Basic Korean Words

Two words for I, and why it is our mother

저 lowers yourself and is the safe choice with anyone you have just met, anyone older, and in any formal setting. 나 is casual and belongs with friends. Using 나 with a stranger sounds blunt.

당신 appears in textbooks, in song lyrics and in arguments, and almost nowhere else. Korean prefers the person's name plus a title, or simply leaves the word out. Pronouns are dropped constantly and context fills the gap.

우리 means our, and Korean uses it where English says my: 우리 엄마 my mum, 우리 집 my house, 우리 나라 my country. Saying 제 엄마 is grammatical but sounds cold, as though you were separating yourself from your own family.

Hangul is worth an afternoon of your time. It was designed to be learnable quickly, the letters describe the shape your mouth makes, and reading it removes the romanization crutch entirely.