Hanja Lesson 1: , , , ,

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Before we start learning actual characters, you need to know how the Hanja system works. Only
words of Chineseorigin have corresponding Hanja characters. At first, there is no easy way to know
precisely if a word (especially a noun) has a Chinese origin without looking that word up in a
dictionary. Eventually, as you learn more Hanja characters, you will become more and more familiar
with the words that can be represented in Hanja.
Most adjectives and verbs that end in have corresponding Hanja equivalents. Most adjectives
and verbs that do not end in do not have corresponding Hanja equivalents.
For example:

: to read | This is a verb without . It has no Hanja equivalent. There is no way to represent

this word using Hanja.

: to read | This is a verb containing . The Hanja equivalent of is . The
following are the meanings of each character:
= () reading, read
= () writing, reading

(Notice that the portion cannot be represented using Hanja characters.)

: to be smart | This is an adjective containing . There is no Hanja equivalent.
Knowing if a word can be represented using Hanja characters or not gets significantly easier as you
progress through your studies. The more characters you know (and know the meaning of), the better
you will get at recognizing when a word can have a Hanja equivalent.
Having even a rudimentary understanding of Hanja characters can significantly help ones Korean
studies especially in the long run. As you learn more and more Korean vocabulary, the words will
become increasingly more difficult and obscure. With some simple Hanja studying, it is possible to
assume the meaning of a word even if you have never studied its meaning.
Id like to give you an unrealistic example of how a learner can deduce the meaning of a Korean
word without ever looking up the definition. I am only using this as an example, and I do not suggest
learning these characters yet.
Mr. B has been studying Hanja lately. He has recently learned the two Hanja characters:
= () = writing, reading
= () = store

While walking around the streets of Seoul, he notices a word that he is not familiar with. Written on a
sign is . As he knows to mean writing/reading, and to mean store from his Hanja
studies, he deduces that the sign translates to bookstore.
The reason this example is unrealistic is because a Korean learner would most likely know the word
before learning the respective Hanja characters for and . Nonetheless, situations
similar to this do occur when a learner has a good base in Hanja.
Drawing Hanja characters is a challenge at first. Luckily, most people start with the most basic
characters (both in meaning and scripture), so the hill does not start very steep. In addition, the
stroke order and pen movements when drawing Hanja characters are very similar to that of Hangeul
characters.
That being said, I would like to introduce you to the basic scripture rules of Hanja (or Chinese
characters, for that matter). These rules will be sufficient for you to be able to write the characters
introduced in this Lesson. I have specifically chosen characters for this lesson that are simple,
common, and can be used to teach the basic stroke-order rules.
The first basic rule that you cannot start a character without is:

I will be referring to these rules by number throughout the lessons. I will introduce new rules as they
become necessary.
1) Draw lines left to right, and top to bottom.
Just like the stroke order of in Korean, you should never draw a line from right to left or bottom
to top. For example, if you look at the stroke order of in Korean:

Notice that a stroke is never drawn right to left, or bottom to top. Without knowing this rule, most
people wouldincorrectly connect strokes 2 and 3 by drawing a line right-to-left.
In addition, corners from left-to-right to top-to bottom (strokes 1 and 2 above) and top-to-bottom to
left-to-right (strokes 4 and 5 above) are usually done without removing the pen from the paper.
Each Hanja character has an equivalent Korean name. These Korean names are used to indicate
which specific character one is referring to in a conversation. The Korean name is usually composed
of the Hangeul equivalent of the character being described by a Korean word. They dont need to be
memorized, although most of them are fairly intuitive.
-

 = = Big
(Korean name: )
One of the most common Hanja characters that you will see in Korea. When ordering at restaurants,
you will often see this symbol (in addition to the other characters in this lesson) on a menu to
distinguish between the different sizes of dishes you can order. Also commonly seen in
stores/supermarkets to differentiate between different sizes of items.
In order to draw this, we need to learn some more stroke-order rules:

2) Draw horizontal strokes before vertical strokes if they intersect

Therefore, the first stroke of this character should be the horizontal one:

For the remainder of the character, we need to use the following rule:

3) For mirrored diagonal strokes, draw diagonally right to left before left to right.
Therefore, the second stroke of this character should be the stroke going from the top to the bottom
left (note that doing these diagonal strokes would be one of the only time that you draw from right to
left).

