Key Facts
- Hangul: 파; Revised Romanization: pa
- Part of speech: noun
- Origin: native
- Register: Neutral; commonly used as a seasoning or garnish.
Green Onion in Korean: What Does 파 Mean?
파 is the long green onion used to season and garnish everyday Korean food, from soups to pancakes. More specific names include two familiar types: 대파 is the thick, leek-like green onion sold in long stalks, and 쪽파 is the thin, small variety. Both belong to the green onion group, but the names identify different types, not just stalks sorted by size.
How Do You Pronounce 파?
Say pa. The ㅍ is aspirated, so a puff of air follows it, and the vowel is the open "ah" of "father". Because the word is so short, it is easy to miss in fast speech; with the object marker it becomes 파를 (pareul), as in the first example.
Example Sentences with 파
파를 넣어요.
Pareul neoeoyo
I add green onion.
The shortest cooking sentence. 넣어요 means "put in", so the line says you add it to a dish.
파 한 단 주세요.
Pa han dan juseyo
Please give me a bunch of green onions.
A shopping request. 한 단 counts a bundle, the way Korean sells green onions.
국에 파를 썰어 넣었어요.
Guge pareul sseoreo neoeosseoyo
I sliced green onion into the soup.
Shows the full action. 썰어 넣었어요 chains "slice" and "put in" in one past-tense phrase, with 국 as the soup.
Common Phrases and Collocations
Preparation verbs and specific types of green onion are what you will meet in recipes.
| Korean | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 파를 썰다 | to slice green onion |
| 대파 | large green onion/leek |
| 쪽파 | small green onion |
| 파를 넣다 | to add green onion |
The Mistake to Avoid
Wrong: 양파 when you mean the green stalks you slice over soup.
Correct: 파. 양파 is the round bulb onion; the 양 in front means "Western". Drop it whenever you mean green onion or scallion.
파 Compared with Similar Words
These four often share a recipe, so learn them as a set.
| Word | Meaning | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| 파 | green onion | Long, hollow green stalks used to season and garnish |
| 양파 | onion | A round bulb with layers, cooked as a vegetable in its own right |
| 부추 | Chinese chives | Flat, thin, grass-like leaves with a garlicky smell |
| 마늘 | garlic | A bulb split into cloves, not a stalk |
Where Does the Word Come From?
파 is a native Korean word with no hanja form. It is also the second half of 양파, where 양 (洋, "Western") was added to name the round onion.
Asking for Soup without Green Onion
A customer orders soup at a restaurant and asks the server about the topping. Both speakers use polite speech.
Customer
국에 파가 들어가요?
Guge paga deureogayo?
Does the soup contain green onion?
Server
네, 들어가요.
Ne, deureogayo.
Yes, it does.
Customer
파는 빼 주세요.
Paneun ppae juseyo.
Please leave out the green onion.
Server
네, 알겠습니다.
Ne, algetseumnida.
Certainly.
파는 singles out the green onion as the ingredient to leave out. 빼 주세요 asks the kitchen to omit it; it does not ask for a bowl with no vegetables at all. The question uses 들어가요, “goes in”, a natural way to ask whether an ingredient is included.
Recipe Words and Menu Names
파를 썰다 means to slice green onion. 송송 썰다 describes cutting it into small rounds, a phrase you may meet when preparing a topping for soup. 어슷썰기 means slicing diagonally. These are cutting instructions, so a recipe can name the same vegetable but ask for a different shape.
파를 넣다 means to add green onion. In restaurant requests, 파 빼 주세요 means “please leave out the green onion”, while 파를 따로 주세요 asks for it separately. The second request is useful if you want to add it yourself; 따로 means “separately”.
파전 is a savory pancake with green onion. 해물파전 includes seafood, and 파김치 is kimchi made with green onions, commonly 쪽파. These are food names built around the ingredient. Seeing 파 inside the name helps you recognize the vegetable, but it does not tell you every other ingredient in the dish.
Where Will You See 파?
At a market, 대파 and 쪽파 may be labelled separately. They differ in size and cooking use, so a recipe that specifically calls for one is giving more information than plain 파. 대파 often goes into soup or stock; 쪽파 is useful in dishes such as 파김치. Both are familiar Korean ingredients.
대파 is often translated loosely as “leek”, but it is the large green onion used in Korean cooking. A supermarket leek elsewhere may be a different vegetable with a different texture. If you are following a Korean recipe, the Korean ingredient name is more useful than assuming every English “leek” label means 대파.
Useful Words around the Chopping Board
| Korean | Meaning | One-line note |
|---|---|---|
| 파전 | green onion pancake | A dish name you can recognize on menus. |
| 파김치 | green onion kimchi | A prepared food rather than plain raw stalks. |
| 칼 | knife | The tool used when a recipe tells you to slice 파. |
| 도마 | chopping board | The surface used for preparing the stalks. |
The vegetable vocabulary lesson connects 파 with other ingredients. Keep 양파 and 파 separate when shopping: changing one to the other can change the sweetness, texture and look of a finished dish.
Quick Self-Test
- Which word is the round bulb onion: 파 or 양파?
- What does 파는 빼 주세요 ask the server to do?
- What is 파전: a vegetable bundle or a prepared dish?
Show answers
- 양파.
- Leave out the green onion.
- A prepared dish: a savory green onion pancake.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you say "green onion" in Korean?
Green onion in Korean is 파 (pa). It covers the scallions and long green onions used to season soups, stews and stir-fries. For the thick, leek-like kind Koreans say 대파, and for the thin, small kind they say 쪽파.
What is the difference between 파 and 양파?
파 is the long green onion used as a seasoning and garnish, while 양파 is the round bulb onion. The 양 in 양파 means "Western", so the round onion was named as a Western kind of 파.
What are 대파 and 쪽파?
대파 is the large green onion, thick enough to look like a leek, and 쪽파 is the small, thin green onion. Both are kinds of 파, with different sizes and cooking uses.
How do you ask for a bundle?
Say 파 한 단 주세요 (pa han dan juseyo), "Please give me a bunch of green onions." 단 is the counter for a tied bundle of vegetables, the way green onions are sold at Korean markets.
Related Words and What to Learn Next
- Theme list: Korean vegetable words groups 파 with the other vegetables.
- Index: Korean words A to Z.
- Practice: add green onion in Korean to the vocabulary flashcard decks.
- Neighbouring vegetable pages are onion, garlic and mushroom.