Korean Greetings: 10+ Ways to Say “Hello” in Korean

“Hello” (polite): 안녕하세요 (annyeong haseyo) · “Hi” / “Hello” (casual): 안녕 (annyeong) · “Good day” / “Hello” (formal): 녕하십니까 (annyeong hasimnikka) · “ ... THISishowIlearnalanguagein3months. Getthedetailshere Home»Articles»KoreanGreetings:10+WaystoSay“Hello”inKorean SHARE KoreanGreetings:10+WaystoSay“Hello”inKorean writtenbyCaitlinSacasas Fulldisclosure:Thispostcontainsaffiliatelinks.? HavingyourfirstconversationinKoreanstartswithasimple“hi”.Andthat’swhyyouneedtolearn“hello”inKorean,aswellassomebasicKoreangreetings! LearninghowtosayhelloinKoreanisprettysimple,andyoumayevenhavehearditbefore… LongbeforeIhadaninterestinlearningthelanguage,Ilearnedhowtosay“hello”inKoreanwhilewatchingArrestedDevelopment.Ifyou’veseentheshow,youmightremembertheythought“Annyeong”washisname,butitreallymeanthello(whichiswhyhewasalwayssayingit). TheBluths’mistakewasmymemorygain! Butsayinghellohasabitmoretoitthanthat.TheKoreanlanguagehasahierarchyofformalitybasedonwhoyou’retalkingto. Butnoworries!I’llfillyouinonallthedetailssoyoucanstarthavingconversationsinKoreanwithease. Togetyoustartedthough,here’saquicklistofKoreangreetings: “Hello”(polite):안녕하세요(annyeonghaseyo)“Hi”/“Hello”(casual):안녕(annyeong)“Goodday”/“Hello”(formal):녕하십니까(annyeonghasimnikka)“Hello”whenansweringthephone:여보세요(yeoboseyo)“Goodmorning”:좋은아침이에요(joeunachimieyo)“Longtimenosee”(polite):오랜만이에요(oraenmanieyo)“Nicetomeetyou”(formal):만나서반갑습니다(mannaseobangapseumnida)“What’sup?”:무슨일이야?(museunir-iya?)“Howareyou?”:어떻게지내세요?(eotteokejinaeseyo?)“Didyoueat?”:밥먹었어?(babmeogeoss-eo?)“Yo!”:야!(Ya!)“Pleaselookafterme”:잘부탁드립니다(jalbutagdeurimnida) HowtoSayHelloinKorean First,let’stalkaboutthatformalitything.IntheKoreanlanguage,therearesevenlevelsofformality,althoughyouonlyneedtoknowthemainlevels. Theyare:casual,polite,andformal/honorific. Theotherlevelsaremostlyoutdated.They’regoodtoknowifyouwanttoreadreligiousscripturesorwatchintenseKoreanperiod-dramas,butyouwon’thearthemineverydaylife. Casualspeechisforwhenyou’respeakingwithfriends,family,andthoseyoungerthanyouoroflesserseniority. Politespeechisforwhenyou’respeakingwithpeopleyouknow,butnotverywell.Thislevelofspeechallowsforsocialdistance(youaren’tsayingyou’rehigherorlowerthanthem),andit’sprettyneutral. Politespeechisgoingtobeyourgo-toinmanysituations. Youshoulduseformalspeechwithstrangersorinformalsituations,suchasintroducingyourself.Youwouldusethiswithpeoplewhoareolderthanyouorhigherseniority. So,forexample,abosswouldusepolitespeechwithhisemployeesbecausehe'sthesuperior.Butemployeeswoulduseformalspeechwiththeirboss.Youwouldusecasualspeechwhentalkingwithyourspouse,butpolitespeechwhentalkingwithacoworker. It’simportanttoknowtheselevelsofformalitysowhenyoulearnthephrasesbelow,youknowwhentousethemcorrectlyandwhytherearevariationsforthesamething. Koreancanbeeasytolearnonceyouunderstandsomeofthebasicslikethis. Okay!That’soutoftheway.Let’slearnsomeKoreangreetings. I’llwritetheminbothHangul(Koreancharacters)andromanizedletters.Butit’sbesttolearnHangulforproperpronunciation.Infact,youcanlearnHangulinjustafewminutes. 