How to Write a Letter in Korean: Lessons and Practice

How to Write a Letter in Korean: the Four Moves

A message in Korean follows a small, steady pattern. Learn the pattern once and you can fill it with any content. The table below uses a formal email from a student to a professor as the example. The student is called Michael (마이클).

The greeting is 안녕하세요, and the title carries the respect: 교수님 is "professor" with the respectful 님. The particle 께 after the title means "to" and is the respectful form of 에게. Press play to hear the greeting and the closing.

Where to Start with Writing a Letter in Korean

Choose your starting point from your situation. Each lesson has a ready pattern you can copy and adjust.

If you are not sure which situation fits, start with the email lesson. Most other lessons reuse its four moves.

Match the Speech Level to the Reader

The biggest decision in any message is the speech level, which is the set of verb endings that shows how polite you are being. Choose it by who will read the message, not by how you feel. The full system is in the Korean speech levels section. For writing, three levels cover almost every message.

Emails to professors and managers use the formal polite level, because it is clear and careful. Chat messages to friends use the casual or polite -요 level. Never mix levels inside one message. If you start with 감사합니다, keep every sentence in -ㅂ니다 or -습니다.

Greetings and Closings You Can Copy

Every reader has a greeting line, a closing and a sign-off. Copy the pattern for your reader and swap in the real names.

The new phrases have these readings: 잘 부탁드립니다 (jal butakdeurimnida) means "please look after this" or "thank you in advance"; 건강하세요 (geonganghaseyo) means "stay healthy"; and 또 연락해 (tto yeollakae) means "contact me again". The vocative 민수야 (minsuya) is a friendly call after a name that ends in a vowel. After a consonant use 아, as in 지은아.

올림 or 드림?

Both 올림 (ollim) and 드림 (deurim) go after your name to show that you write to someone senior. They come from verbs of giving: 올리다 means "to offer up" and 드리다 means "to give respectfully". Many Korean speakers feel 올림 is slightly more formal, while 드림 is the everyday choice and is also correct for a teacher or an older relative. Neither is used for a friend or a younger person. Readers draw the line in slightly different places: 드림 is always safe, and 올림 adds a little extra deference for a professor or a senior manager.

How Do I Write Emails?

An email has a subject line that a busy reader can scan, a greeting, a single purpose, a closing and a sign-off. The three email lessons share that skeleton and differ in tone and request.

• How to Write an Email in Korean is the starting point. It teaches the parts of a polite email and gives a ready pattern.
• Korean Business Email builds a six-sentence business email with a request and a closing.
• Korean Email to Professor builds an email to a professor with a subject line, an introduction and a polite request.

Here is a skeleton you can copy for a formal email. Replace each blank with your own words.

The purpose line uses 에 대해 (e daehae), which means "about", and ends with 연락드렸습니다 (yeollakdeuryeotseumnida), the formal past of 연락드리다, "to contact someone respectfully".

How Do I Write Letters and Notes?

A paper letter or a longer note is warmer than an email. Korean letters often open with a line about the season or the reader's health before they reach the purpose, and they put the date and the writer's name at the end. That order can feel slow if you are used to getting to the point, but it shows care.

• Korean Letter Format builds a ten-line letter to a family member or a teacher, with the correct greeting and closing.
• Korean Thank You Message gives five thank-you messages, each at the right level of politeness for its reader.

For a short thank-you note, the closing line often carries the message: 감사합니다 for a stranger or a senior, 감사해요 for a friendly colleague, and 고마워 for a friend.

How Do I Address Envelopes and Message Partners?

An envelope has two labels. 받는 사람 (banneun saram) [반는 사람] is the recipient, and 보내는 사람 (bonaeneun saram) is the sender. Korean addresses go from the biggest unit to the smallest, so the province or city comes first and the name comes last. A message to a language partner is different: it is informal text, so it needs a friendly greeting, a short introduction and a clear suggestion.

• Korean Envelope Address Format shows how to write a complete envelope address for a recipient and a sender.
• Korean Language Exchange Message builds a six-line first message to a language exchange partner and proposes a time.

Comparing the Writing a Letter in Korean Lessons

The seven lessons fix different problems. The table compares them.

The times are rough estimates for a first attempt, not measured averages. They depend on how much you write while you study.

How Do You Practise Writing a Letter in Korean?

Writing improves when you write for a real reader. Try this routine.

1. Pick one real message you need to send, such as a thank-you or a question to a teacher.
2. Choose the reader's speech level from the table above, then copy the skeleton and fill in the blanks.
3. Type it with a Korean keyboard. The how to type in Korean section shows how.
4. Check the level with the which speech level guide, and check polite phrases in the polite expressions list.
5. Practise a handwritten version on the Korean manuscript paper printable, and drill workplace words with the Korean business vocabulary flashcards.

When you want free writing practice with prompts, go to the writing practice prompts section, and for the whole writing area see Korean writing practice.

Study Order at a Glance

1. Korean speech levels: learn the three levels in the table above.
2. How to Write an Email in Korean: the four moves in an email.
3. Korean Letter Format and Korean Thank You Message: warmer, longer messages.
4. Korean Email to Professor and Korean Business Email: formal requests.
5. Korean Envelope Address Format and Korean Language Exchange Message: envelopes and informal messages.

Audio, Review Status and Scope

This page on how to write a letter in korean was reviewed and signed off by Min-ji Park on 15 October 2026. Min-ji Park reviewed and signed off the Korean text and Revised Romanization on 15 October 2026. This section teaches message writing only. It does not teach typing, which is in the typing section, or the grammar of politeness, which is in the speech levels section.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Start a Letter in Korean?

Start with the reader's name and title, followed by the particle 께 for a senior, as in 김 교수님께. Then add a greeting such as 안녕하세요. For a friend, call their name with 야 or 아, as in 민수야. Put the purpose in the next sentence.

What Closing Do Koreans Use?

For emails, 감사합니다 is the safest closing, and 잘 부탁드립니다 follows a request. A sign-off with your name and 올림 or 드림 shows respect to a senior. For friends, a short line such as 또 연락해 is enough.

Is an Email Formal or Casual?

It depends on the reader, not on the medium. An email to a professor, boss or stranger is formal, in the -습니다 style. An email to a friend can use the -요 style or casual speech. Do not mix levels in one message.

How Do I Address a Professor?

Write the family name or full name, then 교수님, then 께, as in 김 교수님께. Open with 안녕하세요, 교수님. Use the formal -ㅂ니다 or -습니다 style throughout. Do not use 선생님 for a university professor unless they prefer it.

Does the Order of an Address Differ from English?

Yes. Korean addresses go from the biggest unit to the smallest, so the province or city comes first and the person's name last. The envelope lesson shows where the recipient and the sender go.