Key Facts
- Korean: 토끼, Revised Romanization tokki
- Part of speech: noun
- Origin: native Korean
- Register: neutral everyday word
- Spelling point: tense ㄲ
Rabbit in Korean: What Does 토끼 Mean?
토끼 means rabbit. A hare, the wild long-eared relative, is 산토끼.
How Do You Pronounce 토끼?
토끼 is [to-kki]. The first ㅌ is aspirated with a puff of air; the ㄲ is tense with no air at all.
Example Sentences with 토끼
토끼가 귀여워요.
Tokkiga gwiyeowoyo.
The rabbit is cute.
귀여워요 means "is cute".
토끼는 당근을 먹어요.
Tokkineun danggeuneul meogeoyo.
Rabbits eat carrots.
당근을 먹어요 means "eat carrots". The topic marker 는 makes this a general statement about rabbits.
Phrases with 토끼
| Korean | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 토끼 귀 | rabbit ears |
| 산토끼 | hare |
| 토끼를 키우다 | to keep a rabbit |
산토끼 adds 산, mountain.
A Common Mistake with 토끼
- Wrong: 토키
- Correct: 토끼
The second syllable uses the tense ㄲ, not the aspirated ㅋ.
토끼 Compared with 거북이 and 쥐
| Word | Meaning | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| 토끼 | rabbit | This page's word |
| 거북이 | turtle | The rabbit's racing partner in folk tales |
| 쥐 | mouse | Another small animal |
The Rabbit in the Moon
In Korean folk tales, the moon has a rabbit pounding rice cake.
At the Animal Enclosure: Looking at Rabbits
Two visitors are watching rabbits at a small animal enclosure. They use polite speech even though the scene is relaxed. The animal name stays the same when the speaker asks a question or points out a detail.
Visitor A
저기 토끼가 있어요.
Jeogi tokkiga isseoyo.
There is a rabbit over there.
Visitor B
어디요?
Eodiyo?
Where?
Visitor A
나무 옆에 있어요.
Namu yeope isseoyo.
It is next to the tree.
Visitor B
토끼 귀가 정말 길어요.
Tokki gwiga jeongmal gireoyo.
The rabbit’s ears are really long.
저기 points to somewhere away from both speakers. 나무 옆에 gives the location: next to the tree. In the last line, 토끼 귀 means the rabbit’s ears. Korean can put the animal name directly before the body part without adding a word for “of”. The sentence does not need a separate plural ending to mean two ears.
How Do You Count or Describe Rabbits?
토끼 한 마리 means one rabbit. 마리 is the counter for animals; 한 is the form of “one” used before it. 토끼 두 마리 means two rabbits. The number and counter come after the animal name, so you can identify both the animal and how many there are.
For a description, 하얀 토끼 means a white rabbit, and 아기 토끼 means a baby rabbit. 하얀 describes its color, while 아기 describes its age. Neither phrase names a separate species. In a picture book, these details help you follow which rabbit a sentence refers to.
토끼를 키우다 means to raise or keep a rabbit. Here 키우다 describes caring for an animal over time. It is different from simply seeing one at a zoo. The particle 를 marks the rabbit as the animal being raised; in 토끼가 귀여워요, 가 marks the animal being described.
Where Will You See 토끼 outside an Animal Lesson?
Children’s books and animal signs use 토끼 as an ordinary animal name. A story title such as 토끼와 거북이 means “The Rabbit and the Turtle”. 와 means “and” after the vowel-ending 토끼. In that title, the two animal names identify the main characters before the story starts.
토끼 귀 also appears with costume accessories. On a headband or a photo filter, it means rabbit-shaped ears rather than part of a real animal. The same literal words work in both settings, and the picture or object tells you which meaning fits.
In everyday descriptions, 토끼 같은 means “like a rabbit”. It can introduce a comparison about someone’s appearance, such as their ears or a cute impression. It is a comparison rather than a fixed translation of “cute”; the rest of the description supplies what the speaker has in mind.
Useful Words beside 토끼
| Korean | Meaning | A useful connection |
|---|---|---|
| 동물 | animal | The broad category that includes rabbits. |
| 귀 | ear | Use it to describe the rabbit’s long ears. |
| 당근 | carrot | The food named in the existing example. |
| 마리 | animal counter | Pair it with a number when counting rabbits. |
The animal vocabulary lesson gives you more animal names to use with 마리. Keep the counter separate from 토끼: it tells you the number of animals, rather than changing the animal’s name.
Quick Self-Test
- How do you say “two rabbits”?
- Does 토끼 귀 always refer to a real animal’s ears?
- Which phrase means keeping a rabbit as a pet?
Show answers
- 토끼 두 마리. Use the animal counter 마리.
- No. It can also describe costume ears or ears in a photo filter.
- 토끼를 키우다. 키우다 describes raising or caring for the animal.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do You Say Rabbit in Korean?
Say 토끼 (tokki). It is the native everyday word for a rabbit, pet or wild. A hare is 산토끼, literally "mountain rabbit". The middle consonant is the tense ㄲ, so the word has a tight, clipped k sound rather than a breathy one.
What Is the Rabbit on the Moon in Korean Folklore?
In Korean folk tales, the dark patches on the full moon show a rabbit pounding rice cakes with a mortar and pestle. Children learn the story early, and it appears in songs and around the harvest festival, Chuseok, when people look at the full moon.
What Does 산토끼 Mean?
산토끼 means hare, literally mountain rabbit. The general word 토끼 covers rabbits, including pets and wild rabbits. Compare the whole words and keep the tense ㄲ in both. In a sentence about keeping an animal, 토끼를 키우다 means to keep a rabbit.
What Is the Story of the Rabbit and the Turtle?
Korean children know the race between 토끼 and 거북이, the rabbit and the turtle, which matches Aesop's tortoise and hare. Korea also has its own folk tale in which a turtle tricks a rabbit into visiting the Dragon King's palace under the sea.
Related Words and Next Steps
- See more animals vocabulary.
- Find more single words like rabbit in the Korean words A to Z index.