안녕하세요(AnnyeongHaseyo)–“Hello” ThisisyourmostcommonwaytogreetsomeoneinKorean.It’sthefamiliar,politespeechpattern. Youuse하세요(haseyo)toshowabitofextrarespect.하세요comesfromtheverb하다(hada),whichmeans“todo.” It’sagoodphraseforalmostallsituations,especiallyifyou’reunsurewhatlevelofformalitytouse. Youcansaythistointroduceyourself,toshowrespecttothoseolderthanyou,andintheoffice.Ifyouaddaquestionmarkoruseraisedtonationonthelastsyllable,itmeansthesamethingas“Howareyou?”Like: “안녕하세요?”(Annyeonghaseyo?,“Hi,howareyou?”) “예.안녕하세요?”(Ye.Annyeonghaseyo?,“I’mwell.Howareyou?”) It’snormaltobowalittlewhenyougreetsomeonewiththisphrase. Bonusfunfact:안녕하세요literallymeans“areyouatpeace?”whichiswhythestandardresponsebackis“yes”or예(ye). 안녕(Annyeong)–“Hi” 안녕(annyeong)isyourinformal,casualwaytogreetthoseyou’recloseto,suchasfriendsandfamily. What’sniceabout안녕(annyeong)isthatit’susedinmanyways.Unlikeotherlanguages,Koreandoesn’thavephrasesfordifferenttimesoftheday.Althoughthereisa“goodmorning”phrase(whichI’llshowyoulater),youwon’thear“goodafternoon”or“goodevening.” So,안녕(annyeong)isagoodonetoknowbecauseyoucanuseitatalltimesoftheday,andeventosaygoodbye. Thisinformalversionisalsothebuildingblockforaddingthemorepolitepartsoftheword,likehowyouadd하세요(haseyo)tobemorepolite. 안녕하십니까(AnnyeongHasimnikka)–“GoodDay” Okay,sotheliteraltranslationisstill“hello”inKorean.ButI’mgoingtoexplainitas“goodday”oreven“gooddaySir/Madam”becauseIthinkofitasasuperformal,almostawkwardwaytogreetsomeone. Thesedays,it’sonlyusedonthenews,orwhengreetingcustomerstoshowahighlevelofrespect. Thisisthehonorific,formalform,andoneofthemostpolitethat’sstillinuse.Youprobablywon’tsayityourself,butit’sgoodtoknowbecauseyoumaysometimeshearit. 여보세요(Yeoboseyo)–“Hello” Yes,anotherwaytosay“hello,”butthisonehasnothingtodowithformality. Youonlyuse여보세요(yeoboseyo)whenyouanswerthephone.Ifyou’veeverstudiedJapanesegreetings,it’slikesayingもしもし(moshimoshi). 여보세요(yeoboseyo)canalsobeusedveryinformallytogetsomeone’sattention,likesaying“Lookoverhere!” It’salmostexclusivelyusedoverthephone,orifyou’recallingout“hello”andunsurewhoyou’retalkingtoorifanyoneisthere. 좋은아침이에요(JoeunAchimieyo)–“GoodMorning” 좋은아침이에요(joeunachimieyo)isthepoliteform,while좋은아침(joeunachim)isthecasualformforgreetingclosefriends. Whilethismeans“goodmorning,”andyouwillsometimeshearit,it’snotascommonasitisinEnglish.안녕하세요(annyeonghaseyo)isstillamuchmorecommongreeting,atalltimesoftheday. 오랜만이에요(Oraenmanieyo)–“LongTimeNoSee” Ifyouhaven’tseensomeoneinawhile,youcanusethisphraseasagreeting,likeyouwouldinEnglish. Youcanadjustittobeinformalforclosefriendsbysaying오랜만에(oraenman-e).Ortobemoreformal(liketoyourboss),use오랜만입니다(oraenmanimnida). Note:The“e”endingorthebasicformoftheverbisleastformal,“ieyo”endingispolite,andthe“nida”endingismostformalincommonspeech. 