Key Facts
- Hangul: 배; Revised Romanization: bae
- Part of speech: noun
- Origin: native Korean
- Register: Neutral. 배 is a homophone for belly, ship, and double, so context matters.
Pear in Korean: What Does 배 Mean?
One spelling, 배, covers three everyday words: the pear, the belly or stomach, and the ship. They are separate words that happen to sound the same, and a fourth, Sino-Korean 배 (倍), means "times" or "double". The verb or the topic of the sentence tells you which one is meant: a pear is sweet and cool, a belly aches, and a ship sails.
How Do You Pronounce It?
One syllable, bae. It starts with b and ends in the vowel ㅐ, which is close to the "e" in "bed". There is no sound change to worry about, only meaning to sort out.
Example Sentences with 배
배는 달고 시원해요.
Baeneun dalgo siwonhaeyo
Pears are sweet and cool.
A description of the fruit itself. 달고 means "sweet and", and 시원해요 means "cool and refreshing", which is how people describe a chilled pear.
저는 배를 좋아해요.
Jeoneun baereul joahaeyo
I like pears.
A preference sentence. 배를 marks the pear as the thing you like, and 저는 sets the topic as "me".
배 한 개 주세요.
Bae han gae juseyo
Please give me one pear.
A shop request. 한 개 means "one piece", and 주세요 is the polite "please give me", so this is how you order a single pear.
Common Phrases and Collocations
Pear phrases involve eating, peeling, counting and juice.
| Korean | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 배를 먹다 | to eat a pear |
| 배를 깎다 | to peel a pear |
| 배 한 개 | one pear |
| 배 주스 | pear juice |
The Mistake to Avoid
Learners meet 배가 아프다 and picture the fruit.
Wrong: reading 배가 아프다 as something about a pear.
Correct: 배가 아프다 means "my stomach hurts". When the verb is 아프다, the speaker means the belly; when it is 먹다 or 깎다, the speaker means the pear.
배 Compared with the Other 배 Words and 사과
Two homophones and one fellow fruit sit close to this word. The homophones are identical in Hangul, so only context separates them.
| Word | Meaning | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| 배 | pear | This page's word |
| 배 | belly; stomach | Same Hangul. Appears with verbs like 아프다. |
| 배 | ship; boat | Same Hangul. Appears with travel and sea verbs. |
| 사과 | apple | A different fruit with a different sound. |
Where Does the Word Come From?
배 (pear) is a native Korean word with no hanja. The belly and ship meanings are separate native words that share the sound.
Cultural Note
Pears are a common gift item during Chuseok, the autumn harvest holiday, often packed in boxes of large, round Korean pears.
Buying Pears to Take Home
A customer at a fruit stall asks about pears and requests two. The seller offers a bag.
Customer
이 배는 달아요?
I baeneun darayo?
Are these pears sweet?
Seller
네, 달고 아삭해요.
Ne, dalgo asakaeyo.
Yes, they are sweet and crisp.
Customer
배 두 개 주세요.
Bae du gae juseyo.
Please give me two pears.
Seller
네, 봉투에 담아 드릴게요.
Ne, bongtue dama deurilgeyo.
Sure, I will put them in a bag for you.
아삭해요 describes the crisp texture of the fruit when you bite it. 두 개 counts two individual pears. The stall and the words for sweetness and crispness make the fruit meaning clear before the customer names the quantity. There is no need to add a special word meaning “fruit pear”.
What Kind of Pear Does 배 Describe?
배 is the general Korean word for pear. In a Korean fruit shop, it often brings to mind a large, round, crisp pear. English descriptions may call that an Asian pear or Korean pear. The Korean noun itself does not restrict the fruit to that shape: a pear of another variety is still a 배.
서양배 means a Western pear. The first part, 서양, means “the West”, and it helps distinguish that type when the comparison matters. You do not need this longer word when the pears are already visible and both speakers know which fruit they are discussing.
Pear Phrases on Packages and in Recipes
배즙 means pear juice or extract, often seen as a product name. The 즙 part refers to juice extracted from an ingredient. 배 주스 is another expression for pear juice. Packaging words tell you the product category, but you need the ingredients label to learn exactly what a particular drink contains.
갈아 만든 배 means pear that has been grated or blended. In a recipe, the phrase can refer to prepared pear added to a mixture. The word 배 still names the fruit even when there is no whole pear left to see. 깎은 배 means a peeled pear; 깎다 describes removing its skin in this food context.
배 선물 세트 means a pear gift set. The fruit name comes first, and 선물 세트 identifies how it is packaged and intended to be given. A set contains multiple items; it is different from asking for 배 한 개. This wording connects the holiday gift boxes mentioned above with the labels you may read in a shop.
How Much Context Is Enough to Identify 배?
배를 좋아해요 can mean “I like pears” in a conversation about fruit. The same verb 좋아하다 can describe liking boats, so the verb alone is not always enough. Use the topic, nearby nouns and visible objects together. Eating and peeling strongly suggest fruit; a discussion of a ferry crossing points toward a boat.
배가 아프다 is normally a stomach complaint. It can also express envy figuratively in the right context. For a beginner reading a fruit-shop conversation, the practical lesson is to avoid carrying the pear meaning into every sentence with 배.
Useful Words at the Fruit Stall
| Korean | Meaning | When it helps |
|---|---|---|
| 사과 | apple | Name another fruit often sold beside pears. |
| 껍질 | peel / skin | Talk about the outside you remove. |
| 상자 | box | Distinguish packaged fruit from individual pieces. |
| 과일 | fruit | Identify the wider food category. |
The fruit vocabulary lesson teaches the set for shopping and food conversations.
Quick Self-Test
- Does 배 always mean a large, round Korean pear?
- What does 배 두 개 count?
- Can 좋아해요 alone always distinguish pears from boats?
Show answers
- No. 배 is the general word for pear; the variety comes from context.
- Two individual pears.
- No. Check the topic and surrounding words too.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you say "pear" in Korean?
Say 배 (bae).
Does 배 mean anything else?
Yes. The same spelling means belly or stomach, and ship or boat.
How do you say "peel a pear"?
배를 깎다 means "to peel a pear".
How do you tell the fruit from the stomach?
Check the verb. 먹다 and 깎다 go with the fruit; 아프다 goes with the stomach.
Related Words and What to Learn Next
- Theme list: fruit words groups 배 with other fruit words.
- Index: Korean words A to Z lists every single-word page.
- Practice: add 배 to the vocabulary flashcard decks.
- Next in the fruit list is persimmon, the persimmon page.
- Compare with the page for the belly meaning, stomach.
- Compare with the page for the fruit apple.