Key Facts
- Hangul: 증상 (jeungsang)
- Meaning: symptom
- Part of speech: noun
- Origin: Sino-Korean
- Register: neutral to formal; used by doctors and in health information
- Hanja: 症狀 (症 illness + 狀 condition)
- Level: B1
Symptom in Korean: What Does 증상 Mean?
증상 means the signs of an illness that you notice, such as a cough or a fever. The hanja pair, illness plus condition, fits: it is how an illness shows itself. The nearby word 병 is the illness itself, 원인 is the cause, and 징후 is a sign or indication, a more technical word. Doctors open a visit with 증상이 어때요?, and you answer by listing what you feel.
How Do You Pronounce 증상?
증상 is jeung-sang, two syllables with a final ㅇ sound (ng) in each. Keep the vowel in 증 as ㅡ followed by ㅇ, with lips flat. Before the subject marker the ㅇ stays in its syllable, so 증상이 is jeungsangi. No tensing applies.
How Do You Use 증상 in a Sentence?
증상이 어때요?
How are your symptoms?
jeungsangi eottaeyo? 증상이 어때요? asks how are your symptoms? 어때요 is the question how is it, and 이 marks 증상 as the subject. A doctor or pharmacist asks this.
기침과 열 같은 증상이 있어요.
I have symptoms like a cough and fever.
gichimgwa yeol gateun jeungsangi isseoyo. 기침과 열 같은 증상이 있어요 says I have symptoms like a cough and fever. 과 joins 기침 and 열, 같은 means such as, and 있어요 shows you have them.
증상이 좋아졌어요.
The symptoms have improved.
jeungsangi joajyeosseoyo. 증상이 좋아졌어요 says the symptoms have improved. 좋아졌어요 is the past of become better, and it reports a change.
Common Word Combinations
| Korean | English |
|---|---|
| 증상이 나타나다 | for symptoms to appear |
| 증상이 심하다 | for symptoms to be severe |
| 감기 증상 | cold symptoms |
| 증상이 좋아지다 | for symptoms to improve |
증상이 나타나다 means symptoms appear, and 증상이 심하다 means they are severe. 감기 증상 names cold symptoms, and 증상이 좋아지다 says they improve. Each uses 증상 as the subject or a noun compound, and none uses the verb 아프다.
Common Mistake
Wrong: 증상이 아파요 (the symptom hurts).
Correct: Pain is described with 아프다 and a body part. For symptoms say 증상이 있어요 or 증상이 심해요.
A 증상 is not a body part, so it cannot hurt; it can only exist, be severe or improve.
How Does 증상 Differ from Similar Words?
| Word | Meaning | How it differs from 증상 |
|---|---|---|
| 병 | illness | The illness itself. 증상 is how it shows. |
| 원인 | cause | Why it happened. 증상 is what you notice. |
| 징후 | sign; indication | A sign or hint, more technical than 증상. |
Describing Symptoms at a Clinic
A doctor asks when a patient first noticed symptoms. The patient gives a time and names what they are experiencing. The doctor then asks about the change since yesterday.
Doctor
증상이 언제부터 있었어요?
Jeungsangi eonjebuteo isseosseoyo?
When did the symptoms start?
Patient
어제부터 기침이 나고 열이 있어요.
Eojebuteo gichimi nago yeori isseoyo.
I’ve had a cough and a fever since yesterday.
Doctor
오늘은 증상이 더 심해요?
Oneureun jeungsangi deo simhaeyo?
Are the symptoms worse today?
언제부터 asks “since when?” 어제부터 answers “since yesterday”. The patient does not need to repeat 증상: naming the cough and fever supplies the information the doctor needs. 더 심해요 compares the severity with an earlier point, which here is yesterday.
Where Will You Hear 증상?
증상 appears at clinics and pharmacies, on health questionnaires and in explanations of illnesses. A form may ask about symptoms before naming a diagnosis. The word directs attention to what a person notices or experiences. It does not itself identify the illness responsible for those experiences.
감기 증상 means “cold symptoms”. The expression groups symptoms associated with a cold. It is useful for reporting how someone feels, but the phrase alone is not a statement that a diagnosis has been confirmed. In language terms, 감기 describes the type of 증상 being discussed.
Korean often leaves number unstated, so 증상 can translate as “symptom” or “symptoms”. In 기침과 열 같은 증상이 있어요, the cough and fever make the plural English translation natural. You do not need to add 들, a plural marker, every time more than one symptom is involved.
Reporting Appearance, Severity and Change
증상이 나타나다 means symptoms appear or become noticeable. The subject is the symptoms, so it works when describing the beginning of a problem. The question in the dialogue instead asks when they first existed, using 있었어요. Both direct the conversation toward the starting point.
증상이 심하다 describes severe symptoms. 증상이 좋아지다 describes improvement. Keep the direction of the change clear: 좋아졌어요 means they have become better, rather than that the symptoms are pleasant. The same English word “good” cannot explain both uses without context.
For pain, name the part that hurts with 아프다. For a cough or fever, the patient’s line offers two useful combinations: 기침이 나다, to have a cough, and 열이 있다, to have a fever. These name the experiences more clearly than saying only that symptoms exist.
When answering 증상이 어때요, give a specific feature if you can: what you feel, when it started or whether it has changed. The question invites a description. A bare yes or no would leave the doctor’s actual question unanswered.
Related Words for Describing How You Feel
| Korean | Meaning | Useful distinction |
|---|---|---|
| 기침 | cough | Pairs naturally with 나다. |
| 열 | fever; heat | In a clinic, 열이 있다 can describe having a fever. |
| 통증 | pain | Names the pain itself, rather than the body part. |
| 원인 | cause | Names why something happened, rather than what you feel. |
The health vocabulary lesson supplies more words for a clinic visit. In a symptom description, 기침 or 통증 tells the listener what you experience. 원인 belongs to a different question: what caused it. You can describe the former without knowing the latter.
Quick Self-Test
- Can 증상 refer to several symptoms without 들?
- What information does 언제부터 ask for?
- Does 증상이 좋아졌어요 report improvement or a new symptom?
Show answers
- Yes. Context often supplies the number.
- The starting point: “since when?”
- Improvement. The symptoms have become better.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Does 증상 Mean?
It means a symptom, a sign that shows an illness.
How Does a Doctor Ask about Symptoms?
A doctor asks 증상이 어때요?
Can I Say 증상이 아파요?
No. Use 아프다 for a body part. For symptoms say 증상이 있어요 or 증상이 심해요.
How Do I Say the Symptoms Got Better?
Say 증상이 좋아졌어요.
Where to Go Next
For related health words, open the health vocabulary list or browse Korean words A to Z. Next, see the emergency room, and review the set in the vocabulary flashcard decks.