Important 한자

Hanja is the Korean name for Chinese characters. More specifically, it refers to those Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation. Since a lot of Korean words are derived from Chinese, learning 한자 can be like learning prefixes, suffixes and root words. For Korean learners, learning the actual Chinese character isn't as important as learning the meaning and Korean pronunciation of the character. For example learning 驛 wouldn't be as useful as learning that the character is called '역' and means 'station.' Note that many characters can have the same pronunciation, but totally different meanings, i.e. 일(日 meaning sun) vs 일 (一 meaning one).

• Part 1: ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ
• Part 2: ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ
• Part 3: ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ

Please note: ― means there is no Hanja character for it, i.e. 동네 <洞―>. There is no Hanja character for 네, ― is not to be confused for 일 (一).

강 <江> - River

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 江

고 <高> - High, Tall

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 高

과 <科> - Section, Department, Science

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 科

교 <敎> - Teach, faith, religion

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 敎

교 <校> - School

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 校

구 <區> - District, ward , area

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 區

구 <口> - Entrance, gate, mouth, open end

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 口

국 <國> - Nation, country

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 國

남 <南> - South

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 南

남 <男> - Male

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 男

녀 <女> - Female (also 여)

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 女

년 <年> - Year

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 年

대 <大> - Big, large

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 大

도 <道> - Road / Morality

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 道

동 <同> - The same

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 同

동 <動> - Be moving, be in motion

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 動

동 <洞> - Village (primary division of wards (區), cave

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 洞

동 <東> - East

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 東

력 <力> - Power, strength, ability

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 力

모 <母> - Mother

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 母

모 <毛> - Hair, fur, wool

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 毛

문 <文> - Writings, sentence, literature

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 文

문 <門> - Door (Family, Specialty)

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 門

문 <問> - To ask

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 問

미 <美> - Beauty, America

{{{examples}}} For more examples see: 美

Important 한자 2 →