Days of the Week in Korean
Every Korean day is an element plus 요일, yoil, meaning day of the week. The seven elements are the classical planets, the same system behind the English days.
The seven days
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월요일 woryoil
wuh-ryoh-EEL
-
Monday
월 is moon, exactly like Monday
-
화요일 hwayoil
hwah-yoh-EEL
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Tuesday
화 is fire, the planet Mars
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수요일 suyoil
soo-yoh-EEL
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Wednesday
수 is water, the planet Mercury
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목요일 mogyoil
moh-gyoh-EEL
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Thursday
목 is wood, the planet Jupiter
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금요일 geumyoil
geu-myoh-EEL
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Friday
금 is metal or gold, the planet Venus
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토요일 toyoil
toh-yoh-EEL
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Saturday
토 is earth, the planet Saturn, like Saturday
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일요일 iryoil
ee-ryoh-EEL
-
Sunday
일 is sun, exactly like Sunday
Words that go with them
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오늘 oneul
OH-neul
-
today
-
내일 naeil
NAE-eel
-
tomorrow
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어제 eoje
UH-jeh
-
yesterday
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이번 주 ibeon ju
EE-buhn joo
-
this week
-
주말 jumal
joo-MAHL
-
the weekend
-
매일 maeil
MAE-eel
-
every day
The same week, three writing systems
요일, yoil, is the day-of-the-week part, and the syllable in front is the element. Learn those seven and the days follow.
Korean, Japanese and English all inherited the same Hellenistic seven-planet week. Saturday is earth and Saturn in all three; Sunday and Monday are sun and moon in all three. Korean and Japanese received it through Chinese, English through Latin and Norse.
That means the Korean and Japanese days line up element for element, which is a genuine shortcut if you are learning both.
To say on Monday, add 에: 월요일에. Days are written in Hangul with no capitalisation to worry about.
- 금요일에 만나요.Let's meet on Friday.
- 토요일에 일 안 해요.I don't work on Saturdays.
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