Questions tagged [vocabulary]
General questions about word meanings, or finding an appropriate word.
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Korean word for "right" as opposed to "left" is 오른, which sounds similar to 옳은, the word for "right" as opposed to "wrong". Is this a coincidence?
If the word 오른 is related to 옳은, it mean that in the Korean language, these concepts are associated, like in English. But no association between these two concepts is found in Japanese or Chinese, ...
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Korean prefix similar to "un-" in as in "unschooling."
The English prefix "un-" has an interesting, versatile use case. "Unschooling", for example, means education, but not in the way most people think of it: no teachers, grades, ...
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What does 어느 in 화창한 어느 아침 means?
I have googled to see what does 어느 mean and what I understand is that it is used to ask questions. I am confused what does it mean in the above sentence.
Please also explain the sentence structure ...
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Troubles with machine translation of a simple sentence
How come these three sentences have the same translation into English, yet they don't look very similar?
난 당신이 괜찮았으면 좋겠어.
나는 당신이 괜찮 으면 좋겠다.
괜찮으시길 바랍니다.
Sorry, I'm not a Korean learner, I just want to ...
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How to say "I work for" without implying "I work at"
My language buddy asked me what I did for a living, and I told her I was a company employee. Then she asked which company and I didn't know how to answer.
For context, I work for a large hospital ...
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what's the difference between 바래 and 좋겠어?
I asked someone to translate "I hope you understand" in Korean and i received two answers.
니가 이해하길 바래. and
니가 이해해줬으면 좋겠어.
is there a difference in intensity of formality? or is it just ...
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쭈꾸미: meaning "octopus"?
I'm watching Hotel del Luna, episode 6, and in that there are several lines containing the above word, eg:
나는 쭈꾸미 먹으러 가려고 나온 거야.
그렇게 차려 입고 이 밤에 쭈꾸미를 먹으러 가자고요? 이건 내가 쭈꾸미 먹으러 갈 때
차려고 사둔 귀걸이야.
In the ...
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Good resources to study colloquial speech
I am have been studying for awhile and am trying to become more natural in my writing and speaking. After speaking and texting to a few native Korean speakers they have commented my style is very &...
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How often is “서바나” used to refer to Spain?
Naver lists “서바나” as a translation of Spain. Is this used at all in modern Korean? Is it archaic or frowned upon compared to “스페인”?
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How does "주간" translate to "daytime?"
I thought 주간 means "week" or "weekly" (literally "span of one week"), but if you add an "에" or even just "야간" for context, it becomes "daytime.&...
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How is ...등 used in a sentence?
I've seen 등 inputted after listing something, and I think I understand what it means, but I can't find sentences showing what to write after that. How do I continue on the sentence after writing 등?
It ...
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What is the difference between 줄다 and 줄어들다?
I understand that 들다 can be added to some verbs to give emphasis of the direction of the verbs (ex: 날아들다 = fly into), but I got confused with the word 'decrease' (도시의 인구가 계속 줄어들고 있다)
What exactly 들다 ...
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Meaning of 쏙 in 마음에 쏙 들었다
I came across this word in a sentence like:
마음에 쏙 들었다
It means roughly "to like", however I can't find any meaning for 쏙 apart from some unrelated shrimp creature.
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What are the differences between these 업소, 작업, 근무, 기업, 업체, 영업 and 사업
I understand 업소 as the place of the work, 근무 as office work, and 작업 as work that is related more to the physical work.
The similarities between 기업, 업체, 영업 and 사업 confuses me
Any example provided will ...
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Is there any differences between 취향, 식성, and 입맛?
Is there any differences in terms of usages and meanings? Thanks!
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What purpose does 기 serve in this context?
I was watching a Kpop group answer some questions and one of the questions they got was “what do you want to do this year?” Their answer was to meet their fans (팬 만나기). So what purpose does the 기 ...
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What books or reliable websites list commonly used Sino-Korean vocabulary in 2021?
My boss is curious how much Modern Korean he can recognize from his fluency in Cantonese and Mandarin. He plans to start by learning solely Hanja, obviously to take advantage of his fluent Cantonese ...