만나서반갑습니다(MannaseoBangapseumnida)–“NicetoMeetYou” LikeinEnglish,youcangreetsomeoneyou’remeetingforthefirsttimewith“nicetomeetyou”insteadof“hello.”Themostcommonwaytosayitis만나서반갑습니다(mannaseobangapseumnida),whichisinitsmostpolite“nida”form. It'soneofthefewsetphrasesyou'llhearofteninthatformalityalmostexclusively.Because,ingeneral,whenmeetingsomeoneforthefirsttime,you’lluseformalspeechlikethis. But,inmorecasualsettings,youcouldalsosay만나서반갑습이에요(mannaseobangapseum-ieyo)whichis“It’snicetomeetyou.” Moreoftenthough,youleaveoffthefirsthalfandsay반갑습니다(bangapseumnida).Kindoflike“Nicetomeetya.” 무슨일이야?(MuseunIr-iya?)–“What’sup?” Here’saslangygreetingforyoutousewithfriends!Youcanuse무슨일이야?(museunir-iya)togreetsomeoneoraskwhatthey’redoing,likeinEnglish.Butyouwouldn’tusethisphrasewithpeopleoutsideyoursocialcircle. Youcanalsoadd이게(ige)tothebeginningofthephrasetosay이게무슨일이야(igemuseunir-iya),“What’shappening?” 어떻게지내세요?(EotteokeJinaeseyo?)–“Howareyou?” Whileyoucanuse안녕하세요?(annyeonghaseyo?)toaskhowsomeoneisdoing,itmoreliterallymeans,“areyouatpeace?” Sotobemoredirectandgetarealansweroutofsomeone,youask어떻게지내세요?(eotteokejinaeseyo?)instead. Withfriends,youcouldsay요즘어때?(yojeumeottae?)whichisaverycasualwaytosay“What’sup,”“How’sitgoing?”or“Howareyou?” Butthere’salsothephrase밥먹었어?(babmeogeoss-eo?),meaning“Didyoueat?”You’llhearitoftenbecausefriendsdon’tletfriendsmissoutongoodmeals. 야!(Ya!)–“Yo!” Ifyou’recallingouttoyourfriends,youcangrabtheirattentionwith“야!”(ya!) It’sprettyslangy,andabitmasculine.Youcanonlyusethisonewithclosefriendsthesameageasyou,anditcanalsobeusedtoexclaim“Wow!”or“Hey!” 잘부탁드립니다.(JalbutagDeurimnida)–“Pleaselookafterme.” Translatedliterally,itmeans“thankyouverymuch(fordoingasIasked/takingcareofit).”Anditisusedinthatwaysometimes,butmoreoften,you’llhearthisasarespectfulgreetingtogowithintroductions. It’saculturalthing,butitmeanssomethinglike“pleaselet’shaveagoodrelationship”or“pleaselookafterme.” It’salsousedlike“Iaskthisofyou,sopleasetakegoodcareofit.”Soifyouweretodropoffyourchildatschoolordaycare,youwouldsay잘부탁드립니다(jalbutagdeurimnida)toaskthemtotakegoodcareofyourchild. It’sverypoliteandusuallysaidwithabow. WhichKoreanGreetingWillYouUse? You’reonestepclosertostartingyourfirstconversationinKorean! Ifyou’rereadytostartlearningmore,checkoutthese35freeKoreanresources.YoucanalsocheckoutfounderofFluentin3MonthsBennyLewis'favoriteKoreanresources. Myfavoriteresource?90DayKorean. LearnthewayyouwantwithPod101,Benny'sfavouritewaytostartalanguage.Getyourspecialdiscounthere. CaitlinSacasas ContentWriter,Fluentin3Months Caitlinisacontentcreator,fitnesstrainer,zerowaster,languagelover,andStarWarsnerd.SheblogsaboutfitnessandsustainabilityatRebelHeartBeauty. Speaks:English,Japanese,Korean,Spanish ViewallpostsbyCaitlinSacasas Fluentin3Months:TheChallenge Havea15-minuteconversationinyournewlanguageafter90days JOINTHECHALLENGE ◂ALLARTICLES