After introducing each character, I will provide a list of Korean words where that character can be
found. When this is done, only the characters that have been introduced up to that point will be
represented using Hanja characters.
As you can see below, the word is written as . Note that and do have
Hanja equivalents but because they havent been introduced yet, they are not shown. If a word has
a letter than be represented using a Hanja character, most of the time the other characters can be
represented using Hanja characters as well. One of the main exceptions to this is which is
found in many (many!) Hanja words but itself cannot be represented using Hanja.
Common Words using this Character
= university
= to expand, zoom
= president
-

 = = Small
(Korean name: )
As with , this character is very common in restaurants or stores to indicate the size of an item.
While common in these applications, most words that use this character are difficult.
In order to draw this, we need to learn another stroke-order rule:

4) Draw minor strokes last.

Therefore, the first stroke of this character should be the major line in the middle:

Followed by the two ticks on both sides:

Common Words using this Character:

= small scale
= to minimize
= a child (small person)
= = Middle
(Korean name: )
This is one of the easiest characters to recognize because it is a box with a stroke through
the middle of it. Along with and , you will find in stores to indicate the size of an item. The
direct translation of China in Chinese is middle country, which explains why you will see this
character all over China and Chinese food restaurants.
In order to draw this, we need to learn more stroke-order rules:

5) If drawing a box: draw the left side first, followed by the top and right side (in one stroke) and
enclose it with the bottom line last, and
6) Draw major intersecting lines after drawing the components it will intersect
Therefore, the major stroke down the middle should be done last. The first thing we need to do is
draw the box, which should be done by following rule #5 above

Following that, the stroke down the middle should be made:

Common Words using this Character:

= China
= middle school
= the center/middle
= intermediate/mid-level
= grammatical principle introduced in Lesson 33
= Also used as the present progressive: = under construction/being constructed
Now that you know , and , I want to share a story with you. One day, I went to the store to
buy onions. At the store, there was a big pile of onions, some in smaller bags, some in medium sized
bags, and some in very big bags. The prices were listed as:
1950
2500
4000
Although somebody could probably figure this out without the knowledge of these characters, Korea
is always ambiguous as a foreigner and having the confidence of knowing exactly what the prices
of these onions were made me happy. At that time, I wondered to myself What if I didnt know the
meaning of these characters?
= = Mountain
(Korean name: )
This is also one of the easiest characters for people to learn (and especially to recognize) because
the meaning is depicted in the actual character. All the stroke-order rules from above still apply. Note
that it technically makes no difference if you start with middle line or the line on the left (which then
continues to the bottom line). In cases where it is ambiguous as to which stroke you should start with,
it doesnt really matter where you begin. In fact, the stroke order is slightly different in Japanese,
Chinese and Korean customs. Therefore, depending on who you ask in times like this you might

get different answers as to the correct stroke-order. However, my Hanja dictionary indicates that the
middle line should be drawn first, so that is how I will present it:
You will see this character all the time on information signs

directing people to various mountains. Most mountain names in Korean are named __ __ . For
example:
= Seol-ak mountain
= Buk-han mountain
= the city of Busan
= the city of Ulsan
= = Door
(Korean name: )
Many of the famous sightseeing attractions in Seoul are old gates (doors) around the city. The
names of these attractions/gates in Korea are usually ___ ___ .
In order to draw this, we need to learn another stroke-order rule:

7) When drawing a box with contents inside, draw the outline of the box (left, top and right) first, then
finish the contents within the box before enclosing it with the bottom stroke.
Therefore, the lines within the two boxes should be written before their respective closing strokes.

Common Words using this Character:

= door
= window
= Dongdaemun (major area in Seoul, refers to the big east door/gate
= Namdaemun (major area in Seoul, refers to the big south door/gate
= Gwang-hwa-mun (another major area/gate in Seoul)

These first five characters will get you started in your pursuit of learning Hanja. As the lessons
continue, you will start learning more and more difficult characters.

