Outside of work, your house is probably where you spend most of your time studying Korean. Knowing how to say “house” in Korean is very useful as you will probably need to use this word on a daily basis in Korea.
‘House’ in Korean
The word for ‘house’ in Korean is
집 (jip)
In English, there is a difference between ‘house’ and ‘home’, but such a distinction isn’t made in Korean. If you want to say ‘I’m going home’, you can use the Korean word ‘집 (jip)’.
If you want to say ‘my house’, then instead of using 제 (je) or 내 (nae) for my, you can use 우리 (uri). Usually, 우리 (uri) means ‘our’, but it can mean ‘my’ when referring to your home.
Some words in Korean have a special ‘honorific’ form. This means that if you are referring to someone who is higher than you (like a boss or a grandparent), you should use the ‘honorific’ form of the word. ‘House’ is one of these special ‘honorific’ words. The honorific term for ‘house’ is 댁 (daek).
If you want to talk about your grandfather’s house, or if you are talking to a really old person and want to talk about their house, you should say ‘댁 (daek)’.
Never use 댁 (daek) to refer to your own house.
A Word of Caution About Romanization
Although you could learn the Korean words in this article by reading the Romanized versions of them, in everyday Korean life you will need to know how to read them in Hangeul. Hangeul is the Korean alphabet and is very easy to learn. In fact, you learn it in just 90 minutes.
Once you know Hangeul, you will start to be able to recognize the different types of shops and stores on the street, and Korea will seem more like your home than it did before. If you are serious about learning Korean, then start off by learning Hangeul. In fact, why not learn Hangeul today?
Types of Houses
Most Koreans don’t live in a detached, American-style house. Instead they often live in apartment blocks, especially in Korea’s main cities. Here are some special words for the houses that people live in:
아파트 (apateu): An apartment / a large block of apartments.
빌라 (billa): A large detached house, between three and seven floors high, that contains multiple apartments.
주택 (jutaek): A detached house / bungalow
오피스텔 (opiseutel): A large building that has a mix of residential apartments and offices.
고시원 (gosiwon): A small room that students can live in while studying.
기숙사 (gisuksa): A dormitory / hall of residence
Sample Sentences
Example (Formal):
김 선생님 댁이 맞습니까? (gim seonsaengnim daegi matseumnikka)
Is this Mr. Kim’s house?
Example (Standard):
집 근처에 극장이 있어요? (jip geuncheoe geukjangi isseoyo)
Is there a cinema near your house?
Example (Informal):
파티는 우리 집에서 열릴 거야 (patineun uri jibeseo yeollil geoya)
The party will be at my house.
Now that you know how to say ‘house’ in Korean, you can invite your friends over and practice speaking Korean even more. Impress them with everything you know about Korea!