# 100 Must-Know TOPIK I Vocabulary Words

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TOPIK I covers roughly 1,500 to 2,000 vocabulary words. That sounds like a lot, but there's a shortcut: a core group of about 100 words shows up over and over again.

Master these 100 words and you'll recognize the majority of what appears on the test. Not all of it, but enough to answer most questions with confidence.

I've organized them by category so you can study in chunks that make sense. Each word includes pronunciation to help you say it out loud—because hearing yourself say a word helps you recognize it when you hear it on the test.

### People and Relationships (15 words)

These words appear in almost every TOPIK I conversation:

| Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 사람 | saram | person |
| 친구 | chingu | friend |
| 가족 | gajok | family |
| 부모님 | bumonim | parents (honorific) |
| 선생님 | seonsaengnim | teacher |
| 학생 | haksaeng | student |
| 아이 | ai | child |
| 남자 | namja | man |
| 여자 | yeoja | woman |
| 형/오빠 | hyeong/oppa | older brother (male/female speaker) |
| 누나/언니 | nuna/eonni | older sister (male/female speaker) |
| 동생 | dongsaeng | younger sibling |
| 아버지 | abeoji | father |
| 어머니 | eomeoni | mother |
| 회사원 | hoesawon | office worker |

**Real moment:** The word 사람 (person) appears in TOPIK I questions so often that it's almost funny. "이 사람은..." (This person...), "어떤 사람..." (What kind of person...), "몇 사람..." (How many people...). If you know 사람, you can already start making sense of a lot of questions.

Note the family terms: Korean has different words for "older brother" and "older sister" depending on whether the speaker is male or female. A woman calls her older brother 오빠 (oppa) while a man calls his older brother 형 (hyeong). This distinction comes up regularly in TOPIK I conversations about family.

### Time and Days (15 words)

Time-related vocabulary is essential because many TOPIK questions ask about schedules and plans:

| Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 오늘 | oneul | today |
| 내일 | naeil | tomorrow |
| 어제 | eoje | yesterday |
| 지금 | jigeum | now |
| 아침 | achim | morning/breakfast |
| 점심 | jeomsim | lunch/noon |
| 저녁 | jeonyeok | evening/dinner |
| 밤 | bam | night |
| 주말 | jumal | weekend |
| 매일 | maeil | every day |
| 작년 | jangnyeon | last year |
| 내년 | naenyeon | next year |
| 이번 주 | ibeon ju | this week |
| 다음 주 | daeum ju | next week |
| 방학 | banghak | school vacation |

A common TOPIK I pattern: two people discuss plans using these time words. "이번 주말에 뭐 해요?" (What are you doing this weekend?) shows up in countless practice tests.

### Places (15 words)

Location words tell you _where_ a conversation is happening—which is literally a question type on TOPIK:

| Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 집 | jip | home/house |
| 학교 | hakgyo | school |
| 회사 | hoesa | company/office |
| 병원 | byeongwon | hospital |
| 은행 | eunhaeng | bank |
| 식당 | sikdang | restaurant |
| 카페 | kape | café |
| 공원 | gongwon | park |
| 시장 | sijang | market |
| 역 | yeok | station |
| 공항 | gonghang | airport |
| 호텔 | hotel | hotel |
| 화장실 | hwajangsil | restroom |
| 방 | bang | room |
| 가게 | gage | store/shop |

**Tip:** When a TOPIK question asks "이 대화는 어디에서 하고 있습니까?" (Where is this conversation taking place?), scan for these location words—they're usually mentioned directly or strongly implied.

### Actions (25 words)

Verbs are the backbone of every sentence. These 25 cover most daily actions:

| Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 가다 | gada | to go |
| 오다 | oda | to come |
| 먹다 | meokda | to eat |
| 마시다 | masida | to drink |
| 보다 | boda | to see/watch |
| 듣다 | deutda | to listen |
| 읽다 | ikda | to read |
| 쓰다 | sseuda | to write/use |
| 말하다 | malhada | to speak |
| 공부하다 | gongbuhada | to study |
| 일하다 | ilhada | to work |
| 자다 | jada | to sleep |
| 일어나다 | ireonada | to wake up/get up |
| 앉다 | anda | to sit |
| 서다 | seoda | to stand |
| 걷다 | geotda | to walk |
| 뛰다 | ttwida | to run |
| 사다 | sada | to buy |
| 팔다 | palda | to sell |
| 만나다 | mannada | to meet |
| 좋아하다 | joahada | to like |
| 싫어하다 | sireohada | to dislike |
| 알다 | alda | to know |
| 모르다 | moreuda | to not know |
| 있다 | itda | to exist/have |

**Real moment:** I tell all my TOPIK prep students: if you can conjugate 가다, 오다, 먹다, 보다, and 하다 in past, present, and future, you can understand the core of most TOPIK I conversations. These five verbs carry an enormous amount of daily Korean.

