How to Say "Hello" in Korean - This is how to greet people

The formal way to say “hello” in Korean is 안녕하십니까? (annyeonghasimnikka). This is often used in announcements, speeches, or on the news in South Korea. Skiptocontent  ShareonFacebook Tweet(ShareonTwitter) Pinit(ShareonPinterest) HowtoSay“Hello”inKorean–CommonGreetingsintheLanguage33Comments|LastUpdatedonAugust12,2022by90DayKorean Inthislesson,we’regoingtoshowyouhowtosay“hello”inKorean. Learninghowtosay“hello”inKoreanhelpsyoumakefriends,greetacquaintances,andseemlikeanoverallwarmandfriendlyperson!It’sverylikelyoneofthewordsyouwillusemostoftenwhenvisitingSouthKoreaorspeakingKorean. WehaveafreePDFguideforhowtosay“hello”inKoreanthatyoucantakewithyouonthego.Checkitoutbelow: GetHowtoSay“Hello”inKoreanFreePDF Ifyou’vebeencheckingoutlanguagecourses,oneofthefirstphrasesorwordsthattheyteachisconversationstartersorgreetings,likesaying“hello.”  Contents1Howtosay“Hello”inKorean?1.1“Hello”inKorean(formal)1.2“Hello”inKorean(standard)1.2.1WhatisAnnyeonghaseyo?1.2.2HowdoyougreetsomeoneinKorean? 1.3“Hello”inKorean(informal)1.3.1Whatisthedifferencebetween안녕(annyeong)and안녕하세요(annyeonghaseyo)? 1.3.2Is“annyeong”helloorgoodbye?1.3.3Canolderpeopleuse“annyeong”forsomeoneyounger?1.3.4Howtosay“hi”inKorean2Howtopronounce“hello”inKorean3Howtowrite“hello”inKorean4Howtosay“hello”inKoreanwhenonthetelephone4.1YeoboseyoMeaning5MoreWaystoSay“Hello”inKorean5.1“GoodMorning”inKorean5.22.“Didyousleepwell?”inKorean5.33.“Longtimenosee”inKorean5.44.Cutewaytosay“Hello”inKorean5.55.“Haveyoueaten?”inKorean6Howdoyousay“hello,howareyou?”inKorean? Howtosay“Hello”inKorean? Generally,therearethreewaystosayHelloinKorean:Theformalway안녕하십니까(annyeonghasimnikka), thestandardway안녕하세요(annyeonghaseyo),andtheinformalway안녕(annyeong).  WhenitcomestoKoreangreetings, it’sbesttousethestandardwayinmostsituationsbecauseyoucanuseitforalmosteveryone.  RememberthatKoreanisahierarchicallanguage.Thatmeansyouneedtousetheproperformalitylevel,oryoucancomeoffasoffensiveforbeingtoocasualortooformaltopeopleyouknow. ThislessoniswrittenusingbothHangeul(theKoreanAlphabet)andinromanizedEnglish.Youdon’tneedtoknowHangeultoreadthewords,butitwillhelpyouwiththepronunciationifyouplantolearnKorean.  We’llalsoexplainsomeothergreetingsyoumighthearsoyoucanbepreparedtostartspeakingwithKoreans--inKorean! Getready.Thislessonwilltakeyouthroughsomeofthemanywaystosay“hello”inKorean! GetHowtoSay“Hello”inKoreanFreePDF “Hello”inKorean(formal) Theformalwaytosay“hello”inKoreanis안녕하십니까?(annyeonghasimnikka).This isoftenusedinannouncements,speeches,oronthenewsinSouthKorea. Listenhere:안녕하십니까?