Hanja Lesson 2: , , , ,
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In the previous lesson you learned the most important Hanja Characters. Not only were these
characters common, but they also gave you a chance to start learning the basic stroke order of
Hanja characters. All of the characters introduced in this lesson will follow the same rules as the last
lesson, and are all important to know in your study of the Korean language.
= = Enter/Entrance
(Korean name: )
This is one of the characters that every Korean person is expected to know, as entrances in Korea
commonly use the Hanja version of this word instead of the Korean equivalent.
Common Words using this Character:

= entrance
= to enter
= to import
= to be hospitalized (to enter the hospital)
= = Exit/To Exit
(Korean name: )
The opposite of , this character can be found on exits in Korea. It is common to find this character
used instead of its Korean equivalent. Notice that the major intersecting line is drawn after the top
part is finished, but before the bottom part is started. As this line doesnt intersect the line at the
bottom, it is drawn first. However, this is another character where there could be variations to the
stroke order depending on the governing body.
Common Words using this

Character:

 = exit
= childbirth
= to depart
= to leave a country
= to go out/leave
= = Mouth/Opening
(Korean name: )
Often found coupled with or to denote that there is an opening (an entrance or exit)
somewhere. Easy to remember because the character itself is simply an open square.
Common Words using this Character:

= entrance
= exit
= entrance/exit
= = Above/High
(Korean name: )
Most words that this character can be found in are difficult. However, it is commonly used by itself to
denote that something is high or above something.Another character where the picture itself
denotes the meaning.
Common Words using this Character:

= to raise a price
= heaven
= above ground
= upper body
= the first half
= = Underneath/Below/Low
(Korean name: )

The opposite of . Commonly used by itself to denote that something is low or beneath
something.
Common Words using this Character:

= to lower a price
= the world/earth
= underground
= lower body
= the second half
-

Hanja Lesson 3: , , , ,
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In this lesson, you will continue to learn the basic Hanja characters that are known by every Korean
person. Todays lesson will focus on characters related to time and space.
= = Day
(Korean name: )
This is another case where the Hanja character is often substituted for the Korean equivalent.
Commonly seen on bills, calendars or other places where you might find the word day.
The word Japan in Japanese means day origin. (). Therefore, you will see this character a lot
in Japan or Japanese restaurants. Also found in all the days of the week.
Common Words using this Character:

= tomorrow
= everyday
= daily life
= Japan
= Sunday

 = Monday
Other days of the week
= = Month
(Korean name: )
Another case where the Hanja character is often substituted for the Korean equivalent. Commonly
seen on bills, calendars or other places where you might find the word month. Also found in the
names of the months of the year.

Common Words using this Character:

= (monthly) paycheck
= (monthly) rent
= every month
= time
= Monday
1 = January
2 = February
3 = March
4 = April
Other months of the year
= = Year
(Korean name: )
Another case where the Hanja character is often substituted for the Korean equivalent. Commonly
seen on bills, calendars or other places where you might find the word year.
Common Words

using this Character:

= last year
= next year

 = every year
= this year
= a grade in school (1st grade, 2nd grade, etc..)
= = Inside
(Korean name: )
Used in words that indicate something is inside, or an interior version of something.
Common Words using this Character:

= inside a place
= inside a country
= the interior part
= contents
= downtown (inside the city)
= = Outside
(Korean name: )
The opposite of , this character is used in words that indicate something is outside.
Common Words using this

Character:
= foreign (outside country)
= foreigner
= except
= foreign country
= the exterior part
= to leave
= tutoring (schooling outside of school)

Hanja Lesson 4: , , , , ,

Click here for a PDF copy of all our Hanja lessons.

In this lesson, you will learn common Hanja characters that refer to people.
= = Person
(Korean name: )
Often used as the last letter (character) of a word to mean person. Due to its simplicity and
common meaning, this character can be recognized by all Korean people. It is commonly taught by
trying to imagine the character as a walking person.
Common Words using this Character:

= foreigner
= poet
= ones wife
= person(al)
= man, human, mankind
= a child (small person)
= a greeting
= popularity
= = Person
(Korean name: )
Technically called son , but this character can be found in words where the meaning is male or
female. The character is also a common radical that can be found in other, more complicated Hanja
characters.
A radical is a unit that can be found in other Chinese characters. For example, and are
different characters, but have contained within them.

Common Words using this Character:

= girl
= man
= children
= sons and daughters
= chair
= hat
= table
= = Father
(Korean name: )
You probably wont see this character anywhere in your daily life, but it is one of the simplest and
most recognized Hanja characters in Korea.
Common Words using this Character:

= parents
= father
= parents of children at school
= = Mother
(Korean name: )
You probably wont see this character anywhere in your daily life, but it is one of the simplest and
most recognized Hanja characters in Korea. The stroke order of this one seems to break the rules of
stroke-order, as it is not how I would intuitively do it.

