{"id":79600,"date":"2023-02-20T18:09:47","date_gmt":"2023-02-20T23:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/korean-days-of-the-week\/"},"modified":"2024-11-18T22:37:47","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T03:37:47","slug":"korean-days-of-the-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/korean\/korean-days-of-the-week\/","title":{"rendered":"An Intro to the Days of the Week in Korean"},"content":{"rendered":"

To confidently speak about events and time in Korean<\/a>, you\u2019ll have to learn the Korean days of the week.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a simple guide about the week-related vocabulary you should master ASAP. We’ll go over the days of the week in Korean, their meanings and even share a catchy song at the end to help you remember everything.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Days of the Week in Korean<\/h2>\n

\"days-of-the-week-in-korean\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
English<\/th>Korean<\/th>Romanization<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Monday<\/td> \uc6d4\uc694\uc77c <\/a>\n <\/td>wuh-ryo-il<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tuesday<\/td> \ud654\uc694\uc77c <\/a>\n <\/td>hwa-yo-il<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wednesday<\/td> \uc218\uc694\uc77c <\/a>\n <\/td>soo-yo-il<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Thursday<\/td> \ubaa9\uc694\uc77c <\/a>\n <\/td>mog-yo-il<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Friday<\/td> \uae08\uc694\uc77c <\/a>\n <\/td>geum-yo-il<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Saturday<\/td> \ud1a0\uc694\uc77c <\/a>\n <\/td>toh-yo-il<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sunday<\/td> \uc77c\uc694\uc77c <\/a>\n <\/td>i-ryo-il<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

Meanings of the Korean Days of the Week<\/h2>\n

The word for \u201cday of the week\u201d is \uc694\uc77c (yo-il)<\/em><\/strong>. A prefix is then attached to it, depending on the day in question.<\/p>\n

In Korean, the names of the days of the week are based on natural elements<\/strong>. They were derived from Chinese characters. In fact, Korea\u2019s traditional lunisolar calendar (now typically substituted with the Gregorian calendar) is essentially the same as the original Chinese calendar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the use of elements in the naming of weekdays is something seen throughout cultures and languages\u2014for example, the English \u201cMon<\/strong>day,\u201d Spanish lun<\/strong>es<\/em> and German Mon<\/strong>tag<\/em> all were originally named after each respective language\u2019s word for moon.<\/p>\n

\uc6d4\uc694\uc77c (wuh-ryo-il)<\/em> \u2013 Monday<\/h3>\n

\uc6d4 means \u201cmoon,\u201d so Monday in Korean also means \u201cmoon day.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Remember to pronounce \uc6d4 carefully. Since a double vowel Hangul character<\/a> is involved, it may be a bit difficult to articulate if you\u2019re not so used to Korean pronunciation<\/a> yet. Luckily, the way you vocalize it can help you out\u2014your mouth will take on an \u201cO\u201d shape, much like a moon itself!<\/p>\n

\ud654\uc694\uc77c (hwa-yo-il)<\/em> \u2013 Tuesday<\/h3>\n

\ud654 means \u201cfire,\u201d so Tuesday is \u201cfire day.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

While there\u2019s nothing intrinsically fiery about it, you can remember the word for Tuesday with a little visual mnemonic: a bright orange fire can \u201cconsume\u201d or dispel the darkness of a moonlit night.<\/p>\n

\uc218\uc694\uc77c (soo-yo-il)<\/em> \u2013 Wednesday<\/h3>\n

\uc218 stands for \u201cwater,\u201d making Wednesday \u201cwater day.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are a number of ways you can remember this. Following my little mnemonic tip for \ud654\uc694\uc77c (Tuesday), you can also think: water can \u201cconsume\u201d (overwhelm) fire. Another easy recall tip is that both water and Wednesday start with the letter \u201cW.\u201d<\/p>\n

\ubaa9\uc694\uc77c (mog-yo-il)<\/em> \u2013 Thursday<\/h3>\n

\ubaa9 is \u201cwood,\u201d so Thursday is \u201cwood day.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

We can continue my elemental mnemonic to say that wood can \u201cconsume\u201d (absorb) water. So, the order from Monday to Thursday goes: moon, fire, water, wood.<\/p>\n

\uae08\uc694\uc77c (geum-yo-il)<\/em> \u2013 Friday<\/h3>\n

\uae08 means \u201cgold,\u201d making Friday “gold day.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

You probably don\u2019t need any help remembering this one! It seems like we can all agree across cultures that Friday is truly the most treasured of the week.<\/p>\n

\ud1a0\uc694\uc77c (toh-yo-il)<\/em> \u2013 Saturday<\/h3>\n

\ud1a0 stands for \u201cearth\u201d or \u201csoil,\u201d so Saturday is \u201cearth day.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

A trick that might help you remember the prefix is by mangling the pronunciation of Saturday a bit to Sat-earth-day. Another pronunciation trick is that \ud1a0\uc694\uc77c sounds a bit like \u201ctoil,\u201d as in \u201ctoil in the soil\u201d!<\/p>\n

\uc77c\uc694\uc77c (i-ryo-il)<\/em> \u2013 Sunday<\/h3>\n

\uc77c stands for \u201csun\u201d or \u201cday,\u201d so Sunday is \u201csun day\u201d!<\/strong><\/p>\n

We can bring back the elemental mnemonic, to remember that the day\u2019s sun (of \uc77c\uc694\uc77c) will eventually be \u201cconsumed\u201d or followed by the night\u2019s moon (of \uc6d4\uc694\uc77c, Monday). \uc77c is also repeated twice. So now we can use the mnemonic to remember Sunday to Thursday!<\/p>\n

Korean Vocabulary Related to the Days of the Week<\/h2>\n

Alongside the days of the week, you should also know other basic vocabulary related to time-telling:<\/p>\n