{"id":1129,"date":"2025-10-28T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/?p=1129"},"modified":"2025-10-17T00:24:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T00:24:40","slug":"50-essential-korean-words-for-topik-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/korean\/50-essential-korean-words-for-topik-i\/","title":{"rendered":"50 Essential Korean Words for TOPIK I"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Preparing for the TOPIK I exam? Or just picking up Korean for daily life? Whatever your purpose, knowing the right words makes everything easier. Below are 50 basic Korean words for beginners\u2014each one explained in simple, straightforward terms so you know exactly how and when to use them.<\/p>\n\n

\n
\n

People & Pronouns<\/h2>\n
\n
\ub098<\/span> (na)<\/span><\/dt>
I, me<\/dd>\n
\ub108<\/span> (neo)<\/span><\/dt>
You (casual)<\/dd>\n
\uc6b0\ub9ac<\/span> (u-ri)<\/span><\/dt>
We, us; also used as \u201cmy\/our\u201d in some contexts<\/dd>\n
\uc0ac\ub78c<\/span> (sa-ram)<\/span><\/dt>
Person, people<\/dd>\n
\uce5c\uad6c<\/span> (chin-gu)<\/span><\/dt>
Friend<\/dd>\n
\uc120\uc0dd\ub2d8<\/span> (seon-saeng-nim)<\/span><\/dt>
Teacher (respectful)<\/dd>\n
\ud559\uc0dd<\/span> (hak-saeng)<\/span><\/dt>
Student<\/dd>\n
\ub0a8\uc790<\/span> (nam-ja)<\/span><\/dt>
Man, male<\/dd>\n
\uc5ec\uc790<\/span> (yeo-ja)<\/span><\/dt>
Woman, female<\/dd>\n
\uc544\uae30<\/span> (a-gi)<\/span><\/dt>
Baby<\/dd>\n <\/dl>\n <\/section>\n\n
\n

Everyday Verbs<\/h2>\n
\n
\uac00\ub2e4<\/span> (ga-da)<\/span><\/dt>
To go<\/dd>\n
\uc624\ub2e4<\/span> (o-da)<\/span><\/dt>
To come<\/dd>\n
\ubcf4\ub2e4<\/span> (bo-da)<\/span><\/dt>
To see, watch<\/dd>\n
\uba39\ub2e4<\/span> (meok-da)<\/span><\/dt>
To eat<\/dd>\n
\ub9c8\uc2dc\ub2e4<\/span> (ma-si-da)<\/span><\/dt>
To drink<\/dd>\n
\ud558\ub2e4<\/span> (ha-da)<\/span><\/dt>
To do (used with many nouns)<\/dd>\n
\uc8fc\ub2e4<\/span> (ju-da)<\/span><\/dt>
To give<\/dd>\n
\uc0ac\ub2e4<\/span> (sa-da)<\/span><\/dt>
To buy<\/dd>\n
\uc790\ub2e4<\/span> (ja-da)<\/span><\/dt>
To sleep<\/dd>\n
\uc77d\ub2e4<\/span> (ilk-da)<\/span><\/dt>
To read<\/dd>\n <\/dl>\n <\/section>\n\n
\n

Time & Date<\/h2>\n
\n
\uc624\ub298<\/span> (o-neul)<\/span><\/dt>
Today<\/dd>\n
\ub0b4\uc77c<\/span> (nae-il)<\/span><\/dt>
Tomorrow<\/dd>\n
\uc5b4\uc81c<\/span> (eo-je)<\/span><\/dt>
Yesterday<\/dd>\n
\uc2dc\uac04<\/span> (shi-gan)<\/span><\/dt>
Time, hour<\/dd>\n
\uc694\uc77c<\/span> (yo-il)<\/span><\/dt>
Day of the week<\/dd>\n
\uc6d4\uc694\uc77c<\/span> (wol-yo-il)<\/span><\/dt>
Monday<\/dd>\n
\uc9c0\uae08<\/span> (ji-geum)<\/span><\/dt>
Now<\/dd>\n
\uc5b8\uc81c<\/span> (eon-je)<\/span><\/dt>
When?<\/dd>\n
\uc624\uc804<\/span> (o-jeon)<\/span><\/dt>
A.M. (morning)<\/dd>\n
\uc624\ud6c4<\/span> (o-hu)<\/span><\/dt>
P.M. (afternoon\/evening)<\/dd>\n <\/dl>\n <\/section>\n\n
\n

Places<\/h2>\n
\n
\uc9d1<\/span> (jip)<\/span><\/dt>
House, home<\/dd>\n
\ud559\uad50<\/span> (hak-gyo)<\/span><\/dt>
School<\/dd>\n
\ud68c\uc0ac<\/span> (hoe-sa)<\/span><\/dt>
Company, office<\/dd>\n
\ubcd1\uc6d0<\/span> (byeong-won)<\/span><\/dt>
Hospital<\/dd>\n
\uc2dc\uc7a5<\/span> (shi-jang)<\/span><\/dt>
Market<\/dd>\n
\uacf5\uc6d0<\/span> (gong-won)<\/span><\/dt>
Park<\/dd>\n
\uc2dd\ub2f9<\/span> (shik-dang)<\/span><\/dt>
Restaurant<\/dd>\n
\uc740\ud589<\/span> (eun-haeng)<\/span><\/dt>
Bank<\/dd>\n
\uc11c\uc810<\/span> (seo-jeom)<\/span><\/dt>
Bookstore<\/dd>\n
\ud654\uc7a5\uc2e4<\/span> (hwa-jang-shil)<\/span><\/dt>
Bathroom, restroom<\/dd>\n <\/dl>\n <\/section>\n\n
\n

Objects & Things<\/h2>\n
\n
\ubb3c<\/span> (mul)<\/span><\/dt>
Water<\/dd>\n
\uc74c\uc2dd<\/span> (eum-shik)<\/span><\/dt>
Food<\/dd>\n
\uc637<\/span> (ot)<\/span><\/dt>
Clothes<\/dd>\n
\ucc45<\/span> (chaek)<\/span><\/dt>
Book<\/dd>\n
\uc804\ud654<\/span> (jeon-hwa)<\/span><\/dt>
Phone<\/dd>\n
\ucef4\ud4e8\ud130<\/span> (keom-pyu-teo)<\/span><\/dt>
Computer<\/dd>\n
\uc790\ub3d9\ucc28<\/span> (ja-dong-cha)<\/span><\/dt>
Car<\/dd>\n
\ubb38<\/span> (mun)<\/span><\/dt>
Door<\/dd>\n
\uac00\ubc29<\/span> (ga-bang)<\/span><\/dt>
Bag, backpack<\/dd>\n
\ub3c8<\/span> (don)<\/span><\/dt>
Money<\/dd>\n <\/dl>\n <\/section>\n\n
\n

Final Tips<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • Say each word out loud while looking at the romanization.<\/li>\n
  • Practice making simple sentences (e.g., \uc800\ub294 \ud559\uad50\uc5d0 \uac00\uc694<\/span> \u2013 I go to school).<\/li>\n
  • Don\u2019t just read\u2014say them, write them, and use them. Repetition is the key to memory.<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Preparing for the TOPIK I exam? Or just picking up Korean for daily life? Whatever your purpose, knowing the right words makes everything easier. Below are 50 basic Korean words for beginners\u2014each one explained in simple, straightforward terms so you know exactly how and when to use them. People & Pronouns \ub098 (na) I, me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1130,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-korean"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1129"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1131,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1129\/revisions\/1131"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bunpo.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}