(annyeonghasimnikka) Thiswayofsaying“hello”usesformallanguageandcanbeusedthefirsttimeyougreetsomeoneyoudon’tknow.Youwoulduse안녕하십니까(annyeonghasimnikka)whenyouwanttoshowhighlevelsofrespecttotheotherperson. Notethatthisformalwaytogreetsomeoneisactuallyaquestion.Youmayhearitsaidasastatementoraquestion.Ifyou’reaskingitasaquestion,youshouldhaveanupwardintonationattheendoftheword.Whensomeonegreetsyouusingthisexpression,youcanreplywith안녕하십니까(annyeonghasimnikka).  Youcanusethisgreetingwithpeopleatanytimeofday.Itcanbesimilarto“goodmorning,”“goodafternoon,”or“goodevening.”  Pronunciationtip:Inthe4thsyllable,thefinalconsonantsoundissimilarto“m”insteadof“b.”Whenfollowedbyanㄴ,theㅂlettersoundslikean‘m’ratherthana“b.” GetHowtoSay“Hello”inKoreanFreePDF “Hello”inKorean(standard) 안녕하세요(annyeonghaseyo)isthemostcommonwayofsaying“hello”inKorean. Thisversionusesstandardlanguage.ThisisprobablyoneofthefirstKoreangreetingsthatanyonestudyingKoreanwouldlearn.  ListenHere:안녕하세요(annyeonghaseyo) Youcanusethisgreetingwithpeopleinanysituation.Forexample,youmightuseitwithaconveniencestoreclerk,anewbusinessassociate,oryourKoreanteacher.Youcanuseitwithanewacquaintanceyouaremeetingforthefirsttimeorsomeoneyou’veknownforawhile.  Theactualmeaningofthephrasehastwoparts.Thefirstpartis안녕(annyeong),whichmeans“well-being”or“peace.”Thesecondpartis하세요(haseyo),whichcomesfromtheverb하다(hada)meaning“todo.”Putthemtogether,andyouhave“todowell-being.”  It’ssimilartoasking,“haveyoubeendoingwell?”.  The세(se)partofthewordcomesfrom시(si),a pieceofgrammarofteninsertedintowordstoshowmorerespect.The시(si)characterisusedwhenspeakingtosomebodyolderthanyouoraboutsomeoneyouwanttoshowrespectfor.Itcanalsobeusedwhenaskingaquestiontoshowextrapoliteness. Sometimesyouwillseethestandardwordfor“hello”writtenwithaquestionmarkafterit.Sinceitisaquestion,youcanreplywith네,안녕하세요?(ne,annyeonghaseyo?|yes,hello?). Note:ThisisabitdifferentthantheequivalentEnglishgreetingbecauseyouwouldn’tusethisphrasetosaygoodbyeinKorean.ForstandardformalityinKorean,you’dsaygoodbyeusingadifferentexpression.  WhatisAnnyeonghaseyo? AnnyeonghaseyoistheromanizationoftheHangeul안녕하세요whichmeans“Hello.” GetHowtoSay“Hello”inKoreanFreePDF HowdoyougreetsomeoneinKorean?  Younormallygreetsomeonebysaying안녕하세요(annyeonghaseyo).Youmayalsobowasasignofrespect. Ifit’syourfirsttimemeetingthepersonyou’regreeting,youmightwanttoshaketheirhands.Butmakesuretouseyourrightorbothhandstoshowrespect. YoucheckoutthisarticleonHowtoIntroduceYourselfinKoreantolearntheproperwayofmakinganintroductioninKorean. “Hello”inKorean(informal) Thecasualwaytosay“hello”usinginformallanguageis안녕(annyeong). ListenHere:안녕(annyeong) Youmaynoticethatthisversionisthebuildingblockforthestandardandformalwaysofthisgreeting.  WerecommendlearningthestandardKoreanversionofthisphrasebeforetheinformalversion.Thereasonis,standardKoreancanbeusedbyalmostallpeople.YouwouldonlyuseinformalKoreanwithpeoplewithclosefriendsorthosewhoarelowerthanyouinsocialrank. ThismeansyouwouldusetheinformalKorean“hello”withpeopleyoungerthanyouand/orwhoareclosetoyou.Youmayuseitwithsomeoneyouknowforalongtimeifyouareoncloseterms.It’ssimilartoreferringtothembynameinsteadoftitle.  