개 – How To Say Dog in Korean
Dog In Korean
In the last KWotD, we learned the Korean word for ‘house‘. In this lesson we will talk about what is usually considered ‘man’s best friend’, the dog, and learn how to say dog in Korean. For this, you use the word:
gae
In Hangul: 개
dog
Very simple. Easy to remember, easy to pronounce. Note that you should be careful when using this word to describe or compare with people, as it is considered an insult and people can be offended.
Now, if you want to say puppy in Korean, you say:
gang-a-ji
In Hangul: 강아지
puppy
What does the dog say when it barks, in Korean?
meong-meong
In Hangul: 멍멍
woof
If you want a cuter way to say dog in Korean, you can take the word above and add ‘이’ to the end, like this.
meong-meong-ee
In Hangul: 멍멍이
dog/puppy (cute-ish)
Do Koreans eat dogs?
Short answer: yes, but mostly no. Somewhat long answer: While some Koreans do consume dog meat (gaegogi, 개고기) and there is indeed a rather large market for it, it is far from common and usually pertains to older people. If you travel to Korea and worry about accidentally eating dog meat, you have nothing to worry about.
Examples
Ex. 1
저는 강아지(를) 좋아해요. (spoken polite form, you can omit 를/reul)
[jeo-neun gang-a-ji-reul joh-a-hae-yo]
=I like dogs (puppies).
Ex. 2
강아지(는) 귀여워요. (spoken polite form, you can omit 는/neun)
[gang-a-ji(-neun) gwi-yeo-wo-yo ].
= the puppy is cute.
If you want to say ‘cute puppy’ you use:
Ex. 3
귀여운 강아지
[gwi-yeo-un gang-a-ji]
= cute puppy
Let’s look at a slightly longer sentence, just for the sake of it!
Ex. 4
우리 동네에는 개가 많다. (dictionary form)
[u-ri dong-ne-e-neun gae-ga man-tta].
= There are a lot of dogs in our neigborhood.
Now you know how to say both puppy and dog in Korean! For more Korean lessons like this one, make sure to check out our Korean word of the day archive.
And as usual, if you haven’t already done so, we recommend that you learn hangul if you are serious about learning Korean. It is much easier than you probably think and, believe it or not, it will only take you a few days to be able to read the entire alphabet. So what are you waiting for?
Please like or share if you found this lesson helpful. If you have any questions or something else on your mind, make sure to let us know by leaving a comment below and we will do our best to help you out!
By: Kimchi Cloud
