Family & Personal Descriptions

In English, "brother" covers a lot of ground. In Korean, the word you use for a sibling depends on who is older and on your own gender, and a relative's title can tell you which side of the family they come from. That isn't extra complication for its own sake: Korean family words carry the information Korean grammar cares about most — age and relationship. Learn them here and you'll already understand half of the politeness system you meet in Lesson 13.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Core Family Terms

English	Formal / Polite	Casual	Notes
Father	아버지 (abeoji)	아빠 (appa)	Like "Father" vs "Dad"
Mother	어머니 (eomeoni)	엄마 (eomma)	Like "Mother" vs "Mom"
Parents	부모님 (bumonim)	—	님 adds respect
Older brother (male speaker)	형 (hyeong)	형	형님 is the very respectful form
Older brother (female speaker)	오빠 (oppa)	오빠
Older sister (male speaker)	누나 (nuna)	누나
Older sister (female speaker)	언니 (eonni)	언니
Younger sibling	동생 (dongsaeng)	동생	남동생 (brother), 여동생 (sister)
Siblings	형제 (hyeongje)	—	형제자매 = brothers and sisters
Grandfather	할아버지 (harabeoji)	할아버지
Grandmother	할머니 (halmeoni)	할머니
Husband	남편 (nampyeon)	—
Wife	아내 (anae)	—	부인 (buin) = someone else's wife, respectfully
Son	아들 (adeul)	—
Daughter	딸 (ttal)	—
Family	가족 (gajok)	—

⚠️ Sibling Terms Depend on YOUR Gender

A male calls his older brother 형 and his older sister 누나. A female calls her older brother 오빠 and her older sister 언니. These words are also used with close friends and acquaintances who are a little older — which is why fans call a male idol 오빠. Younger siblings are all simply 동생; you add 남- or 여- only when gender matters.

🌳 Mother's Side, Father's Side

Korean often marks which side of the family someone belongs to. The prefix 외- (literally "outside") marks the mother's side; 친- can mark the father's side when you need to be specific.

Korean	English	Side
외할머니	grandmother	mother's mother
친할머니	grandmother	father's mother
이모	aunt	mother's sister
고모	aunt	father's sister
외삼촌	uncle	mother's brother
삼촌	uncle	father's (usually unmarried) brother
사촌	cousin	either side

In real families you'll also hear 큰아버지 and 작은아버지 for the father's married older and younger brothers. You don't need them yet — just know the system is precise on purpose.

🎨 Describing People

You met the key idea in Lesson 7: Korean adjectives conjugate exactly like verbs. There is no separate word for "is" — 커요 already means "is big/tall". Here are the words you'll use most for people:

Dictionary Form	Polite Present	Meaning
크다	커요	to be big / tall
작다	작아요	to be small / short
예쁘다	예뻐요	to be pretty
잘생기다	잘생겼어요	to be handsome
친절하다	친절해요	to be kind
재미있다	재미있어요	to be fun / funny
똑똑하다	똑똑해요	to be smart
젊다	젊어요	to be young
바쁘다	바빠요	to be busy
조용하다	조용해요	to be quiet
착하다	착해요	to be good-natured

💡 Two Forms Worth Noticing

커요, 예뻐요, 바빠요: when a stem ends in ㅡ, the ㅡ drops before -아요/어요. Memorise these three now; Lesson 21 gives you the full rule.

잘생겼어요: Koreans describe good looks with what is technically a past-tense ending ("has turned out handsome"). It means "is handsome" right now. Learn it as a set phrase; past endings come in Lesson 15.

🧩 Grammar in Action

From Lesson 5: 이에요/예요 and 누구예요?

Korean	English
이 사람은 누구예요?	Who is this person?
제 여동생이에요.	She's my younger sister.
우리 형은 회사원이에요.	My older brother is an office worker.
언니는 선생님이에요.	My older sister is a teacher.
저는 외동이에요.	I'm an only child.
그 사람은 제 남편이 아니에요. 친구예요.	That person isn't my husband. He's a friend.

From Lesson 5: the "double subject" 은/는 … 이/가

To describe a feature of a person, Korean puts the person in 은/는 (the topic — "as for my brother") and the feature in 이/가 (the subject of the adjective). English does something similar with "My brother, he's tall."

✅ The Formula

Person + 은/는 + Feature + 이/가 + Adjective

형은 키가 커요. = As for my older brother, (his) height is big → "My brother is tall."

Korean	English
동생은 키가 작아요.	My younger sibling is short.
할머니는 마음이 따뜻해요.	My grandmother is warm-hearted.
누나는 머리가 길어요.	My older sister has long hair.
아빠는 목소리가 커요.	My dad has a loud voice.