Thelowlevelofpolitenessusingthisphrasecanalsobeinterpretedasasignofcloseness.Youmightusethisfortextingclosefriendsorwhenyouseetheminperson.Usingamoreformalversionof“hello”withfriendsorsomeoneyouareclosewithmightmakethemfeeldistant.  Can'treadKoreanyet?Clickheretolearnforfreeinabout60minutes! Whatisthedifferencebetween안녕(annyeong)and안녕하세요(annyeonghaseyo)?  안녕하세요(annyeonghaseyo)istheformalandpolitewaytogreetsomeone.Thisisthephrasethatisusedmostoftenwithpeople.안녕(annyeong)istheinformalversionthatisusedwithpeopleyouareclosewith. Is“annyeong”helloorgoodbye? 안녕(annyeong)istheinformalwayofsayinghello.However, itcanalsobeusedasaninformalwayofsaying“bye.” Youcan’tuseitwithanybody,though,sobemindfulofwhoyou’resayingitto.  Canolderpeopleuse“annyeong”forsomeoneyounger? It’spossiblethatpeoplehigherupinthesocialrankmay talktoyouininformalKorean.Forexample,anoldermanorwomanmaysay“hello”toyoubysayingthemorecasualandinformalversionof“hello,”whichis안녕(annyeong). Inthatcase,youshouldstillreplywith안녕하세요(annyeonghaseyo).Itshowsgoodmannerstogreetpeopleolderthanyouwiththemorerespectfulversionofthesephrases. Howtosay“hi”inKorean Theequivalentof“hi”inKoreanwouldbe하이(hi)or안녕(annyeong). Youonlysay“hi”topeoplethatyou’recloseto.Inthesameway,하이(hi)or안녕(annyeong)isabitinformal,somakesuretouseitwithsomeoneyoungerthanyouorlowerthanyouinthesocialhierarchy. GetHowtoSay“Hello”inKoreanFreePDF Howtopronounce“hello”inKorean Therearethreewaystosay“hello”inKorean. Listentotheaudioclipsbelowandpracticesayingthesephrasesyourself.  English한국어(Korean)Formality Hello안녕하십니까(annyeonghasimnikka)Formal Hello안녕하세요(annyeonghaseyo)Standard Hello안녕(annyeong)Informal ThewayyousaytheKoreanwordfor“hello”changesbasedonwhoyouarespeakingwith.Thisisbecausetherearedifferentwaysofspeakingdependingonwhereyoufallinthesocialhierarchy.Youwouldalsogreetsomeonedifferentlythefirsttimeyoumeetthemthanthegreetingsyouwouldusewithclosefriends. Generallyspeaking,themoreformalversionsofthewordsarelongerandcommonlyusedwithsomeoneyouwanttoshowrespectto.Theinformalversionsareshorterandmorecasualphrasescommonlyusedtogreetfriendsorsomeonewithwhomyouareoncloseterms. Soundcomplicated?Nottoworry!We’llsimplifyitforyousoyoucanlearnthemostcommonwaystosay“hello”inKorean. Checkoutthevideobelow! HowtoSay"Hello"inKorean|90DayKorean Formorevideoslikethis,checkoutourYouTubeChannel.WeuploadnewvideoswithgreatKoreancontentregularly. GetHowtoSay“Hello”inKoreanFreePDF Howtowrite“hello”inKorean TowritetheEnglishword“hello”inHangeul(theKoreanalphabet),youcanwrite헬로(hello).  Youcanwrite안녕하세요forannyeonghaseyo,whichisthestandardwayofsaying“hello”inKorean Ifyouwanttowriteitinamoreformalway,youcanwrite안녕하십니까forannyeonghasimnikka.  