Common Words using this Character:

= parents
= parents of children at school
= mother tongue
= fathers sister (aunt on fathers side)
= mothers sister (aunt on mothers side)
= = Man, Male
(Korean word: )
Every Korean is expected to be able to recognize this character. I have seen many public restrooms
in Korea with only Hanja characters on the door to represent the appropriate room for each gender
(without any pictures, or other words).
This is the first time that you will draw a Hanja character that contains two radicals. You should
completely finish with one radical before starting to draw the second one. Even though it looks like
the line in the middle of the upper box is connected to the long line at the bottom, they are not
connected.
Common Words

using this Character:

= man
= male
= men and women
= oldest son

 = younger brother
= husband
= / =Woman, Female
(Korean name: /)
As with , every Korean is expected to be able to recognize this character.
Notice that there are two ways to pronounce this character in Korean and its pronunciation
depends on the location of the character within a word. Typically, when a word begins with it is
pronounced as . When the character is found anywhere but the beginning of the word, it is
pronounced as .
Common Words using this Character:

= woman
= female
= goddess
= men and women
= younger sister
= sons and daughters
= a young girl

Hanja Lesson 5: , , , , , , , ,
,
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In this lesson, you will learn the Hanja characters for the numbers 1 to 10. You will learn how to read,
write and recognize , , , , , , , , and .
Numbers in Hanja
I have some bad news.
In this lesson, one of the Hanja characters you will learn is .

You might be thinking to yourself: Oh! I know the Hanja character for .
You know one of the characters for . Just because you have learned a Hanja character that
corresponds to a Korean syllable, does not mean that is the only character that represents that
syllable. In fact, one Korean syllable can be represented by many different Hanja characters each
with a different meaning. For example:
is pronounced in Korean as . It has the meaning of day.
is pronounced in Korean as . It has the meaning of one.
The same can be said for many other Korean syllables. You do not need to know these characters
yet, but I want to present them to you to explain my point further:
is pronounced in Korean as . It means son. ( = children)
is pronounced in Korean as . It means person.. ( = patient)
is pronounced in Korean as . It means writing. ( = Hanja)
is pronounced in Korean as . It means automatic or oneself ( = freedom)
In addition to the above, there are more Hanja characters that can represent . Each with a
different meaning.
You can see the same thing with many Korean syllables. For example, can be represented by ,
, , , etc. All with the same pronunciation in Korean, but each with a different meaning.
When I first learned of this fact, I thought it was terrible because it meant that there were going to be
significantly more characters to learn than I originally thought. However, you dont need to worry
because you will be introduced to each character as they become important. For now, just sit back
and enjoy the ride.
= = One
(Korean name: )
The easiest Hanja character. Takes no effort to learn or reproduce.

Common Words using this Character:

= a part of something (one part)

= superlative like
= = Two
(Korean name: )
Slightly more difficult than . But I dont know if drawing two lines should be thought of as difficult.

= = Three
(Korean name: )
Same as above. Draw three lines.
Common Words using this Character:

= uncle (your uncle is three steps away from you)

= triangle (three sided shape)
= = Four
(Korean name: )
Okay, now we are back to something that is a little bit more difficult. I always remembered this
character because the box has four sides.

Common Words using this

Character:
= four seasons
= square
= rectangle
= cousin (your cousin is four steps away from you)
= = Five
(Korean name: )
Common Words using this Character:

= five senses
= pentagon
= / = Six
(Korean name: )
Dont confuse this character with :
Common Words using this Character:

= five or six
= = Seven
(Korean name: )

= = Eight
(Korean name: )
Common Words using this Character:

= octagon
= a Jack of all trades (somebody who is good in all directions)
= = Nine
(Korean name: )

= = Ten
(Korean name: )
Common Words using this Character:

= dozens of (tens of)

Hanja Lesson 6: , , ,
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In this lesson, you will learn how to represent the four cardinal directions in Hanja.

