How many greetings and farewells do you know in Korean? Do you know what else to say after hello?

If you are studying Korean, you are probably familiar with a basic hello and goodbye in Korean. In this post, I would like to introduce you to more ways to say hello and goodbye to someone, so you can expand your knowledge in Korean greetings and farewells. The following examples have three different levels: formal, polite, and informal.

When you meet someone for the first time, you can say the following expressions:

• 안녕하십니까! (Hello!) – Formal
• 안녕하세요! (Hello!) – Polite
• 안녕! (Hi! / Hello.) – Informal

How would you say “Nice to meet you” in Korean?

• 처음 뵙겠습니다. (Nice to meet you for the first time.) or  만나 뵙게 되어 반갑습니다. (Nice to meet you.) – Formal
• 만나서 반갑습니다.  or  만나서 반가워요. (Nice to meet you.) – Polite
• 만나서 반가워. (Nice to meet you.) – Informal

When you meet someone again, what you would say to him or her?

• 다시 만나 뵙게 되어 반갑습니다. (Nice to meet you again.) – Formal
• 다시 만나서 반갑습니다.  or  다시 만나서 반가워요. (Nice to meet you.) – Polite
• 다시 만나서 반가워. (Nice to meet you again.) – Informal

* “다시” means “again” in English.

If you have not seen each other for a while, you can say:

• 오랜만입니다. (Long time no see.)   그동안 어떻게 지내셨습니까? (How have you been?) – Formal
• 오랜만이에요. (Long time no see)   그동안 어떻게 지냈어요? (How have you been?) – Polite
• 오랜만이야. (Long time now see.)   그동안 어떻게 지냈어? (How have you been?) – Informal

How about farewells in Korean?

You probably learned to say goodbye in these ways:

• 안녕히 가십시오. (Goodbye to someone leaving.)  or  안녕히 계십시오. (Goodbye to someone staying.) – Formal
• 안녕히 가세요.  (Goodbye to someone leaving.)  or  안녕히 계세요. (Goodbye to someone staying.) – Polite
• 잘 가. (Goodbye to someone leaving.)  or  잘 있어. (Goodbye to someone staying.) – Informal

The following farewells are also commonly used in Korea, but they may not be familiar to your ears. The direct translation is “Get home safely.” in English.

• 조심히 들어가십시오.  or  살펴가십시오. (Goodbye to someone leaving) – Formal
• 조심히 들어가세요.  or  살펴가세요. (Goodbye to someone leaving) – Polite
• 조심히 들어가. or   조심해서 들어가. (Goodbye to someone leaving) – Informal

I hope the above examples will help you to build fluency in your Korean learning.

감사합니다! (Thank you!)

***Related Vocabulary***

1. 안녕하십니까! (Hello!) – Formal
2. 안녕하세요! (Hello!) – Polite
3. 안녕! (Hi! / Hello.) – Informal
4. 처음 뵙겠습니다. (Nice to meet you for the first time.)  or  만나 뵙게 되어 반갑습니다. (Nice to meet you.) – Formal
5. 만나서 반갑습니다.  or 만나서 반가워요. (Nice to meet you.) – Polite
6. 만나서 반가워. (Nice to meet you.) – Informal
7. 다시 만나 뵙게 되어 반갑습니다. (Nice to meet you again.) – Formal
8. 다시 만나서 반갑습니다.  or  다시 만나서 반가워요. (Nice to meet you.) – Polite
9. 다시 만나서 반가워. (Nice to meet you again.) – Informal
10. 다시 (again)

   11.  오랜만입니다. (Long time no see.)  그동안 어떻게 지내셨습니까? (How have you been?) – Formal

  12.  오랜만이에요. (Long time no see)  그동안 어떻게 지냈어요? (How have you been?) – Polite

  13.  오랜만이야. (Long time now see.)  그동안 어떻게 지냈어? (How have you been?) – Informal

  14.  안녕히 가십시오. (Goodbye to someone leaving.)  or  안녕히 계십시오. (Goodbye to someone staying.) – Formal

  15.  안녕히 가세요. (Goodbye to someone leaving.)  or  안녕히 계세요. (Goodbye to someone staying.) – Polite

  16.  잘 가.  (Goodbye to someone leaving.)  or  잘 있어.  (Goodbye to someone staying.) – Informal

  17.  조심히 들어가십시오.  or  살펴가십시오. (Goodbye to someone leaving) – Formal

  18.  조심히 들어가세요.  or  살펴가세요. (Goodbye to someone leaving) – Polite

  19.  조심히 들어가.  or  조심해서 들어가.  (Goodbye to someone leaving) – Informal