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How to Say Good Morning in Korean



But how can we say “good morning” in Korean?


Onward we go!



Formal ‘Good Morning’ in Korean

1. 잘 주무셨어요? (jal jumusyeosseoyo)

2. 안녕히 주무셨어요? (annyeonghi jumusyeosseoyo)How to Say Good Morning in Korean formal

If you want to know how to say ‘good morning’ in Korean when speaking with somebody older than yourself, then these are the phrases to learn.

‘잘 주무셨어요?’ literally means ‘did you sleep well?’.

Similarly, ‘안녕히 주무셨어요?’ means ‘did you sleep peacefully?’

These phrases should only be used when you first meet somebody after they wake up, i.e. at breakfast time. They can’t be used at 11:59 a.m. like ‘good morning’ can in English.

잘 (jal) means ‘well’ in Korean. You can use this word in front of a verb, for example, by saying ‘잘 했어요’ (well done).

주무셨어요 (jumusyeosseoyo) is the past tense version of the verb 주무세요 (jumuseyo). Certain common verbs in Korean, such as ‘to exist’, ‘to eat’, ‘to speak’, and ‘to sleep’ have two different forms: the regular form, and the honorific form. 주무세요 is the honorific form of 자다 (jada) meaning ‘to sleep’.

The honorific form should be used when speaking to people older or higher in rank than you. You should never use it when referring to yourself. It is therefore used mainly when asking a question.

If somebody asks you ‘잘 주무셨어요?’, then you need to reply using the lower form of the verb. In this case saying, you could reply with ‘네, 잘 잤어요’ (ne, jal jasseoyo) meaning ‘yes, I slept well’.

You can use the verb 주무세요 in its present tense form when saying 안녕히 주무세요 (annyeonghi jumuseyo) meaning ‘good night’ (literally ‘sleep peacefully’).

3. 좋은 아침입니다 (joeun achimimnida)

You can also use this phase to literally say, “The morning is good”. It’s used like the English phrase ‘good morning”. Since it uses the –입니다 ending, it is more of a formal phrase.


Standard ‘Good Morning’ in Korean

1. 잘 잤어요? (jal jasseoyo)How to Say Good Morning in Korean standard

This is the standard form of “did you sleep well?”. You might use this with new roommates while traveling with those older than you, or maybe in a text message.

2. 좋은 아침이에요(joeun achimieyo)

You’d use this phrase to say “good morning” in standard Korean.


Informal ‘Good Morning’ in Korean

1. 잘 잤어? (jal jasseo)

When talking to close friends, you can simply say 잘 잤어? This phrase uses the past tense version of 자다 (jada) which means ‘to sleep’.

2. 좋은 아침 (joeun achim)How to Say Good Morning in Korean informal

If you type ‘good morning’ into a translator then it will often come up with something like 좋은 아침. This is the literal translation of ‘good morning’ as 좋은 means ‘good’ and 아침 means ‘morning’.

Hopefully you now know how to say ‘good morning’ in Korean. If you want to keep it simple, then just use the word ‘hello’ instead of ‘good morning’.

If you want to just learn one way of saying ‘good morning’ in Korean, then learn 안녕히 주무셨어요? Your polite manners and consideration will definitely make everyone’s morning good!