From Lesson 7: -아요/어요 and 을/를

Korean	English
아버지는 커피를 좋아해요.	My father likes coffee.
남동생은 게임을 해요.	My younger brother plays games.
언니는 영어를 공부해요.	My older sister studies English.
엄마는 책을 읽어요.	My mom reads books.
저는 오빠를 자주 만나요.	I often meet my older brother.

💡 A Note on Grandparents

할아버지는 신문을 읽어요 is grammatically correct, but Korean speakers talking about grandparents or parents usually add a respectful -(으)시- to the verb: 할아버지는 신문을 읽으세요. You'll learn exactly how in Lesson 13. For now, the plain polite form is fine — people will understand you perfectly.

And from Lesson 6, counting family members: 가족이 몇 명이에요? — 다섯 명이에요. To say you have a sibling, use the set phrase 형이 있어요 ("I have an older brother") or 동생이 없어요 ("I have no younger siblings"); 있어요/없어요 are taught fully in Lesson 9.

💬 Dialogue: Looking at a Family Photo

Speaker	Korean	English
준호	이 사진은 뭐예요?	What's this photo?
Sara	우리 가족 사진이에요.	It's a photo of my family.
준호	가족이 몇 명이에요?	How many people are in your family?
Sara	네 명이에요. 아버지, 어머니, 언니, 그리고 저예요.	Four. My father, mother, older sister, and me.
준호	이 사람이 언니예요? 키가 커요!	Is this your older sister? She's tall!
Sara	네. 언니는 선생님이에요. 아주 친절해요.	Yes. She's a teacher. She's very kind.
준호	언니는 뭘 가르쳐요?	What does she teach?
Sara	음악을 가르쳐요. 그리고 노래를 정말 잘해요.	She teaches music. And she sings really well.

⚠️ Common Mistakes

오빠 used by a male speaker → males say 형 for an older brother.
제 부인 for "my wife" → say 제 아내 (or casually 와이프); 부인 is respectful and used for other people's wives.
저의 엄마 → natural Korean says 우리 엄마 (or 제 어머니).
잘생겨요 for "is handsome" → the natural form is 잘생겼어요.
형은 커요 is understood, but for height Koreans say 형은 키가 커요.
동생가 → 생 has a final consonant, so it's 동생이.

Family words take time — even Koreans sometimes stop to work out what to call a cousin's spouse. If you pick the wrong sibling word today, you've just found the one to review tomorrow.

✏️ Practice

Exercise 1 — Family words

Mother (formal) → _____ (Answer: 어머니)
Dad (casual) → _____ (Answer: 아빠)
A woman's older sister → _____ (Answer: 언니)
A man's older sister → _____ (Answer: 누나)
A woman's older brother → _____ (Answer: 오빠)
Younger brother → _____ (Answer: 남동생)
Mother's sister → _____ (Answer: 이모)
Grandfather → _____ (Answer: 할아버지)

Exercise 2 — Lesson 5 particles: 은/는 or 이/가

형_____ 키가 커요. (topic) (Answer: 은)
누나_____ 머리가 길어요. (topic) (Answer: 는)
동생은 키_____ 작아요. (subject) (Answer: 가)
할머니는 마음_____ 따뜻해요. (subject) (Answer: 이)
가족_____ 몇 명이에요? (subject) (Answer: 이)
이 사람_____ 제 남편이에요. (topic) (Answer: 은)
우리 아빠_____ 의사예요. (topic) (Answer: 는)

Exercise 3 — Lesson 5: 이에요 or 예요?

제 동생_____. (Answer: 이에요)
우리 누나_____. (Answer: 예요)
언니는 선생님_____. (Answer: 이에요)
이 사람은 누구_____? (Answer: 예요)
형은 회사원이 _____. (is not) (Answer: 아니에요)

Exercise 4 — Lesson 7: polite present and 을/를

크다 → 오빠는 키가 _____. (Answer: 커요)
예쁘다 → 언니는 _____. (Answer: 예뻐요)
친절하다 → 선생님은 _____. (Answer: 친절해요)
읽다 → 엄마는 책을 _____. (Answer: 읽어요)
만나다 → 저는 친구를 _____. (Answer: 만나요)
아버지는 커피_____ 좋아해요. (Answer: 를)
남동생은 게임_____ 해요. (Answer: 을)
'handsome' → 우리 형은 _____. (Answer: 잘생겼어요)

🧠 Check Your Understanding

❓ Common Questions

🌟 Going Further

Draw your family tree and label it in Korean from your point of view (remember: the sibling words depend on your gender).
Write five sentences about one relative using the double-subject pattern, e.g. 우리 할머니는 마음이 따뜻해요, plus one sentence about what they like (을/를 좋아해요).

🔮 Looking Ahead

You can now say who people are and what they do, but not where. Lesson 9 adds the particles of place, time and people — 에, 에서, 한테, 하고, 도 — so you can say "my sister lives in Seoul", "I eat with my family" and "my brother is at home too".

🇰🇷 Lesson 8: Family & Personal Descriptions