Archive #27

축하해!, 짱, 덜 맵게 해 주세요 — Korean words explained (#27)

October 31, 2026 · Today covered celebrating, praising, ordering food less spicy and the time marker 에. You also learned how to write tteok in Roman letters.

Want to try it first? The answers are below.Play #27

1Drama talk

Your friend passed the exam! You tell them '축하해!' What does it mean?

축하해! [추카해!] (chukahae!)

Thank you!
Congratulations!
Be careful!
Good luck!

Answer: Congratulations!

축하해! (chukahae!) means "Congratulations!" 축하 (chukha) means celebration, and 하다 (hada) means "to do." 축하해 is casual, for friends. Polite: 축하해요 (chukahaeyo). Formal: 축하합니다 (chukahamnida). For a birthday, Koreans say 생일 축하해 (saengil chukahae), "Happy birthday." Notice the sound: ㄱ and ㅎ join and become a strong ㅋ, so it sounds like 추카해. Example: 합격 축하해요! (hapgyeok chukahaeyo!) — "Congratulations on passing!" "Good luck" is different. Before an exam, you can say 시험 잘 봐 (siheom jal bwa), "Do well on your exam."

Casual (반말) · warm · Say it to: Friends, siblings, younger people you know

2K-pop

A fan comments '진짜 짱이야!' on a performance. What do they mean?

짱 (jjang)

It's the best / awesome
It's too short
It's a bit weird
It's so-so

Answer: It's the best / awesome

짱 (jjang) means "the best" or "awesome." It is casual and very common, both online and in speech. You can say something is 짱, or say 짱이야 (jjangiya), "It's the best." It also joins other words, like 얼짱 (eoljjang), a person with a very good-looking face. Children and adults both use it, but it is not for formal situations. Example: 이 노래 진짜 짱이다! (i norae jinjja jjangida!) — "This song is really the best!" Often people say it with a thumbs-up. In this use, it never means "so-so." It is strong praise.

warm · Say it to: Friends and people your age

3Food

The food is too spicy for you. Next time, how do you ask?

계산해 주세요
더 맵게 해 주세요
덜 맵게 해 주세요
포장해 주세요

Answer: 덜 맵게 해 주세요

덜 맵게 해 주세요 (deol maepge hae juseyo) means "Please make it less spicy." 덜 (deol) means less. 맵게 (maepge) means "spicy" in a form that describes how something is made. -게 해 주세요 means "please make it this way." Many Korean dishes are spicy, so this phrase is very useful. You can also say 안 맵게 (an maepge), "not spicy." Example: 김치찌개 덜 맵게 해 주세요 (gimchijjigae deol maepge hae juseyo) — "Please make the kimchi stew less spicy." The tempting wrong option uses 더 (deo), which means "more." 덜 and 더 look alike, so read carefully.

Polite (해요체) · Say it to: Restaurant staff

4Grammar

Fill in the blank: 'Let's meet at 3 o'clock.'

3시___ 만나요. (se si___ mannayo.)

를
에서
에
가

Answer: 에 — 3시에 만나요.

3시에 (se sie) means "at 3 o'clock." 에 (e) is a particle, a small word ending that shows the role of a word. Here it marks a point in time. Use it with clock times, days and parts of the day: 월요일에 (woryoire, on Monday), 아침에 (achime, in the morning). Example: 내일 아침에 전화할게요 (naeil achime jeonhwahalgeyo) — "I'll call you tomorrow morning." But some time words do not take 에: 오늘 (oneul, today), 내일 (tomorrow) and 어제 (eoje, yesterday). 에서 marks a place where an action happens, so it does not fit here.

Also read: Korean numbers — when to use 하나 (hana) and when to use 일 (il)

5Hangul

Using the official Revised Romanization, how is this written?

떡

ddeok
teok
tteok
tteog

Answer: tteok

떡 (tteok) means rice cake. ㄸ is a double consonant, written tt. ㅓ is written eo. A final ㄱ sounds like a short k, so it is written k. All together, it is tteok. ㄱ is written g before a vowel, but k before another consonant or at the end of a word. "ddeok" uses dd, which is not part of Revised Romanization. You may still see it on old signs. Example: 떡볶이 먹을래? (tteokbokki meogeullae?) — "Do you want to eat tteokbokki?" 떡볶이 is spicy stir-fried rice cake, a favorite street food.