### Descriptions (15 words)

Adjectives that appear regularly in TOPIK I reading and listening:

| Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 크다 | keuda | big |
| 작다 | jakda | small |
| 많다 | manta | many/a lot |
| 적다 | jeokda | few/little |
| 좋다 | jota | good |
| 나쁘다 | nappeuda | bad |
| 새롭다 | saeropda | new |
| 오래되다 | oraedoeda | old (things) |
| 빠르다 | ppareuda | fast |
| 느리다 | neurida | slow |
| 쉽다 | swipda | easy |
| 어렵다 | eoryeopda | difficult |
| 비싸다 | bissada | expensive |
| 싸다 | ssada | cheap |
| 맛있다 | masitda | delicious |

These pairs are designed to confuse you on the test: 크다/작다, 많다/적다, 비싸다/싸다. The audio might say something is expensive (비싸다) while one answer choice says it's cheap (싸다). Listen carefully!

### Question Words (10 words)

These are the words that _start_ questions—knowing them helps you instantly understand what a question is asking:

| Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 뭐/무엇 | mwo/mueot | what |
| 누구 | nugu | who |
| 어디 | eodi | where |
| 언제 | eonje | when |
| 왜 | wae | why |
| 어떻게 | eotteoke | how |
| 얼마 | eolma | how much |
| 몇 | myeot | how many |
| 어느 | eoneu | which |
| 무슨 | museun | what kind of |

### Useful Grammar Words (5 bonus words)

These aren't nouns or verbs, but they connect ideas and are everywhere in TOPIK:

| Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 그래서 | geuraeseo | so/therefore |
| 그런데 | geureonde | but/however |
| 그리고 | geurigo | and/also |
| 하지만 | hajiman | but/however |
| 그러면 | geureomyeon | if so/then |

### How to Study These Words

Don't just stare at the list. Here's what actually works:

**Method 1: Sentence context**

For each word, make a simple sentence:

- 친구 → 내일 친구를 만나요. (I'm meeting a friend tomorrow.)

- 병원 → 어제 병원에 갔어요. (I went to the hospital yesterday.)

Words stick better when they're attached to meaning, not floating in isolation.

**Method 2: Category clusters**

Study one category per day. Monday = People, Tuesday = Time, Wednesday = Places, etc. By the weekend, review all categories together.

**Method 3: TOPIK practice tests**

The best way to study vocabulary for TOPIK is to... do TOPIK practice tests. Circle every word from this list that appears. You'll see how frequently they come up, and the test context will cement them in memory.

**Method 4: The cover test**

Cover the English column. Read the Korean. Can you remember the meaning? Then cover the Korean column. Read the English. Can you remember the Korean word? Both directions matter for TOPIK—listening tests your Korean → English, and reading tests both directions.

### Words in Real TOPIK-Style Conversations

Here's how these words sound in context:

**Schedule planning (TOPIK I favorite topic):**

- 👩 "이번 주말에 뭐 해요?" (What are you doing this weekend?)

- 👨 "토요일에 친구를 만나요." (I'm meeting a friend on Saturday.)

- 👩 "어디에서 만나요?" (Where are you meeting?)

- 👨 "학교 앞 카페에서 만나요." (At the café in front of school.)

Every word in that conversation is from the 100 list. That's how foundational these words are.

**Shopping (another common TOPIK I scenario):**

- 👩 "이 가방 얼마예요?" (How much is this bag?)

- 👨 "이만 원이에요." (It's 20,000 won.)

- 👩 "좀 비싸요. 다른 거 있어요?" (It's a bit expensive. Do you have others?)

- 👨 "이건 만 원이에요. 더 작지만 좋아요." (This one is 10,000 won. It's smaller but nice.)

Again—가방, 얼마, 비싸다, 다른, 작다, 좋다—all from the list.

### A Final Note on TOPIK I Vocabulary

Here's the honest truth: knowing these 100 words won't guarantee a perfect score. TOPIK I uses roughly 1,500-2,000 words total. But these 100 are the ones that appear most frequently, and knowing them cold gives you a strong foundation to build on.

Think of it this way: these 100 words are the frame of the house. You still need walls and windows (the other 1,400+ words), but without the frame, nothing stands up.

Study smart. Use context. And remember—TOPIK tests comprehension, not perfection. You don't need to know every word to choose the right answer.

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