 = = East ()
(Korean name: )
This character is great because many stroke order rules come into play when drawing it. Notice that
the first stroke is the line at the top, moving right to left (Rule 1). Then, you need to draw the box in
the middle, but remember that you should start with the left side, and then top and right sides before
enclosing it (Rule 5). However, before enclosing it, you must draw the contents inside it (Rule 7).
Following that, you should draw the major intersecting line (Rule 6). Finally, you must draw the two
diagonal strokes starting with the stroke moving towards the bottom right (Rule 3).
You will see this character and the others below all over Korea, as the names of many places are
named using these cardinal directions. When these names are translated to English, they usually
just take on the English pronunciation of the respective Korean name. Therefore, a Korean learner of
Hanja might not be aware of the actual meaning that a location might possess.
For example, the neighborhood is translated to Dongdaemun in English. While Korean
people know the meaning of Dongdaemun, English speakers (even those learning Korean) might
not know. However, by knowing the Hanja characters that represent this name, we can understand
what the name represents. The Hanja equivalent of is . With the knowledge that you
have of these characters now, you should know that actually means Big east gate. Many
other places use these cardinal directions in their name.
Common Words

using this Character:

= the East (the orient)
= the Middle East

= the East Sea

= East Asia
= Big East Gate. Dongdaemun (area and monument in Seoul)

 = = West
(Korean name: )
Much like , (and the other directions you will learn in this lesson) is used throughout Korea as
the names of various locations.
Common Words using

this Character:
= Seodaemun (area and monument in Seoul)
= the West (North America/Europe)

= east and west

= the West Sea

= = North
(Korean name: )
As with the other characters, is used throughout Korea on various names of places.
Common Words using this

Character:
= A North Korean defector
= A mountain range in the North of South Korea

= North Korea

= the North Pole

= = South
(Korean name: )

Common Words

using this Character:

= Namdaemun (area, famous market and monument in Seoul)
= Gangnam area (South of the river) !
= North and South Korea/The Koreas
= Antarctica

Hanja Lesson 7: , , , ,
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In the previous Lesson, I mentioned that I always try to introduce groups of characters that share a
similar theme in the same lesson. The theme in this lesson has nothing to do with the meaning of the
characters. Instead, all the characters in this lesson are easy to draw. Of course, because you are
still at Lesson 7, each character is very common in and around Korea. Because of their simplicity,
the characters in this lesson are recognized by the majority of Koreans.
= = King
(Korean name: )
There are a few words that contain this character, but it is usually just used by itself to mean king.
There are a few other words that you may find, but there usage is fairly limited (how often would you
say kings chamber?). Nonetheless, this is one of the most recognizable characters in Korea, and
is very simple to draw.
Common Words using this Character:

= king
= Sejong the great (big king)

 = queen (female king)

= queen
= = Heaven
(Korean name: )
Another common character with a simple meaning that is easy to draw.
Common Words using this Character:

= heaven (heaven country)

= the world (below heaven)
= an angel
= the Catholic Church
= = Hand
(Korean name: )
While this character technically means hand, you can find it in a number of words where the
connection to a hand is not very apparent. For example, is found in the word (a mistake).
However, it is hard to connect the word mistake to a hand. Nonetheless, there are other words
where the connection to hand is more obvious. As with the other characters in this lesson, the
simplicity of makes it very recognizable amongst Korean people.
Common Words using this Character:

= mistake
= surgery
= player/athlete
= to wash ones hands
= to clap ones hands
= to shake hands
= towel
= a check
= singer
-

 = = Letter/Writing
(Korean name: )
Literally the in . Used in a variety of common words to have the meaning of letter or
writing.
Also notice that this character contains the radical , which is also pronounced as ( ).
Common Words using

this Character:
= letter, character
= upper-case letter
= lower-case letter
= Korean Chinese characters
= = Person
(Korean name: )
The name of this character is , which translates to number . It would be much better if
this character was called because this character is usually used to indicate that something
is a person. Only in some words will you see this character have the meaning of number.
You will often find this as the last character in a noun. The characters before are usually other
Hanja characters that describe the type of person. For example, means research, and can be
represented as in Hanja. By placing as the last character, we get , which means
researcher.
Also notice that the picture itself actually looks like a person, which makes this an easy character to
remember.

Common Words

using this Character:

= employee/staff member
= government worker
= member (of a gym, for example)
= employee/staff member
= employee/worker
= number of people
= researcher
= member of some important government position (congress or something similar)

Hanja Lesson 8: , , , ,
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In this lesson, you will learn five characters that all have meanings related to countries.
= = Korea
(Korean name: )
Drawing the character is somewhat difficult as a beginner because there are a lot of strokes that
need to be performed. A lot of times a complex character also has a complex meaning and is not
very common in Korea. However, this character literally means Korea, so you can find it in many
places. Writing around any government buildings, web-pages or documents is often very formal,
therefore the Hanja characters are often written as well.