Howtosay“hello”inKoreanwhenonthetelephone TheKoreanwordfor“hello”whenansweringthephoneis여보세요(yeoboseyo).  ListenHere: 여보세요(yeoboseyo). YeoboseyoMeaning Yeoboseyoisapolitewaytoanswerthephone,evenifyoudon’tknowwhothecalleris.Thisiswrittenas여보세요inHangeul.Youcanuseitwithfriends,family,andstrangers.Becarefulnottousethisgreetingin-person—phonecallsonly! Ifyou’retextingormakingphonecalls,makesureyouknowbasicKoreannumberssoyoucanexchangephonenumbers.  GetHowtoSay“Hello”inKoreanFreePDF MoreWaystoSay“Hello”inKorean Onceyouarefamiliarwiththeinformal,standard,andinformalwaysofsaying“hello,”youmaywanttoaddsomeothergreetingstothemix.Youcanchoosetheversionofhellobasedonthesetting.Forexample,youmightuseoneversionforpeopleyoudon’tknowwhoyouwouldinteractwithwithinpublicplacesandanotherwithclosefriendsandfamilyathome.  Youmightusesomeoftheseontheirown,whileothersyoumaycombinewithan안녕하세요(annyeonghaseyo). “GoodMorning”inKorean “GoodMorning”inKoreanis좋은아침이에요(joeunachimieyo). However,it’snotusedquitethesameasitisinEnglish,butitissimilar. Listenhere:좋은아침이에요(joeunachimieyo) Theactualmeaningofthephraseis“Itisagoodmorning.”InEnglish,we’dusethisasagreeting.InKoreanculture,youcanuseitasagreetingaswell,butit’snotnearlyascommon.Youcansaythistogreetfriendsortopeopleolderthanyou. Itismadeupoftheadjective좋다(jota),whichmeans“good,”theword아침(achim)whichmeans“morning,”andtheverb이다(ida)whichmeans“tobe.” GetHowtoSay“Hello”inKoreanFreePDF 2.“Didyousleepwell?”inKorean Thequestion“Didyousleepwell?”inKoreanis잘잤어요?(jaljasseoyo)?. It’smadeupoftheword잘(jal),meaning“well,”andtheverb자다(jada),meaning“tosleep.” Listenhere:잘잤어요?(jaljasseoyo) Theformalversionofthisis안녕히주무셨어요(annyeonghijumusyeosseoyo)?Youwouldsaythistoaskiftheotherpersonsleptwell. Usually,you’dusethisphrasewithpeopleyoudon’tknowwell.Youmightalsouseitwithpeoplemucholderthanyouandyouwanttoshowrespect. 3.“Longtimenosee”inKorean Theexpression“longtimenosee”inKoreanis오랜만이에요(oraenmanieyo). Youcouldusethisthatyou’vemetbeforebuthaven’tseeninawhile.Youmightusethiswithsomeonethatyourunintoonthestreet. Listenhere:오랜만이에요(oraenmanieyo) Ifyouwanttobemoreformal,youcanalsosay오랜만입니다(oraenmanimnida). 4.Cutewaytosay“Hello”inKorean Ifyouwanttopracticeyouraegyo,thenyoucansay안뇽(annyong)tosay“hello”. Thisisawayofpronouncingthisgreetinginacuteandadorableway.  Listenhere:안뇽(annyong) UsethisinformalandextremelycuteversionofhelloinKoreanwiththoseyouarecloseto. GetHowtoSay“Hello”inKoreanFreePDF 5.“Haveyoueaten?”inKorean Thequestion“Haveyoueaten”inKoreanis밥먹었어요?(bapmeogeosseoyo?). However,mostofthetime,it’susedasacommonwaytosayhelloinKorean.Useitasagreetingwithpeopleyouknowwellalready. Listenhere:밥먹었어요?(bapmeogeosseoyo) YoumayhearthisinKoreandramasandbeconfusedastowhythey’reaskingabouteating.ThisisoneoftheculturalsubtletiesthatmakesitworthwhiletolearnKoreansoyoucanwatchK-Dramaswithoutsubtitles.  