Family in Korean: Essential Terms and Respectful Usage

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가족 (gajok) means “family” in Korean. The basic word is easy; choosing the right term for a particular person takes more care because Korean kinship words can encode relative age, the speaker’s conventional gender category and which side of the family someone belongs to.

You do not need to memorise an entire family tree before having a conversation. Start with the people in your own life, learn how they prefer to be addressed, and treat romanisation as a reading cue rather than a substitute for Korean audio.

Here are the core family words you are most likely to need first:

• Family: 가족 (gajok)
• Parents: 부모님 (bumonim)
• Dad: 아빠 (appa)
• Father: 아버지 (abeoji)
• Mum: 엄마 (eomma)
• Mother: 어머니 (eomeoni)
• Older brother, used by a female speaker: 오빠 (oppa)
• Older sister, used by a female speaker: 언니 (eonni)
• Older brother, used by a male speaker: 형 (hyeong)
• Older sister, used by a male speaker: 누나 (nuna)
• Younger brother: 남동생 (namdongsaeng)
• Younger sister: 여동생 (yeodongsaeng)
• Grandmother: 할머니 (halmeoni)
• Grandfather: 할아버지 (harabeoji)

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“Family” in Korean

The general word is 가족 (gajok). You will also hear 우리 가족 (uri gajok), literally “our family”, where English speakers might say “my family”. 우리 often frames something as belonging to a shared group, so translating it as “our” every time can sound unnatural in English.

A polite way to ask how many people are in someone’s family is:

가족이 몇 명이에요?
Gajogi myeot myeong-ieyo?
“How many people are in your family?”

You could answer 우리 가족은 네 명이에요 (uri gajogeun ne myeong-ieyo), “There are four people in my family.” 명 (myeong) is the ordinary counter for people; 분 (bun) is the honorific counter. In connected speech, 몇 명 sounds closer to myeon myeong than the spelling-based cue myeot myeong. This is a useful place to practise Korean numbers.

Kinship words are often used as forms of address, not just as dictionary labels. That does not mean every Korean family follows one fixed hierarchy or uses the same term. Age, closeness, generation, marriage and household habit all matter. If you are unsure, ask what the person prefers and use this guide for recognition first. Our Korean honorifics guide explains how titles differ from speech styles and honorific grammar.

Parents in Korean

아빠 and 엄마 are familiar words, much like “Dad” and “Mum”. 아버지 and 어머니 are less casual and are common when referring respectfully to parents. The exact choice within a family is personal; it is not a reliable test of whether someone is closer to one parent than the other.

• Dad: 아빠 (appa)
• Father: 아버지 (abeoji)
• Mum: 엄마 (eomma)
• Mother: 어머니 (eomeoni)
• Parents: 부모님 (bumonim)

The 님 (nim) in 부모님 adds respect. When speaking about another person’s parents, 부모님 is a useful general term. More specific forms such as 아버님 and 어머님 occur in particular family and social settings, but they are not mechanical replacements for every mention of “father” and “mother”.

Siblings in Korean

The best-known Korean sibling terms distinguish an older sibling from a younger one. The term for an older sibling also conventionally depends on the speaker’s gender:

• Older brother, used by a female speaker: 오빠 (oppa)
• Older sister, used by a female speaker: 언니 (eonni)
• Older brother, used by a male speaker: 형 (hyeong)
• Older sister, used by a male speaker: 누나 (nuna)
• Younger sibling: 동생 (dongsaeng)
• Younger brother: 남동생 (namdongsaeng)
• Younger sister: 여동생 (yeodongsaeng)
• Siblings: 형제자매 (hyeongje-jamae)

Traditional descriptions of 오빠, 언니, 형 and 누나 use a woman/man binary. Real speakers’ choices can be more individual, including for non-binary speakers, so follow the person’s own usage rather than choosing a label for them.

These words can extend beyond biological siblings. For example, a female speaker may use 오빠 for an older male friend or partner, and male friends may use 형. They still signal a relationship, so do not assume 오빠 simply means “boyfriend” or use it with any older stranger.

형제자매 is a clear collective term for siblings, especially in formal or written contexts. 형제자매가 있어요? (hyeongje-jamaega isseoyo?) means “Do you have siblings?” A female speaker could answer 언니가 한 명 있어요 (eonniga han myeong isseoyo), “I have one older sister.”

If Your Sibling Is Married

Korean has specific terms for a sibling’s spouse. These are useful recognition vocabulary, but age, the speaker’s gender and family preference affect which one fits.

Traditionally used by women:

• Older brother’s wife: 새언니 (sae-eonni)
• Brother’s wife, used by his sister; often a younger brother’s wife when contrasted with 새언니: 올케 (olke)
• Older sister’s husband: 형부 (hyeongbu)
• Younger sister’s husband: 제부 (jebu)

Traditionally used by men:

• Older brother’s wife: 형수 (hyeongsu)
• Younger brother’s wife: 제수씨 (jesussi)
• Older sister’s husband: 매형 (maehyeong)
• Younger sister’s husband: 매제 (maeje)

Do not replace these automatically with 오빠, 언니, 형 or 누나. Listen to what the family uses and ask when the relationship is new.