Common Words using

this Character:
= Korea
= The Republic of Korea (official name of Korea)
= traditional Korean clothing
= North Korea
= North and South Korea
= a Korean person
= Korean language
= = Country
(Korean name: )
While this character is slightly difficult to draw at first, it is very recognizable because few characters
look similar to it. Definitely one of the characters that every Korean person is expected to be able to
recognize. The names of many countries end in in Korean. It would also be beneficial to be able
to recognize the simplified version of this character; both because it is very common and because it
is easy to recognize ()

Common Words

using this Character:

= Korea
= China
= heaven
= international
= The Republic of Korea
= ones homeland (motherland)
= ones mother tongue
= a whole country
= Korean person
= a foreign country
= a foreigner
= inside a country
= = The people (of a country)
(Korean name: )
Used along with other characters to represent the masses of a population.
Common Words using this

Character:
= The Republic of Korea
= the people of a country
= citizen
= resident
= democracy
-

 = = Beautiful/United States
(Korean name: )
This character is actually written on signs all over Korea in its Hanja form therefore, everybody
should be able to recognize it. The most common places you will find it is on signs designating that a
store is a beauty-parlor/hair-salon.
The United States in Korea (and Chinese for that matter) literally translates to beautiful country.
As a Canadian, I take offense to that.
Common Words

using this Character:

= the United States
= an American
= Art
= a beautiful person
= a beautiful woman
= beauty parlor
= a beautiful man (pretty boy)
= = Korea/China
(Korean name: )
You learned earlier that the character means Korea. It is very easy for learners to be confused
between and , which are both . You will find the character on various things around or
in Korea in relation to the Han River (the river that goes through Seoul). However, is typically
used to refer to things that literally refer to the country of Korea (for example, the country itself, the
language and the people).

Common Words using this Character:

= writing Korean in Chinese characters
= Hanja
= Hanyang (an old name for the city of Seoul)
= Hanseong (an old name for the city of Seoul)
= Han River (the river that goes through Seoul)
= Bukhansan (mountain range in the north of Seoul)

Hanja Lesson 9: , , , ,
Click here for a PDF copy of all our Hanja lessons.
In this lesson, you will learn five words that all relate to water in one way or another. Most very
simple, all very common.
= = River
(Korean name: )
Whenever you see the radical the meaning of the who character usually relates to water in
some way. is very easy to remember because of this water designation, plus the part of the
character looks like a flowing to me. The part of the character actually has a purpose of
indicating pronunciation in Chinese, but for the casual learner of Hanja (at this point), you dont need
to worry about it.

Common Words

using this Character:

= river
= the Han River
= north of the river
= a mouth of a river (estuary)
= popular district in Seoul (Gangnam) south of the river
For the first time, all the words above contain only Hanja characters! Woohoo!
= = Water
(Korean name: )
Whereas specifically refers to a river, refers to water in general.
Common Words using this Character:

= drink/beverage
= perfume
= natural/spring water
= lake
= flood
= moisture
= waste water
= water damage
= swimming
= water that one uses through plumbing (it comes up [] through the pipes)
Notice that it becomes increasingly easier to understand the meaning of a character in a word if you
know the meaning of the other characters and the translation in English. For example, ()
means waste water. Through this, you can easily deduce that the meaning of the character
means waste.
-

= = Stream
(Korean name: )
Actually, this character is not found in very many common Korean words. Drawing this character
however is very easy and with its relation to water words, I decided to introduce it in this lesson.
The picture is supposed to represent a flowing stream.
Common Words using this Character:

= the city of Incheon

= a small stream
= the name of a (man-made) stream in the center of Seoul
= / = Cold
(Korean name: )
Not to get on a whole Korean language history lesson here, but traditional Korean words didnt have
as the first letter in a syllable of a word. Instead, it was pronounced as . So, depending on
the position of this character, it could be pronounced as or . Note that newer words that have
made their way into the Korean language borrowed from other languages can have as the first
letter of the word (for example, , , etc). Used to indicate that something is cold.

