Join easy, learn steady, feel proud.
Join Free
Korean Emotions Cheat Sheet: How to Say What You're Feeling
Level
A2
Type
Vocab
Theme
Daily Life
작성자
Y
작성시각
Resource File
Vide
기분이 어때요? "How are you feeling?" comes up more often than most beginner textbooks let on, whether a friend is checking in on you or you're just trying to explain why you skipped dinner. A small set of feeling words covers most of what actually comes up in daily conversation.
Asking How Someone Feels
Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
기분이 어때요? | gi-bu-ni eo-ttae-yo | How are you feeling? |
오늘 기분 어때요? | o-neul gi-bun eo-ttae-yo | How are you feeling today? |
기분이 어때요? asks about mood in general, while 오늘 기분 어때요? narrows it to the day at hand, useful after something specific just happened. Either question expects a feeling word in reply, not a health update, so this is a different question from 몸이 어때요? which asks about your body.
Good Feelings
Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
기뻐요 | gi-ppeo-yo | I'm happy |
신나요 | sin-na-yo | I'm excited |
기뻐요 fits a specific happy moment, like good news or a small win, more than a general life-is-good kind of happiness. 신나요 leans toward excitement with some energy behind it, the feeling before a trip or during a favorite song, and it pairs naturally with plans for later: 여행 가서 신나요 works for excitement about an upcoming trip.
Hard Feelings
Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
슬퍼요 | seul-peo-yo | I'm sad |
화났어요 | hwa-na-sseo-yo | I'm angry |
슬퍼요 covers ordinary sadness, from a sad movie to missing someone. 화났어요 is stronger than mild annoyance, closer to genuinely angry than mildly irritated, so it's usually paired with a reason: 늦어서 화났어요, "I'm angry because [something] is late."
Feelings That Show Up in the Body Too
Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
피곤해요 | pi-gon-hae-yo | I'm tired |
걱정돼요 | geok-jjeong-dwae-yo | I'm worried |
피곤해요 covers both physical tiredness and the mental kind, so it works after a long day at work just as well as after a long flight. 걱정돼요 attaches easily to a cause with 에 대해: 시험에 대해 걱정돼요, "I'm worried about the exam," making it one of the more flexible feeling words on this list.
A Feeling Word Without a Clean English Match
Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
답답해요 | dap-dap-hae-yo | I feel frustrated / stuck |
답답해요 describes a specific kind of frustration, the stuck, can't-breathe-right feeling of a situation that won't move forward, a slow line, or a conversation going nowhere. It's also used literally for a stuffy room, which hints at where the feeling comes from: 답답해요 is what you say when something around you, physical or otherwise, feels too tight or closed in.
With these nine words and two questions, you can ask how someone feels and answer honestly when they ask you back.