WhydoKoreansgreeteachotherwith밥먹었어요(bapmeogeosseoyo)? GetHowtoSay“Hello”inKoreanFreePDF Howdoyousay“hello,howareyou?”inKorean? Thestandardwaytosay“Hello,howareyou?”inKoreanis안녕하세요,잘지냈어요?(annyeonghaseyo,jaljinaesseoyo). Ifyouwantamoreformalwayofsaying“hello,howareyou?”,youcansay안녕하십니까,잘지내셨어요?(annyeonghasimnikka,jaljinaesyeosseoyo?).  Congratulations!Younowknowhowtosay“hello”inKorean. Sincetherearefewwaystosayit,itmaytakesometimeandpracticetogetthemright.Ifyouareunsureofwhichonetouse,thenjuststickto안녕하세요(annyeonghaseyo)?asyourgo-tophrasesinceyoucanuseitinallsituations. AreyoureadytolearnotherKoreangreetings?Ifyoulikedthis,then youshouldloveourarticleson otherKoreanGreetingslike  만나서반갑습니다(mannaseobangabseubnida|NicetoMeetYou)or 좋은아침이에요(joeunachimieyo|Goodmorning) WhatKoreangreetingwillyoubeusingtoday?Letusknowinthecommentsbelow.  Happygreeting! WantmoreKoreanphrases?GotoourKoreanPhrasesPageforacompletelist! GetHowtoSay“Hello”inKoreanFreePDF LearntoReadKoreanin90Minutes–FREE!VisualAssociationstolearntheKoreanalphabetinrecordtime!DownloadNow! LearntoReadKoreanin90Minutes–FREE!VisualAssociationstolearntheKoreanalphabetinrecordtime!DownloadNow! 33repliesto"HowtoSay“Hello”inKorean–CommonGreetingsintheLanguage" Jamie August22,2022 iamusingthiswebsiteforthefirsttimeandiwasjustonkoreanphrasesandwonderingwhysomanywordswerenotthesameilearntbutthenidiscoveredthisandihavelearntsomuchsothankyouiwilldefiantlybeusingthissomuchwithmykoreanlearningsadlymycomputerkeyboarddonthaveanykoreankeyscauseiwouldhavesaythankyouinkoreanbutthankyouallineedtodonowiskeeppracticing:))))) Reply 90DayKorean August23,2022 Thanksforsharingandforyourkindwords!^^Ifyouwant,youcanreadourarticleonKoreanKeyboard:Learnhowtotypeonyourphone,tablet,&computer.ItcontainsaguideonhowtoinstallaKoreankeyboardonyourdevice. TopracticeyourKoreanskills,youcanalsocheckourarticleonKoreanPractice–Howtoeffectivelyuseyourlanguageskills.YoucanalsocheckourblogandvisitourYouTubechannelforarticlesandvideoswithgreatKoreancontent. Reply YuNa July12,2022 thankyou!thisreallyhelpedmetotalkcasually.^-^♡ Reply 90DayKorean July19,2022 Awesome,thanksforyourkindwords.^^Ifyouwanttolearntotalkcasuallyandpracticeyourreadingskill,youcanreadthesearticlescalledKoreanPhrases–BasicExpressionsandSentencesforTravel&EverydayLifewithAudioandHowtoSpeakKorean–OnlineGuideforConversationalFluencywhichcontainusefulKoreanphrasesforeverydaylife.YoucanalsocheckourblogandvisitourYouTubechannelforarticlesandvideoswithgreatKoreancontent. Reply «Previous 1 2 3 4 LeaveaReplyCancelReplyYouremailaddresswillnotbepublished. Δ LearntoReadKoreanin90Minutes–FREE! VisualAssociationstolearntheKoreanalphabetinrecordtime! DownloadNow! Needstructure? GettheKoreanskillsyouwantwithourstep-by-step,structuredonlinecourse. 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