So last week, we did a post on how to say grandfather in Korean. So naturally, we had to do one on grandmother as well! Saying grandma follows the same standard as grandpa as there are slightly different ways to say it depending on if it’s your mother or father’s side and if you want to say it in a formal or informal way.
Keep in mind that for both grandma and grandpa, a standard 할머니/할아버지 can be used for both sides of the family. Adding the “외” is more academically correct in terms of studying.
If you’ve learned from Korean books, then you know that adding the “님” is for formal situations or for when you might see an older person on the street. 아저씨 and 아주머니 are also used for these situations.
Fun fact: Usually in Korea, a big birthday party is thrown when you turn 60 years old. It’s really a big deal and there is lots of food and at times a big celebration in a big event hall. If you ever get invited to one, learn how to say happy birthday as well.
Vocabulary in this infographic:
할머니 (hal-meo-ni) = Grandma (Father’s side)
외할머니 (oe-hal-meo-ni) = Grandma (Mother’s side)
할머님 (hal-meo-nim) = Grandma formal
외할머님 (oe-hal-meo-nim) = Grandma on your mother’s side formal