Days of the Week in Korean: A Simple Guide
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The seven days of the week in Korean all end in 요일 (yoil), meaning “day of the week”. Here they are from Monday to Sunday:
| English | Hangul | Revised Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 월요일 | woryoil |
| Tuesday | 화요일 | hwayoil |
| Wednesday | 수요일 | suyoil |
| Thursday | 목요일 | mogyoil |
| Friday | 금요일 | geumyoil |
| Saturday | 토요일 | toyoil |
| Sunday | 일요일 | iryoil |
You can use these words to read a calendar, arrange a lesson or tell someone when you are free. This guide also covers dates, weeks, months, seasons and a simple sentence pattern for making plans.
A note from the Fluent in 3 Months team before we get started: You can chat away in Korean for at least 15 minutes with the “Fluent in 3 Months” method. All it takes is 90 days. Tap this link to find out more.
Table of contents
The romanization in this article follows Revised Romanization. It helps you check a word, but Hangul gives you a much better route to Korean pronunciation. If you cannot read it yet, start with our guide to reading and writing Korean.
Days of the Week in Korean
The word 요일 (yoil) means a named day of the week. The first syllable changes with each day and comes from a Hanja character associated with the sun, moon or one of the five traditional elements.
That gives you a compact memory system: moon, fire, water, wood, metal, earth and sun. These associations also connect the weekday names with the seven traditional celestial bodies.
“Monday” in Korean: 월요일
Monday is 월요일 (woryoil). The first syllable, 월 (wol, 月), means “moon”, so you can remember Monday as moon day.
Its standard pronunciation is [워료일]. The final ㄹ in 월 carries over as the opening sound of the next syllable, so say it approximately as wo-ryo-il, not wol-yo-il.
“Tuesday” in Korean: 화요일
Tuesday is 화요일 (hwayoil). 화 (hwa, 火) means “fire” and is associated with Mars.
If you know Japanese, 火曜日 (kayōbi) uses the same character and “fire day” cue. I find links like this useful when moving between languages, even though the Korean and Japanese pronunciations differ.
“Wednesday” in Korean: 수요일
Wednesday is 수요일 (suyoil). 수 (su, 水) means “water” and is associated with Mercury.
“Thursday” in Korean: 목요일
Thursday is 목요일 (mogyoil). 목 (mok, 木) means “wood” and is associated with Jupiter. The final consonant in 목 is pronounced as the beginning of the next syllable, which is why the romanization has g in mogyoil.
“Friday” in Korean: 금요일
Friday is 금요일 (geumyoil). 금 (geum, 金) can mean “gold” or “metal” and is associated with Venus.
You may also see 불금 (bulgeum), short for 불타는 금요일, literally a “burning Friday”. It is an informal expression for the excitement of Friday night, rather like “TGIF”.
“Saturday” in Korean: 토요일
Saturday is 토요일 (toyoil). 토 (to, 土) means “earth” or “soil” and is associated with Saturn.
“Sunday” in Korean: 일요일
Sunday is 일요일 (iryoil). Here 일 (il, 日) means “sun”; the same character can mean “day” in other words. Its standard pronunciation is [이료일], with no w sound.
The Hanja behind the Korean weekday names are the same seven characters used in Japanese weekday names. That makes them a useful bridge if you already know one of the two languages, but learn each language’s pronunciation separately.
Days of the Week in Korean Song
A short song can help you practise the seven names in order. Listen once while reading the Hangul, then pause before each day and try to say it first.
Other Vocab Related to the Week in Korean
The weekday names become more useful when you can connect them with dates, weeks, months and seasons.
Days in Korean
일 (il) can mean “day” or mark a calendar date, while 요일 (yoil) refers to a weekday name. Korean also has special native words for the first few day counts:
- One day: 하루 (haru)
- Two days: 이틀 (iteul)
- Three days: 사흘 (saheul)
- Four days: 나흘 (naheul)
- Five days: 닷새 (datsae)
These are lexicalised day-count words, not the ordinary Native Korean numerals with a counter attached. For calendar dates, use a Sino-Korean number plus 일: 1일, 2일, 3일, 10일 and 31일. Our Korean numbers guide explains the two number systems.
Week in Korean
- Week: 주 (ju)
- One week: 일주일 (iljuil)
- Three weeks: 3주 or 삼 주 (sam ju)
- For three weeks / a three-week period: 3주간 or 삼 주간 (sam jugan)
- During the week: 주중 (jujung)
- Weekday: 평일 (pyeongil)
- Weekend: 주말 (jumal)
평일 normally means a day other than Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday. 주중 points to the period during the working week.
Months in Korean
Korean month names use a Sino-Korean number plus 월 (“month”):
| January | 1월 / 일월 | irwol | July | 7월 / 칠월 | chirwol |
| February | 2월 / 이월 | iwol | August | 8월 / 팔월 | parwol |
| March | 3월 / 삼월 | samwol | September | 9월 / 구월 | guwol |
| April | 4월 / 사월 | sawol | October | 10월 / 시월 | siwol |
| May | 5월 / 오월 | owol | November | 11월 / 십일월 | sibirwol |
| June | 6월 / 유월 | yuwol | December | 12월 / 십이월 | sibiwol |
June and October are the two spelling exceptions: 6월 is read and written as 유월, not 육월, and 10월 as 시월, not 십월.
Year in Korean
“Year” is 년 (nyeon). Korean dates normally run from the largest unit to the smallest:
YYYY년 MM월 DD일
For example, 2026년 8월 10일 means 10 August 2026. You can add the weekday after the date when it is useful.
Seasons in Korean
The general word for a natural season is 계절 (gyejeol). The four seasons are:
- Spring: 봄 (bom)
- Summer: 여름 (yeoreum)
- Autumn: 가을 (gaeul)
- Winter: 겨울 (gyeoul)
The loanword 시즌 (sijeun) is used for a sports, television or other defined season. Use 계절 for spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Bonus: Telling Time in Korean
Korean uses Native Korean numbers for the hour and Sino-Korean numbers for the minutes. Put 오전 (ojeon, “a.m.”) or 오후 (ohu, “p.m.”) before the time.
- 1 o’clock: 한 시 (han si)
- 1:30: 한 시 반 (han si ban)
- 2:15: 두 시 십오 분 (du si sibo bun)
- 3:45: 세 시 사십오 분 (se si sasibo bun)
- 3 p.m.: 오후 세 시 (ohu se si)
Notice the spaces before the unit nouns 시 (“o’clock”) and 분 (“minute”). Add the particle 에 to the time or weekday when you say when something happens. Our guide to Korean particles covers this pattern in more detail.
Write Out Your Schedule in Korean!
Put the vocabulary into one real sentence instead of learning the days as an isolated list:
화요일 오후 세 시에 수업이 있어요.
Hwayoil ohu se sie sueobi isseoyo.
“I have a class at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.”
- Choose one event that really happens this week.
- Write its weekday and time in Hangul.
- Add 에 to mark when it happens.
- Say the finished sentence aloud, then repeat it without looking.
Repeat this with three entries from your calendar. For more detail, continue with our guide to telling time in Korean.
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