The 100 Most Common Korean Words

These are the 100 most common Korean words, ranked by how often they appear in real Korean text and speech, drawn from published word-frequency research. Frequency-first learning works: a small core of high-frequency words does most of the work in everyday sentences, so mastering this list with spaced repetition gives you the fastest possible start.

#	Word	Pronunciation	English meaning
1	하다	hah-dah	do
2	있다	eet-dah	be
3	되다	dweh-dah	become
4	그	guh	that
5	나	nah	I (informal)
6	없다	uhp-dah	not exist
7	사람	sah-rahm	person
8	우리	oo-ree	we
9	것	guht	thing
10	아니다	ah-nee-dah	no
11	같다	gaht-dah	same
12	보다	boh-dah	see
13	때	tteh	time
14	말	mahl	word
15	알다	ahl-dah	know
16	그렇다	guh-ruh-tah	so
17	가다	gah-dah	go
18	오다	oh-dah	come
19	주다	joo-dah	give
20	받다	baht-dah	get
21	좋다	joh-tah	good
22	크다	kuh-dah	large
23	살다	sahl-dah	live
24	생각하다	sehng-gahk-hah-dah	think
25	만들다	mahn-dul-dah	make
26	년	nyuhn	year
27	일	eel	day (in dates)
28	나오다	nah-oh-dah	out
29	많다	mahn-tah	many
30	모르다	moh-ruh-dah	not know
31	시간	shee-gahn	hour
32	어떻다	uh-ttuh-tah	how (verb)
33	지금	jee-gum	now
34	너	nuh	you
35	저	juh	I (polite)
36	다시	dah-shee	again
37	집	jeep	home
38	먹다	muhk-dah	eat
39	좋아하다	joh-ah-hah-dah	like
40	친구	cheen-goo	friend
41	물	mool	water
42	눈	noon	eye
43	손	sohn	hand
44	오늘	oh-nul	today
45	날	nahl	day
46	다른	dah-run	other
47	어디	uh-dee	where
48	누구	noo-goo	who
49	왜	weh	why
50	어떻게	uh-ttuh-keh	how (adverb)
51	이	ee	this (determiner)
52	안	ahn	not (short negation)
53	못	moht	cannot
54	더	duh	more
55	잘	jahl	well
56	정말	juhng-mahl	really
57	너무	nuh-moo	too (excessively)
58	같이	gah-chee	together
59	여기	yuh-gee	here
60	거기	guh-gee	there
61	이제	ee-jeh	now (from now on)
62	아직	ah-jeek	still (yet)
63	이미	ee-mee	already
64	그리고	guh-ree-goh	and (and then)
65	하지만	hah-jee-mahn	but
66	그래서	guh-reh-suh	so (therefore)
67	말하다	mahl-hah-dah	speak
68	듣다	dut-dah	hear (listen)
69	쓰다	ssuh-dah	write (also - use)
70	읽다	eek-dah	read
71	사다	sah-dah	buy
72	마시다	mah-shee-dah	drink
73	배우다	beh-oo-dah	learn
74	가르치다	gah-ruh-chee-dah	teach
75	기다리다	gee-dah-ree-dah	wait
76	만나다	mahn-nah-dah	meet
77	찾다	chaht-dah	look for (find)
78	묻다	moot-dah	ask
79	돕다	dohp-dah	help
80	싶다	sheep-dah	want to (auxiliary)
81	일하다	eel-hah-dah	work (verb)
82	작다	jahk-dah	small
83	새	seh	new (determiner)
84	길다	geel-dah	long
85	나쁘다	nah-ppuh-dah	bad
86	아이	ah-ee	child
87	여자	yuh-jah	woman
88	남자	nahm-jah	man
89	어머니	uh-muh-nee	mother
90	아버지	ah-buh-jee	father
91	이름	ee-rum	name
92	돈	dohn	money
93	학교	hahk-gyoh	school
94	선생님	suhn-sehng-neem	teacher
95	이야기	ee-yah-gee	story (talk)
96	마음	mah-um	heart (mind)
97	몸	mohm	body
98	밥	bahp	rice (meal)
99	길	geel	road
100	곳	goht	place

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Ranked by lemma frequency in published Korean corpus research; proper nouns, numbers, and duplicates removed. Pronunciation is a respelling guide, not phonetic notation.

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Frequently asked questions about Korean words

How many Korean words do you need for a basic conversation?

Frequency research shows the 1,000 most common words cover roughly 85 percent of everyday speech, and the top 100 alone appear in almost every sentence. You can manage simple exchanges with a few hundred words; this list is the foundation to build on.

What is the fastest way to memorize these 100 words?

Spaced repetition: review each word just before you would forget it, at growing intervals. It moves vocabulary into long-term memory far faster than rereading a list. Turn the 100 words into flashcards and review a small batch daily; the whole list fits into two to three weeks.

Are 100 words enough to speak Korean?

No. One hundred words let you recognize the skeleton of most sentences, but not hold a real conversation. They are the right starting point: after this list, grow toward the most common 1,000 words and start speaking practice early, even with simple phrases.

Where does this Korean word list come from?

From published Korean word-frequency research: lemma-ranked corpus lists cleaned for learners, with proper nouns, numbers, and duplicates removed. Rankings are approximate, since real usage varies by region and register, but the core is stable across corpora.