Learn Korean - For Beginners [ Monthly Update ]

Oppa? - 오빠?

So, many of you have the wrong idea of the word oppa. Let's take a look.

오빠 - oppa ( oppa is the word used by girls, for their older brothers or close boy friends, and boyfriends that are older)

언니 - unnie ( unnie is the word used by girls, for their older sisters or close girl friends that are older)

누나 - noona ( noona is the word used by boys, for their older sisters, or close girl griends that are older )

형 - hyung (hyung is the word used by boys for their older brothers, or close boy friends that are older)

동생 - dong-saeng (dong-saeng is the word used by older girls or boys for their younger brothers or sisters or younger close friends)

You can also add 님 - nim and 니-ni to make it more formal. But it is only used for Hyung and Oppa. For example, 형님 or 오라버니 - hyung-nim or o-ra-bo-ni. It will be the same meaning, whatever you say. Hyungnim can also be used by gang members to address their boss.

But some girls use the word hyung for their older brothers because the girls are boyish. You will notice that in the kdrama "Healer". Where Taemi calls Changwook "hyung".

Can you also use these words, though you are not korean?

You can use these words. But Koreans will think it's weird that a foreigner uses it. Also, some korean people don't think it's weird. So it's up to you if you want to call them with these words or not. Also, some people will think it's weird if you don't call your older siblings by these words, for example, when introducing them. Always ask Koreans how they would like to be addressed. If you're an introvert or don't know how to ask, you should call them by their name and then add "nim" or "ssi" at the end. For example: Jaemin-nim. Jaemin-ssi It's different, though, if you work together. Then, you would have to address them according to their status at your workplace.

Culture:

It's not okay for a younger sibling to to call older siblings by their names. The older siblings will get mad and so will their parents. So korean people don't call elders by their name.
When talking to strangers, you use these words:

주형씨 - Juhyung shi ( 씨 - Shi means mister or miss in korean) (the man's name is Juhyung, so you say Juhyung shi - 주형씨)

아줌마 - a-jum-ma - miss (usually used for middle-aged women or married.

아저씨 - a-jeo-shi - mister

If you want to call elders in age or your work chef:

선배 - seon-bae - elder (this can be used for your CEO/boss, but remember to add 님 - nim at the end. Or, for example, BTS debuted before GOT7, which means that BTS are Got7's seon-bae. Also, some people write Sunbae instead of seonbae.)

선생 - seon-saeng - teacher (this can also be used for your teacher, but remember to add 님 - nim at the end)

So how was this lesson? Was it useful? If there is anything you want to know about, then tell me in the comments!