Important 한자

Hanja is the Korean name for Chinese characters. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation. Since a lot of Korean words are derived from Chinese, learning 한자 can be like learning prefixes, suffixes and root words. For Korean learners, learning the actual Chinese character isn't as important as learning the meaning and Korean pronunciation of the character. For example learning 驛 wouldn't be as useful as learning that the character is called '역' and means 'station.' Note that many characters can have the same pronunciation, but totally different meanings, i.e. 일(日 meaning sun) vs 일 (一 meaning one).

• Part 1: ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ
• Part 2: ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ
• Part 3: ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ

Please note: ― means there is no Hanja character for it, i.e. 동네 <洞―>. There is no Hanja character for 네, ― is not to be confused for 일 (一).

Please note 2: Some chinese characters have two ways to pronounce. For example, '女', whch means 'female' can be pronounced as both '여' and '녀' in Korean. But you can see, from the examples, 여 is only used when it comes as the first syllable of a word, while 녀 is only used in the middle of a word or at the end. This is a special grammatical rule called '두음법칙' or '머리소리 법칙', and North Korea doesn't accept this rule.

두음법칙 (Anyone can change this if this part looks unneccesary)

In the first syllable of a word, ㄴ or ㄹ combined with a vowel such as ㅣ, ㅑ, ㅕ, ㅛ, ㅠ becomes ㅇ. However, when ㄹ is combined with a vowel such as ㅏ, ㅓ, ㅗ, ㅜ, ㅡ, ㅐ, ㅔ, ㅚ, it is changed into ㄴ. And this rule is only applied when the it comes to the first syllable.

For examples: 이빨 (teeth of animals, a humble form for '이') 사랑니 (a wisdom tooth)

역사歷史 (history) 이력서履歷書 (résumé)

노인老人 (someone who is old, senior) 연로年老 (aged and getting old)

강 <江> - River

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 江

고 <高> - High, Tall

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 高

과 <科> - Section, Department, Science

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 科

교 <敎> - Teach, faith, religion

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 敎

교 <校> - School

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 校

구 <區> - District, ward , area

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 區

구 <口> - Entrance, gate, mouth, open end

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 口

국 <國> - Nation, country

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 國

남 <南> - South

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 南

남 <男> - Male

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 男

녀 <女> - Female (also 여)

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 女

년 <年> - Year (also 연)

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 年

대 <大> - Big, large

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 大

도 <道> - Road / Morality

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 道

동 <同> - The same

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 同

동 <動> - Be moving, be in motion

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 動

동 <洞> - Village (primary division of wards (區), cave

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 洞

동 <東> - East

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 東

력 <力> - Power, strength, ability (also 역)

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 力

모 <母> - Mother

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 母

모 <毛> - Hair, fur, wool

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 毛

문 <文> - Writings, sentence, literature

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 文

문 <門> - Door (Family, Specialty)

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 門

문 <問> - To ask

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 問

미 <美> - Beauty, America

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 美

Important 한자 2 →