begins with n, so the two sounds sit side by side without a change. The word is read as spelled.
Example Sentences with 콩나물
콩나물국을 끓였어요.
Kongnamulgugeul kkeuryeosseoyo
I made bean sprout soup.
콩나물국을 끓였어요 uses 끓였어요 (boiled, cooked in liquid) with the soup name. The speaker made the dish.
콩나물 한 봉지 주세요.
Kongnamul han bongji juseyo
Please give me a bag of bean sprouts.
콩나물 한 봉지 주세요 is a shopping sentence. 한 봉지 means 'one bag', and 주세요 is the polite request.
콩나물 무침이 맛있어요.
Kongnamul muchimi masisseoyo
The seasoned bean sprouts are delicious.
콩나물 무침이 맛있어요 praises a side dish. 무침 means a seasoned dish, and 맛있어요 means 'is tasty'.
Common Phrases and Collocations
Cooking makes up most of the uses of 콩나물: three dishes and one preparation step.
| Korean | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 콩나물국 | bean sprout soup |
| 콩나물 무침 | seasoned bean sprouts |
| 콩나물밥 | bean sprout rice |
| 콩나물을 삶다 | to blanch bean sprouts |
The Mistake to Avoid
Wrong: ✗ Saying 숙주 for all bean sprouts
Correct: ✓ 콩나물 are soybean sprouts; 숙주 are mung bean sprouts.
Why: The two kinds of sprout are different vegetables with different uses. If a recipe lists soybean sprouts for soup, the word you need is 콩나물.
콩나물 Compared with 숙주, 콩 and 나물
Because 콩나물 is a compound, its two halves and its look-alike are the words you meet most often next to it.
| Word | Meaning | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| 콩나물 | soybean sprouts | Sprouts grown from soybeans. |
| 숙주 | mung bean sprouts | The other sprout often seen in Korean cooking, thinner and from mung beans. |
| 콩 | bean | The bean that the sprout grows from. |
| 나물 | seasoned vegetable side dish | The dish category, not one vegetable. |
Where Does the Word Come From?
콩나물 is a native Korean compound with no hanja form: 콩 (bean) plus 나물 (a seasoned vegetable side dish).
At a Vegetable Stall
A shopper wants soybean sprouts for soup. Naming both the vegetable and the dish helps the seller understand the request.
Shopper
콩나물 있어요?
Kongnamul isseoyo?
Do you have soybean sprouts?
Seller
네. 한 봉지 드릴까요?
Ne. Han bongji deurilkkayo?
Yes. Shall I give you one bag?
Shopper
네. 콩나물국을 만들 거예요.
Ne. Kongnamulgugeul mandeul geoyeyo.
Yes. I am going to make soybean sprout soup.
Seller
여기 있어요.
Yeogi isseoyo.
Here you are.
한 봉지 counts the package, so the shopper does not need to count individual sprouts. 드릴까요 is the seller’s polite offer to give something to the customer. The shopper then names 콩나물국, making clear that these are ingredients for soup rather than a prepared side dish.
Reading 콩나물 in Dish Names
The word after 콩나물 often tells you what will arrive at the table. 국 means soup, so 콩나물국 is a soup containing soybean sprouts. 밥 means cooked rice or a meal; 콩나물밥 names rice cooked with the sprouts. The shared first part names the ingredient, while the ending identifies the dish.
콩나물 무침 is a seasoned side dish. 무침 points to mixing ingredients with seasoning. It does not mean the sprouts are raw: soybean sprouts are cooked before being seasoned for this dish. A bowl of soup and a portion of seasoned sprouts can share the same ingredient without being the same order.
콩나물을 삶다 describes cooking the sprouts in water. The familiar translation “blanch” suits brief cooking, but 삶다 itself is broader and can mean boil. 끓이다, seen in the first example, is the verb used for making the soup boil. A recipe's verb tells you what action to take; the ingredient name alone does not.
Where Will You Hear or See 콩나물?
In a supermarket's vegetable section, 콩나물 labels the uncooked ingredient. At a side-dish counter, a label with 무침 identifies the prepared food. On a menu, 콩나물국밥 names a rice-and-soup dish with soybean sprouts. Read to the end of the name before deciding whether you are buying vegetables or ordering a meal.
The word is neutral, so the same noun works at home, in a recipe and with a shopkeeper. Politeness comes from the request around it. The existing shopping example ends with 주세요, which makes a usable request at a staffed stall. Simply saying the ingredient's name gives less information about how much you want.
An English menu's “bean sprouts” can be less specific than the Korean ingredient name. If you are matching a recipe to a packet, look for 콩나물 or 숙주 on the Korean label. Soybean sprouts have noticeable yellow heads; the Korean distinction identifies the plant, rather than just the shape of the vegetable.
Words beside 콩나물 on a Shopping List
| Word | Meaning | Useful note |
|---|---|---|
| 봉지 | bag | 한 봉지 requests one packaged bag. |
| 반찬 | side dish | The category that seasoned sprouts belong to. |
| 국 | soup | Recognize it at the end of 콩나물국. |
| 양념 | seasoning | Used when describing how a sprout side dish is flavored. |
The vegetable vocabulary lesson helps you name the other ingredients beside the sprouts. 반찬 is broader than 나물: a table can have several kinds of side dishes, and only some are seasoned vegetables. This makes 반찬 useful when you want more of a prepared dish rather than another bag of ingredients.
Quick Self-Test
- Does 콩나물 mean soybean sprouts or mung bean sprouts?
- What does 봉지 count in 콩나물 한 봉지?
- Which is soup: 콩나물국 or 콩나물 무침?
Show answers
- Soybean sprouts. Mung bean sprouts are 숙주.
- A bag, rather than each individual sprout.
- 콩나물국 is soup; 콩나물 무침 is a seasoned side dish.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you say 'bean sprouts' in Korean?
Say 콩나물 (kongnamul). It means soybean sprouts.
Is 콩나물 the same as 숙주?
No. 콩나물 are soybean sprouts and 숙주 are mung bean sprouts.
How do I ask for a bag of bean sprouts?
Say 콩나물 한 봉지 주세요.
What dishes use 콩나물?
Soup (콩나물국), seasoned side dishes (콩나물 무침) and rice (콩나물밥) are the common ones.
Related Words and What to Learn Next
- Theme list: vegetable vocabulary groups 콩나물 with other vegetables.
- Next word: carrot in Korean.
- Index: Korean words A to Z.
- Practice: add 콩나물 to the vocabulary flashcard decks.