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Sticky Rice Culture (Korea) vs. Fluffy Rice Culture (West)
In a book I am reading, there is a reference to Korea as being '자 진밥 문화' (찹 쌀) and the U.S. '메진밥 문화'. The analogy seems to fit, but I have never heard of these phrases. Would the average Korean know ...
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How do you say "Damsel in distress" in Korean?
Damsel in distress is used as a phrase to mean a woman who needs to be rescued by a man. Damsel is a woman with victim mentality.
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words about korean mythological creatures
I would like to know whats the word for "korean mythological creatures" in general and
what groups are they divided into (such as ghosts, yokai, deities) and the korean words for that.
Thank ...
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What does 수면풍 and 자연풍 mean on my Korean fan settings?
Living in Korea, I’ve never really changed my standing fan setting other than the fan speed but I keep accidentally pressing the 바람모드 button and turning on “수면풍”, “자연풍” or “off”.
I couldn’t really ...
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제 번역을 확인해 주시길 바랍니다~
한국인 분들~ 다음 내용의 문법, 어휘 이용, 조사 등을 확인해 주시길 바랍니다!!!~ 감사합니다~
베트남-한국: 25년간의 성공적인 협력
1992년 12월 22일에 베트남과 한국은 공식적으로 외교관계를 수립했습니다. 이는 양국 관계의 기반을 다지는 중요한 계기입니다. 지난 25년간 베트남과 한국은 강력한 발전을 달성했으며 모든 분야에서 큰 성과를 ...
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Difference and Sound Change
Hi I have a question about:
갇, 갓, 갔, 같
Why do these all romanize to gat, and what is the sound change between them (how can I decipher one from the other)?
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Can someone make this text more "native"?
I don't know Korean very well, but it's my korean friend's birthday and I want to make a surprise to her writing this in Korean. Can any korean make this little text sound more like a native? I ...
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Use of 싫다/좋다 as affirmation/negation
In (G)I-DLE's Put It Straight, lyrics include the following lines:
싫다고 말해 / 사랑하지 않는다고 말해 봐 / 내 맘이 떠날 거 같이 / 너가 미워질 거 같이
좋다고 말해 / 아니 사랑하고 있다고 말해 줘 / 좋았던 그때와 같이 / 이제 사랑할 순 없니
I read 싫다고 말해 and 좋다고 말해 ...
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아랜 문장안에 "지" 왜 그래?
"어머니는 자신이 어떻게 그런 교육을 받았는지 다른 개들이 놀라워하고 부러워하는 것을 보길 좋아했다."
Tandem, Kakao Talk, How to Study Korean, 그리고 Korean Class 101에게 무러봤고 아무도 도움을 해줬어요. 그뿐만아니라 Zoom 한국어 교실에 갔고 선생님은 설명하러 너무 어려워하겠다고 했다.
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What does 선율적인 exactly mean?
I want to add the word melodious to a phrase which altogether means 'songs that are melodious'
So is it right if i use the word 선율적인 with 노래 or 가곡
I want to know the exact English translation of 선율적인 ...
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What's the specific verb for listening to/enjoying a concert?
What's the verb specifically for listening to/enjoying a concert/music?
I think there is a (Hanja) based verb for listening to/enjoying a concert/music.
Unfortunately, dictionaries/translation tools ...
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The meaning(s) of 차돌?
I heard this sentence today '따님을 차돌같이 잘 키우셨어요'. I've only ever know 차돌 being a type of meat, but looking around on the internet I've found several more meaning of this word including 'quartz', 'marble'...
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How do you know if 웃다 means 'to laugh' or 'to smile'?
(to) smile can be translated as 웃다 or 미소 짓다
(to) laugh can be translated as 웃다
So if I read/heard a sentence like 소피가 웃어요., how do I know if Sophie (소피) is laughing (out loud) or smiling? Do I have ...
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Difference between 박해 and 핍박?
I came across the word '핍박' a few days ago while reading an article. In the dictionary this translates to 'persecution', but I've only ever known the word '박해' having this meaning. Could anybody ...
