How to Say ‘Beautiful’ in Korean

Korea is such a beautiful country! Not only does it have beautiful scenery, from mountains and forests, to islands and beaches, but it also has beautiful people.

If you want to let Koreans know how beautiful their country is (or how beautiful they are) then you will need to know how to say beautiful in Korean.

We’ll show you how!

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‘Beautiful’ in Korean

 

It is beautiful

There are two ways to say ‘beautiful’ in Korean.

The first way is to use the word 아름답다 (areumdapda).

The second way is to use the word 예쁘다 (yeppeuda), which means ‘pretty’.

These words generally can both be used interchangeably. However, 아름답다 is used more often to describe scenery, and 예쁘다 is used more often to describe people or things. 예쁘다 is sometimes written as 이쁘다, which has the same meaning, but is more of a slang word.

 

Formal ‘Beautiful’ in Korean

 

1. 아름답디다 (areumdamnida)

2. 예쁩니다 (yeppeumnida)

You might hear this word in a presentation, in an interview, or in an announcement.

Example:

서락산이 정말 아름답니다 (seoraksani jeongmal areumdamnida)

Seorak Mountain is really beautiful.

꽃이 예쁩니다 (kkochi yeppeumnida)

The flowers are pretty.

 

Standard ‘Beautiful’ in Korean

 

1. 아름다워요 (areumdawoyo)

2. 예뻐요 (yeppeoyo)

3. 이뻐요 (ippeoyo)

You can use this expression when talking to people who are older or not particularly close to you. The slang word이뻐요 can be used, but it is recommended to use 예뻐요 instead.

Example:

그 사람이 아름다워요 (geu sarami areumdawoyo)

That person is beautiful

진짜 예뻐요! (jinjja yeppeoyo)

Its really pretty!

 

Informal ‘Beautiful’ in Korean

 

1. 아름다워 (areumdawo)

2. 예뻐 (yeppeo)

3. 이뻐 (ippeo)

You can use this expression with people who are very close to you, such as with your girlfriend or boyfriend.

Example:

와, 예뻐! (wa, yeppeo!)

Wow, so pretty!

전망이 아름다워 (jeonmangi areumdawo)

The view is beautiful.

 

Bonus: ‘The beautiful lady’ in Korean

If you want to say ‘beautiful’ as in ‘the beautiful lady’ then you should say 아름다운 (areumdaun) or 예쁜 (yeppeun)

For example:

아름다운 꽃 (areumdaun kkot)

Beautiful flowers

예쁜 여자 (yeppeun yeoja)

Pretty woman

Example (standard politeness level):

예쁜 여자를 만나고 싶어요 (yeppeun yeojareul mannago shipeoyo)

I want to meet a pretty woman.

아름다운 곳에 갑시다 (areumdaun gose gapsida)

Let’s go to a beautiful place.

 

A word of caution about Romanization

We’ve added in the Romanization for all of these words to help with pronunciation. However, we recommend that you try to move onto reading comfortably in Hangul (the Korean alphabet), as this will improve your pronunciation and your reading skills. It will also help you notice patterns in words, which will lead you to improve the rate at which you learn new Korean words and grammar points.

You can download a free guide to learn the Korean alphabet in about an hour here.

Learning vocabulary words is a great way to help you learn the basics of a language, but your language learning will only really take off one you start attempting to have conversations in Korean. Take a look at our free list of Korean phrases or our full Korean course for all the help you will need when studying Korean.

 

Now you know how to say beautiful in Korean and you know how to say pretty in Korean. That means you can start complimenting people on their appearance and start describing all of the beautiful places that you would like to visit in Korea!

 

*Want more Korean phrases? Go to our Korean Phrases Page for a complete list!

Learn to read Korean and be having simple conversations, taking taxis and ordering in Korean within a week with our FREE Hangeul Hacks series: http://www.90DayKorean.com/learn

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