Key Facts
- Hangul: 배; Revised Romanization: bae
- Part of speech: noun
- Origin: Native Korean
- Register: Neutral everyday word; sounds identical to 배 'pear' and 배 'boat'.
Stomach in Korean: What Does 배 Mean?
배 covers the stomach and the belly area. It is a neutral everyday word, and it sounds exactly like two other 배 words, pear and boat. The most useful pair of phrases is 배가 고프다 (to be hungry) and 배가 부르다 (to be full). 배탈이 나다 means to have an upset stomach.
How Do You Pronounce 배?
One syllable: b, then the vowel ae, which is close to the vowel in "bed". There is no final consonant. The word is identical in sound to the pear and the boat, so context is all you have.
Example Sentences with 배
배가 아파요.
baega apayo.
My stomach hurts.
아파요 means "hurts". With 배가, the sentence reports a stomach ache, which is the line you need at a pharmacy.
배가 고파요.
baega gopayo.
I am hungry.
배가 고파요 is literally "the belly is hungry". Korean speaks of the belly rather than saying "I am hungry".
배가 불러요.
baega bulleoyo.
I am full.
배가 불러요 is the opposite: the belly is full. With the polite ending 요, it is the usual way to say you have had enough.
Collocations
| Korean | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 배가 고프다 | to be hungry |
| 배가 부르다 | to be full |
| 배탈이 나다 | to have an upset stomach |
The Mistake to Avoid
Mistake 1: mixing up the three 배 words. Stomach, pear and boat are spelled and said the same.
Correction: let the verb decide. 아파요 or 고파요 after 배 means the body part.
Mistake 2: assuming 배 always identifies the stomach organ precisely.
Right: 위 names the organ; 배 describes the belly area. 배가 아파요 is still natural when reporting discomfort at a clinic.
배 Compared with 위 and 복부
| Word | Meaning | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| 배 | stomach | This page's word |
| 위 | stomach (organ) | 위 is the stomach as an internal organ; 배 is the belly area. |
| 복부 | abdomen | 복부 is the formal/medical word for abdomen. |
Explaining a Stomach Ache to a Colleague
A colleague notices that someone is uncomfortable at work. The speaker describes the discomfort without naming a cause.
Colleague
괜찮아요?
Gwaenchanayo?
Are you okay?
Sora
배가 좀 아파요.
Baega jom apayo.
My stomach hurts a little.
Colleague
언제부터 아팠어요?
Eonjebuteo apasseoyo?
Since when has it been hurting?
Sora
아침부터요.
Achimbuteoyo.
Since this morning.
좀 softens the statement and can mean “a little”. 언제부터 asks for the starting time, and 아침부터요 answers that question without repeating the whole sentence. Sora does not need to add “my”: in this situation, 배가 아파요 naturally refers to her own belly. This is language for describing a symptom, not identifying its cause.
How Do Hunger and Fullness Phrases Change in Conversation?
배가 고파요 is a polite statement that you are hungry. In everyday speech, the subject marker 가 is often dropped, giving 배고파요. With a close friend you may hear 배고파, without 요. The meaning stays the same, but the ending becomes casual. The form with 요 is more useful when you do not know the listener well.
배가 불러요 says that you are full after eating. When someone offers another serving, this explains why you do not want more. A short 아니요, 괜찮아요 — “No, I’m fine” — can accompany it. 배가 불러요 describes your physical state; it does not criticise the food.
배탈이 나다 is the set phrase for getting an upset stomach. The 나다 here is part of the expression, not a statement that the belly has moved somewhere. 배탈이 났어요 means “I have an upset stomach” or “I got an upset stomach”. 배가 아파요 is broader: it reports pain without giving the discomfort a particular label.
When Does 배 Have a Figurative Meaning?
배가 아프다 can also mean feeling envious of someone else's success. The literal reading is still “one's belly hurts”. A scene about eating or illness normally supports the literal meaning; a remark about another person's good fortune may support the envious meaning. The phrase alone does not tell you which one the speaker intends.
배꼽을 잡다 literally means “to hold one's belly button”. As an expression, it describes laughing very hard. You may meet it in an entertaining story or a description of a funny scene. It is unrelated to the plain pain report in the dialogue, even though both expressions refer to the same body area.
Where Will You Hear 배 and the More Precise Alternatives?
At the dinner table, 배 usually comes up in hunger and fullness phrases. At a clinic, 배가 아파요 is a natural everyday description, even though 배 is less anatomically precise than 위 or 복부. You do not need a medical noun just to tell someone where it hurts.
A doctor can use 위 when discussing the stomach organ, while a written examination description may use 복부 for the abdomen. 위 also has an unrelated meaning, “above”. The surrounding words tell you whether a conversation concerns an organ or a position. Likewise, 배를 먹다 means to eat a pear, and 배를 타다 means to board a boat: the verb resolves the identical spelling.
Words to Use Alongside 배
| Korean | Meaning | Useful distinction |
|---|---|---|
| 배꼽 | belly button | A small point on the belly, not the whole area. |
| 허리 | waist; lower back | Useful when discomfort is around the waist or back. |
| 가슴 | chest | The area above the belly. |
| 복부 | abdomen | A more formal anatomical term. |
The body parts lesson gives more words for locating a part of the body.
Quick Self-Test
- What information does 언제부터 ask for?
- Can 배가 아파요 be used when talking to a doctor?
- In 배를 타다, does 배 mean belly?
Show answers
- When something started.
- Yes. It is a natural everyday way to report belly pain.
- No. Here it means a boat; 타다 means to board or ride.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you say "stomach" in Korean?
Say 배 (bae). It is a native noun for the stomach or belly.
How do you say "I am hungry" in Korean?
Say 배가 고파요, which literally means the belly is hungry.
What is the difference between 배 and 위?
위 is the stomach as an internal organ. 배 is the belly area.
What is 복부?
복부 is the formal or medical word for the abdomen.
Related Words and What to Learn Next
- Theme list: the Body Parts page puts 배 beside its neighbours.
- Index: Korean words A to Z.
- Practice: add 배 to the vocabulary flashcard decks.
- Next in the list is the word for tooth: see tooth.
- 위 also means above, so compare the page for above; context tells the organ from the position.