Learn Korean: Informal and Formal Words in Korean

Formal & Informal words in Korean Part 1
Whether you want to understand basic words in K-pop or K-dramas, impress your Korean friends, or simply deepen your connection to the Korean culture, the Korean Language Starter Pack ensures that you quickly learn and retain the most commonly used Korean words and phrases today. Click here to learn more.

Once you start learning Korean, you realize that sometimes you need to use the formal versions of words. It can be a bit confusing at first as you may not know all the words. Here is part 1 of some common formal and informal words in Korean. Part 2 can be found here!

List of words in this infographic:

댁 (daek) = house (formal)

집 (jib) = house (informal)

어머니 (eo-meo-ni) = mother (formal)

엄마 (eom-ma) = mother (informal)

아버지 (a-beo-ji) = father (formal)

아빠 (a-ppa) = father (informal)

무료 (mu-ryo) = free (formal)

공짜 (gong-jaa) = free (informal)

생신 (saeng-sin) = birthday (formal)

생일 (saeng-il) = birthday (informal)

말씀 (mal-sseum) = speech (formal)

말 (mal) = speech (informal)

성함 (seong-ham) = name (formal)

이름 (i-reum) = name (informal)

진지 (jin-ji) = meal (formal)

밥 (bab) = meal (informal)

You can review and practice these words more with our printable PDF worksheets for beginners here.

Whether you want to understand basic words in K-pop or K-dramas, impress your Korean friends, or simply deepen your connection to the Korean culture, the Korean Language Starter Pack ensures that you quickly learn and retain the most commonly used Korean words and phrases today. Click here to learn more.