Family Members and How Koreans Address Them

Two kinds of words for parents

Korean often has a formal word and a familiar word for the same person.

아버지 and 어머니 are the respectful words for father and mother. 아빠 and 엄마 are the warm, familiar words, like "dad" and "mom". Children use 아빠 and 엄마, and many adults keep using them with their own parents.

When you speak politely about your parents to someone else, for example at work or in a formal introduction, 아버지 and 어머니 sound more mature. With friends, 아빠 and 엄마 are perfectly natural.

Older brothers and sisters: it depends on YOU

Here is the part that surprises many learners. The word for an older sibling depends on the speaker’s gender, not only on the sibling’s gender.

A male speaker calls his older brother 형 and his older sister 누나.

A female speaker calls her older brother 오빠 and her older sister 언니.

For younger siblings, there is only one word for everyone: 동생. Add 남 or 여 when you need to be clear: 남동생 (younger brother), 여동생 (younger sister).

Koreans also use 형, 오빠, 누나 and 언니 for close friends who are a little older. You will learn more about this in the native-speaker level.

Why "our mom"? 우리 엄마

In English you say "my mom". In Korean, people very often say 우리 엄마 (literally "our mom"), even when they are an only child. 우리 means "we/our", and it shows a feeling of belonging to a group: our family, our house, our country.

So 우리 집 (our house) means "my home", and 우리 가족 means "my family". Using 제 (my, humble) is also correct, as in 제 동생 (my younger sibling), but for parents and home, 우리 sounds especially natural.

In polite speech, people use 저희 instead of 우리 to be humble in front of others: 저희 부모님 (my parents).

Respect for elders: special verbs

When you talk about grandparents and parents, Koreans show respect with honorific words. In the honorifics lessons you will study them in detail, but a few are so common that it is good to know them now.

- 있다 (to be somewhere) → 계시다: 할머니가 집에 계세요 (Grandma is at home). - 먹다 (to eat) → 드시다: 할아버지가 진지를 드세요 (Grandpa is having his meal). 진지 is a respectful word for a meal. - 자다 (to sleep) → 주무시다: 아버지가 주무세요 (Father is sleeping). - 이/가 → 께서 in formal speech: 할아버지께서 오세요.

Never use these honorific forms for yourself. You say 저는 먹어요, but 어머니는 드세요.

A few relatives

Korean has many words for relatives. Here are a few useful ones. On the mother’s side, words often start with 외: 외할머니 (mother’s mother), 외할아버지 (mother’s father). Your mother’s sister is 이모, and your father’s sister is 고모. Your father’s brother is often called 삼촌, and your mother’s brother 외삼촌. Don’t worry about learning them all today. The core words above will be enough for most conversations.