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What are the differences in the various words for "or"?
Google translate suggests "또는".
Pimsleur has, I believe, "나", or something that sounds like "na" at least.
Finally, the Drops app on android uses "혹은" (sounds ...
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Meaning of '수반'
I was watching one of 탐사보도 세븐's episodes today and it was about the China-North Korea border. I don't know if I can post this here but here goes. On one of the buildings was a red banner that read '...
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what does 그래서 누구냐고 무러본곤데 mean?
what does “ 그래서 누구냐고 무러본곤데” exactly mean in english? i tried translating it but it said “ Replying to @Fresh_Fresh“ in english which doesn’t make sense. please help me out!
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Meaning(s) of 덮치다?
I'm wondering if somebody could give me a comprehensive definition of the word 덮치다? I figured it's to do with attacking / invading, but if someone could give me a concise definition that would be ...
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What does 연화 mean?
I purchased the reword app and have found some odd translations. Particularly, 연화, which is being translated as "soft currency." Google translate translates it as softening, a google image ...
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사무치다 뼈저리다 meaning
I'm trying to determine a suitable meaning for 사무치다 and 뼈저리다 in English. I understand that they have the meaning that some emotion is really strong/intense but can't find a translation in English. ...
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Composing sentences
How do I compose a sentences using -아/어요, -ㅂ니다, -고 싶어요, -지 마세요 and -러 가요. Can someone please explain and show me examples? I’m really desperate
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What is the difference between 가장 and 제일?
They both mean "most" (I think?) so what's the difference between them? Are they interchangeable?
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The function of 만 in 바라만보다 and difference from 바라보다
After coming by the expression 바라만 보다, I spent more than two hours trying to find something on it, and just before posting that very question here, I got the bright idea of putting the whole term ...
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Meaning of proverb 어물전 망신은 꼴뚜기가 시킨다
What is this 속담 (어물전 망신은 꼴뚜기가 시킨다) supposed to mean? What is its literal meaning? From what I understand, it is sort of an equivalent of the English proverb "one bad apple spoils the bunch", ...
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Words similar to 대여섯?
I know that 대여섯 means five or six, but I'm wondering why the '대' takes the meaning of 'five' here? Are there other words similar to this that mean 'A and A+1'. Thanks a lot.
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Meaning of 머슴살이 and origin?
I've come across the word 머슴살이 and read in the dictionary that it means doing farm work. But looking around on the internet I'm not sure if there's some sort of historical meaning associated with the ...
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Meaning of 마지노선?
I'd like to know about the meaning and usage of 마지노선. Of course, I know that this literally means Maginot Line, but I also know it must have another meaning for everyday conversation.
I saw this in a ...
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Meaning of 열악하다?
Just a simple question this time! :D What is the meaning of 열악하다? From what I figured it means poor (quality) or to be deteriorated, but I'd like to check what it means.
Thanks in advance!
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Meaning of 농담이 심하다
This expression appeared on my vocabulary textbook as a collocation of the word "joke" 농담(弄談).
What I could not understand is the exact meaning of 심하다(甚하다) in this collocation. Does is it ...
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What app do you prefer for flashcard use, pre-made?
There are plenty of Topik and flashcard apps but I'm being picky. I want decks of smaller sizes that cover most of the TOPIK books.
I specifically want an app that keeps track of the flashcards I don'...
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Meaning and grammar of 매달리다 and hand gestures
In this song lyrics there is the phrase "이제와 울고불고 매달리지마". What I can get from the sentence is something on the lines of "quit crying around", but I am not sure. Also, what role does the particle 와 ...
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Meaning/usage of 찰떡같이?
I was watching a drama today and heard the idiom '찰떡같이 말했는데 개떡같이 알아듣는다' being used. What is the meaning of this idiom and when can it be used? Also, what is the general meaning of 찰떡같이? Thanks :)
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봉인해제 meaning/usage
Today, I heard somebody talking about their diet and body transformation. After describing how they've dieted, they proceeded to say '이제 봉인해제'. Literally, I translate this as 'now the seal is the ...