Grandparents in Korean

할머니 and 할아버지 are the everyday family words for grandmother and grandfather. When the maternal or paternal side matters, Korean can make it explicit:

• Grandparents, collective and respectful: 조부모님 (jobumonim)
• Grandmother: 할머니 (halmeoni)
• Grandfather: 할아버지 (harabeoji)
• Maternal grandmother: 외할머니 (oehalmeoni)
• Maternal grandfather: 외할아버지 (oeharabeoji)
• Paternal grandmother: 친할머니 (chinhalmeoni)
• Paternal grandfather: 친할아버지 (chinharabeoji)

In a conversation where the relationship is already clear, speakers may simply use 할머니 or 할아버지. The longer form is available when you need the distinction; it does not have to appear in every sentence.

Partners, Spouses and Children in Korean

Use a relationship noun when talking about a partner or child. A couple’s terms of address are more personal, and not every romantic nickname suits every relationship.

• Gender-neutral term for a spouse, often formal: 배우자 (baeuja)
• Husband: 남편 (nampyeon)
• Wife: 아내 (anae)
• Married partner’s term of address, often “honey”: 여보 (yeobo)
• Boyfriend: 남자친구 (namjachingu)
• Girlfriend: 여자친구 (yeojachingu)
• Fiancé, fiancée or engaged partner: 약혼자 (yakhonja)
• Child or children, formal collective: 자녀 (janyeo)
• Son: 아들 (adeul)
• Daughter: 딸 (ttal)

애인 (aein) means a romantic partner or lover; it is not simply a universal translation of “sweetheart” used to address a spouse. 자기 (jagi) can be an intimate “honey” between partners, but the relationship and tone matter.

The In-Laws

Traditional Korean in-law terms are speaker-positioned as well as relationship-specific: 시아버지 and 시어머니 are the husband’s parents from a wife’s perspective, while 장인 and 장모 are the wife’s parents from a husband’s perspective. Same-gender and non-binary couples do not have one automatic replacement pattern, so follow the terms used by the people involved:

• Husband’s father, traditionally from his wife’s perspective: 시아버지 (siabeoji)
• Husband’s mother, traditionally from his wife’s perspective: 시어머니 (sieomeoni)
• Wife’s father, traditionally from her husband’s perspective: 장인 (jangin)
• Wife’s mother, traditionally from her husband’s perspective: 장모 (jangmo)

These dictionary labels are often used when referring to the relationship. Direct forms of address may add respectful elements or use another family-agreed term, so ask your spouse or the family before choosing one. 사돈 (sadon) refers to the relationship created between two families by a marriage and can also refer to members of the other family, especially the other set of parents; it is not a catch-all word for all of your own in-laws.

Extended Family in Korean

친척 (chincheok) means “relative” or “relatives”. 대가족 (daegajok) means a large family and can describe an extended-family household, but it is not an exact label for every relative outside the nuclear family.

• Relative or relatives: 친척 (chincheok)
• Large or extended family: 대가족 (daegajok)
• Nephew or niece: 조카 (joka)
• Cousin: 사촌 (sachon)
• Grandson: 손자 (sonja)
• Granddaughter: 손녀 (sonnyeo)

조카 is not male-only. It can refer to a nephew or niece; context or an added description can supply the distinction.

Maternal Extended Family

외가 (oega) refers to the mother’s side of the family. Some common terms are:

• Mother’s side of the family: 외가 (oega)
• Maternal grandmother: 외할머니 (oehalmeoni)
• Maternal grandfather: 외할아버지 (oeharabeoji)
• Mother’s sister: 이모 (imo)
• Mother’s sister’s husband: 이모부 (imobu)
• Mother’s brother: 외삼촌 (oesamchon), with 외숙부 (oesukbu) also used
• Mother’s brother’s wife: 외숙모 (oesungmo; the ng reflects nasalisation in pronunciation, while the Hangul spelling remains 외숙모)

Paternal Extended Family

친가 (chinga) refers to the father’s side. Terms for a father’s brothers can distinguish age and, in some traditional usage, marital status:

• Father’s side of the family: 친가 (chinga)
• Paternal grandmother: 친할머니 (chinhalmeoni)
• Paternal grandfather: 친할아버지 (chinharabeoji)
• Father’s older brother: 큰아버지 (keunabeoji)
• Father’s younger brother, traditionally when married: 작은아버지 (jageunabeoji)
• Father’s unmarried younger brother in traditional usage: 삼촌 (samchon)
• Father’s older brother’s wife: 큰어머니 (keuneomeoni)
• Father’s younger brother’s wife: 작은어머니 (jageuneomeoni), also 숙모 (sungmo)
• Father’s sister: 고모 (gomo)
• Father’s sister’s husband: 고모부 (gomobu)

Families may use the more familiar 큰아빠, 작은아빠, 큰엄마 and 작은엄마. 삼촌 is also used more broadly as “uncle”, so the older marital-status distinction is not a safe rule to impose on every family. Learn the relationship map, then copy the terms that the family itself uses.

Practise Your Korean Family Vocabulary

A long kinship list becomes useful when you attach it to real people. Make a small family tree with only the relationships you are likely to discuss.

1. Choose five people or relationships from your own life.
2. Write the Korean term beside each one, then say it without looking.
3. Build one sentence with 있어요, such as 언니가 한 명 있어요.
4. Listen for the same terms in a Korean drama or Korean TV show, noting who is speaking to whom.
5. Check uncertain forms of address with a teacher, conversation partner or the family involved.

Then add another branch of the family tree. If you need more building blocks, continue with these important Korean words and practical Korean phrases. You can also learn how relationship language changes when you talk about love in Korean.