Key Facts
- Hangul: 감자; Revised Romanization: gamja
- Part of speech: noun
- Origin: native Korean
- Register: Neutral; used in all registers.
Potato in Korean: What Does 감자 Mean?
감자 is the ordinary potato, a neutral native noun used in every register. It turns up in side dishes, soups and snacks, from 감자볶음 (stir-fried potatoes) to 감자튀김 (french fries).
How Do You Pronounce 감자?
Two syllables, gam-ja. The m closes the first syllable, and the second starts with a soft j.
Example Sentences with 감자
감자를 삶아요.
Gamjareul salmayo
I boil potatoes.
감자를 is the object and 삶아요 means boil. A cooking statement in the present.
감자 세 개 주세요.
Gamja se gae juseyo
Please give me three potatoes.
A counting sentence for shopping or recipes: 세 개 is three items, and 주세요 asks politely for them.
감자볶음을 만들었어요.
Gamjabokkeumeul mandeureosseoyo
I made stir-fried potatoes.
감자볶음 is a dish name, stir-fried potatoes, and 만들었어요 is the past of made.
Common Phrases and Collocations
| Korean | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 감자를 삶다 | to boil potatoes |
| 감자를 튀기다 | to fry potatoes |
| 감자튀김 | french fries |
| 감자 껍질 | potato skin |
Cooking verbs do most of the work here. 감자를 삶다 is to boil and 감자를 튀기다 is to fry, and the fried result has its own noun, 감자튀김. When you prepare them, 감자 껍질 is the skin you peel off.
The Mistake to Avoid
Wrong: 감자 when you mean a sweet potato.
Correct: 고구마. Korean treats the two as separate vegetables with unrelated names, so a sweet potato is never a kind of 감자.
감자 Compared with Related Words
Two vegetables and one dish sit close to 감자.
| Word | Meaning | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| 감자 | potato | The white potato |
| 고구마 | sweet potato | A different vegetable with sweet, yellow or orange flesh |
| 감자튀김 | french fries | A dish made from 감자, not a separate vegetable |
| 양파 | onion | Another everyday vegetable, often cooked with 감자 |
Buying Potatoes for a Side Dish
A customer chooses potatoes at a vegetable stall. The seller offers two sizes, and the customer explains what they plan to make.
Customer
감자 세 개 주세요.
Gamja se gae juseyo.
Three potatoes, please.
Seller
큰 걸로 드릴까요?
Keun geollo deurilkkayo?
Would you like large ones?
Customer
아니요, 작은 걸로 주세요. 감자볶음을 만들 거예요.
Aniyo, jageun geollo juseyo. Gamjabokkeumeul mandeul geoyeyo.
No, small ones, please. I’m going to make stir-fried potatoes.
Seller
네, 여기 있어요.
Ne, yeogi isseoyo.
Sure, here you are.
세 개 counts three individual potatoes. 큰 걸로 and 작은 걸로 mean “the large ones” and “the small ones” in this exchange. The noun can be left out because both speakers can see the potatoes. 감자볶음 then names the planned dish rather than a different variety of potato.
From the Vegetable to the Dish Name
감자볶음 is a potato side dish made by stir-frying. 볶음 describes the cooking method in the dish name. 감자를 볶다 describes the action, “to stir-fry potatoes”, while 감자볶음 names the result. Recognizing that difference helps you follow a recipe title and its instructions.
감자조림 is braised potato, another side dish. 조림 points to simmering food in seasoning until the flavour goes into it. 감자전 is a potato pancake. These names keep 감자 and change the final element, so the ending gives you a clue about what will arrive at the table.
감자튀김 literally means fried potato and commonly means french fries. On a snack or restaurant menu, learn it as a whole dish name. 감자 껍질 is more literal: it simply means potato skin. The space separates the vegetable name from the ordinary noun for its skin.
Verbs You Will Meet in Potato Recipes
감자를 씻다 means “to wash potatoes”. 감자 껍질을 벗기다 means “to peel potato skins”. In the second phrase, 껍질 is what is being removed, so the object marker follows 껍질 rather than 감자. That wording describes the preparation step more precisely than naming only the vegetable.
The existing 감자를 삶아요 uses 삶다 for boiling potatoes in water. 감자를 썰다 means cutting or slicing potatoes. A recipe can then specify a particular shape or thickness. The word 감자 does not itself indicate whether the potato is whole, peeled or cut; the surrounding instructions provide that detail.
The noun ends in a vowel, so the object form is 감자를 and the subject form is 감자가. Compare an action involving potatoes with a statement about them: 감자를 삶아요 says what you do to them, while 감자가 would introduce the potatoes as the subject of the next description.
Where Will You See 감자?
감자 appears on produce labels, recipe ingredient lists and side-dish names. At a market, 개 counts individual potatoes, as in the dialogue. A bag or weight label describes a different buying unit; knowing 세 개 does not tell you how much a whole bag contains.
A dish name containing 감자 tells you that potato is central to the name. It does not list every ingredient. If you need to know about meat, stock or seasoning, ask about those separately rather than relying on the vegetable word alone.
| Korean | Meaning | Useful note |
|---|---|---|
| 채소 | vegetables | The broader food category containing potatoes. |
| 당근 | carrot | Another vegetable you may cut for a cooked dish. |
| 양파 | onion | Often appears beside potatoes in ingredient lists. |
| 껍질 | skin / peel | Names the outside layer removed during preparation. |
The vegetables lesson teaches the wider shopping set. Keep the separate name 고구마 for sweet potato even when both vegetables are sold at the same stall.
Quick Self-Test
- What does 세 개 count in the dialogue?
- Is 감자볶음 a potato variety or a prepared dish?
- Which word means potato skin?
Show answers
- Three individual potatoes.
- A prepared dish: stir-fried potatoes.
- 감자 껍질.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you say "potato" in Korean?
Potato in Korean is 감자 (gamja). It is the everyday word for the white potato in recipes, markets and menus. The sweet potato has a different name, 고구마.
What are french fries called?
French fries are 감자튀김 (gamjatwigim), literally "fried potato". The second part comes from 튀기다, to deep-fry, as in 감자를 튀기다.
How do I say "boil potatoes"?
Use 감자를 삶다. In the polite present it becomes 감자를 삶아요, "I boil potatoes", as in the first example.
Is 감자 the same as a sweet potato?
No. A sweet potato is 고구마 (goguma), a separate word for a separate vegetable. Calling it a kind of 감자 is a common learner mistake.
Related Words and What to Learn Next
- Theme list: Korean vegetable words groups 감자 with its neighbours.
- Index: Korean words A to Z.
- Compare 감자 with 고구마, the sweet potato.
- Another everyday vegetable is 양파.
- Next in the list is the word for radish.