“You Are Welcome!” in Korean Posted by Kyung-Hwa on Oct 3, 2018 in Korean Language, Vocabulary
The last post was about how to say “Thank you!” in Korean. On the contrary, you could be in a situation when someone says “Thank you!” to give a compliment to you. Do you know how to respond with “You’re Welcome!” in Korean? This post is about how to say, “You are welcome!” as a response to “Thank You!” in Korean.
Photo by KLM
You can use one of the following examples as a response to “Thank you” in Korean.
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“천만에요 [chun-man-e-yo]”
This phrase is equivalent to “You’re Welcome!” in English, and you will often learn to say, 천만에요, as a reply to “Thank you” in Korean. Interestingly, this expression usually appears in written, not in spoken Korean. Instead of 천만에요, the following phrases are more frequently used responses to “Thank you” by native Korean people.
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“별말씀을요 [byeol-mal-sseom-eol-yo]”
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“아니에요 [ah-nee-e-yo]”
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“아닙니다 [ah-nip-nee-da]”
Korean natives generally say either 별말씀을요 or 아니에요 as a polite response to thank you. 별말씀을요 is similar to, “Don’t mention it,” in English. The speaker expresses that your thank is not necessary: it was not a big deal, and I was glad to do it. 아니에요 literally means, “No,” or “No, it is not” in Korean. It might sound strange to your ears, 아니에요 is a polite way to respond to thank you in Korean. Figuratively, it is similar to “nothing” or “not at all” in English. If you need to reply to someone in a formal way, you can say, “아닙니다 [ah-nip-nee-da]” instead of 아니에요 [ah-nee-e-yo].
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“괜찮아요 [gwen-chan-ah-yo]”
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“괜찮습니다 [gwen-chan-seup-nee-da]”
These are also commonly used responses to thank you in Korean.
They literally mean, “It’s okay,” or “It is all right,” in English. 괜찮아요 is a polite form and 괜찮습니다 is a formal form to express “You’re welcome!” in Korean.
I hope the above list will help you show not only how to express your appreciatation to someone but also how to accept someone else’s gratitude or complement to you as well.
감사합니다! (Thank you!)
***Related Vocabulary***
- “천만에요 [chun-man-e-yo]”
- “별말씀을요 [byeol-mal-sseom-eol-yo]”
- “아니에요 [ah-nee-e-yo]”
- “아닙니다 [ah-nip-nee-da]”
- “괜찮아요 [gwen-chan-ah-yo]”
- “괜찮습니다 [gwen-chan-seup-nee-da]”
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About the Author: Kyung-Hwa
안녕하세요? My name is Kyung-Hwa, and I am a native of South Korea. I am accustomed to both English and Korean languages and cultures. I greatly appreciate and love both of them. I am passionate about learning different languages, and I have studied English, Japanese, and Spanish. In my spare time, I take joy in singing, playing the piano, and reading books. I also enjoy traveling around the world, meeting people, and embracing new cultures and languages...