It’s time to speak from the heart!

Today, we’re going to explain how to say ‘I miss you’ in Korean.

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Two Korean Verbs for ‘Miss’

If you are wondering how to say ‘I miss you’ in Korean and you look in the dictionary, then you will likely come across the verb 그립다 (keu-rip-da).

Although this word does mean ‘to miss’, it isn’t used that often in spoken Korean. Instead of 그립다, the expression 보고 싶다 (bo-go ship-da) is used when people want to say ‘I miss you’ in Korean.

보고 싶다 literally means ‘I want to see’. It is made up of the verb 보다 (to see) and the suffix -고 싶다 which expresses the idea of wanting to do a particular action.

Even though ‘보고 싶다’ literally means ‘to want to see’, it also means ‘I miss you’. If you want to say ‘I want to see’ then you will use this expression too. Therefore, you need to listen carefully and judge the situation when translating this word.

그립다 can be used if you want to say that you miss a non-human thing or situation. For example, you might say ‘옛집이 그리워요’ (I miss my old house) or ‘학창시절이 그리워요’ (I miss my school days).

If you want to say something like ‘miss the bus’ then you should use the verb 놓치다 (noh-chi-da). For example, you might say’버스를 놓쳤어요’ (I missed the bus). Whenever talking about missing a person, use 보고 싶다.

Are you curious how to put this expression to use? Let’s get to it!

Informal ‘I Miss You’ in Korean

1. 보고 싶어 (bo-go ship-eo)

Ninety-nine percent of the time you will be using this expression with your significant other. Therefore, it is best to start off with the informal way of saying ‘I miss you’ in Korean.

You can turn this expression into a question by changing its intonation upwards at the end.

You would ask:

보고 싶어?

Use these expressions with your partner of close friends since these are the people who you are most likely to miss.

Standard ‘I Miss You’ in Korean

1. 보고 싶어요 (bo-go ship-eo-yo)

This is the same as the informal expression but with 요 (yo) on the end of it. You can use this expression with most people. However, just like in English, it is a bit weird to say ‘I miss you’ to your boss in Korean.

Formal ‘I Miss You’ in Korean

1. 보고 싶습니다 (bo-go ship-sum-ni-da)

You can use this expression if you need to be very formal or polite. However, it’s not used often.

Cute ‘I Miss You’ in Korean (Aegyo)

As you are most likely to say ‘I miss you’ to your boyfriend or girlfriend, there are some cute expressions that you can use instead of the standard 보고 싶어.

1. 보고 싶어용 (bo-go ship-eo-yong)

Adding the ‘ng’ sound is common when using aegyo. You can add it to 보고 싶어요 to make it sound cuter.

2. 보고파(bo-go-pa)

This is another cute way of saying ‘I miss you’. You can make it even more aegyo by adding an ‘ng’ to the end of it to make 보고팡 (bo-go-pang), probably followed by some cutesy body language (or emoticons if texting).

 

Hopefully you now know how to say ‘I miss you’ in Korean. Now go out and practice this expression with someone important to you. Not only will you get some Korean practice, but you’ll also make their day!