Common Words using this Character:

= Naeng-myeon (cold noodle dish)
= refrigerator
= freezer
= air conditioning
-

 = = Origin
(Korean name: )
Not entirely related to water, but water has to originate from somewhere, right? No? Haha, anyways,
a very common character that is also found in the name of Japan.
Common Words using this

Character:
= Japan (day origin)
= Japanese person
= originally
= an original document
= basic/fundamental
= root, basis
= capital (in business)

Hanja Lesson 10: , , , ,

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In this lesson, you will learn five characters that are related to ones body or ones feelings.
= = Heart/Emotions
(Korean name: )
Though this character literally means heart, it often is used in words to describe the center of
something or ones feelings.
Common Words using this Character:

= heart (organ)
= the center
= the main point/focus
= mentality

 = curiosity
= suspicion
= = Body
(Korean name: )
Common Words

using this Character:

= oneself
= position/status
= you
= mind and body
= = Body
(Korean name: )
Very complicated writing this character, but it comes up a lot in various words. While the strokes
might look complicated, if you learn how to write it stroke-by-stroke, you will see that it actually isnt
that difficult.

Common Words

using this Character:

= physical education
= experience
= strength/stamina/physical ability
= everything/all of
= physical
= an organism
= group/organization
= = Feeling/Emotion
(Korean name: )

Common Words

using this Character:

= emotion
= sense/feeling
= impression
= confidence
= the flu
= to sense something beforehand
= an uncomfortable feeling
= = Family/House
(Korean name: )
Usually used on words with some sort of relation to family or ones family house. However, it is
also sometimes used as the last character in a word to denote a profession.
Common Words

using this Character:

= country
= family

 = furniture
= novelist
= painter
= specialist
= author
= family

Hanja Lesson 11: , , , ,

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In this lesson, you will learn five new characters that are all related to names. In addition to
three actual surnames, you will learn two other characters that are typically found in words dealing
with names.
= = Name
(Korean name: )
You come across this character a lot in Korea, and it is sometimes used on government forms to ask
for ones name.
Common words using

this character:
= signature
= business card
= noun
= proper noun
= list of names
= famous
= = Thing
(Korean name: )
Its hard to give definitions for a lot of these words because the character just means
thing/product. Usually, the other character in the word can inform the reader/listener what type of
product is being referred to.

Common words using

this character:
= some sort of work/art piece
= some sort of product/goods
= some sort of product/goods
= some sort of food product
= some sort of product/goods
= some sort of medical product
= item
= quality (of a product)
= cosmetic product
=/ = Common Surname, Gold/Money
(Korean name: , )
There are literally millions of people in Korea with the surname (Kim). This character is used to
represent this last name, and is very important to be able to know/recognize because most (if not all)
people in Korean know how to write their name using characters.
When use it to represent the last name, this character is pronounced as .
However, it can also have the meaning of gold/money. When used to represent gold, it is
pronounced as .

Common words using

this character:
= Yuna Kim (famous Korean figure skater)
I could go on and on listing Korean people with the family name
= charge/fare
= gold
= a withdrawal
= cash
= metal
= interest rate
= scholarship
= / = Common Surname
(Korean name: ) (recently referred to as /)
The second most common surname in Korea. Equally as important as because, as I said,
everybody knows how to write their name using and people often do.
While this character has a meaning (and usage) aside from the surname, you will probably only
come across those words if you specifically set out to be a scholar.
Common words using

this character:

 = (Seulgi Lee) My girlfriends name

Again, I could go on and on listing Korean people with the family name
= = Common Surname, Right/Proper/Correct
(Korean name: )
The meaning of this word is fairly difficult, and the words that it is found in are also difficult. However,
the character itself is easy to draw and I specifically wanted to introduce this character to you before
introducing similar looking characters in upcoming lessons (and many other characters contain this
radical) for example: .
is usually found in difficult words where the meaning is related to something being or
changing to/from something right/correct/proper/normal.
In addition to difficult words, it is a relatively common character in Korean names.
One other interesting note the strokes of this character are often used by Korean people to count
things, much like we do in the West with drawing four vertical strokes and then crossing them all out
with a horizontal stroke to count to five ( | | | | ).
Common words using this

character:
(Dont be alarmed if you know none of these words. Most of them are fairly difficult)
= revision
= normal
= proofreading
= corruption

Hanja Lesson 12: , , , ,

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In this lesson, the central theme is to do/have and to not do/have. Here, you will find characters
related to this.
-

 = = To not have
(Korean name: )
A common character that you will find placed to virtually anything to indicate that there is nothing of
something. For example, you might read a package that would say . Note that this is
identical in meaning to .
Common words

using this character:

= unconditionally (without condition)
= free (without money)
= unconscious (without conscious)
= blindly (without a plan)
= unlimited (without restriction)
= indifference (without relation)
= = to not be
(Korean name: )
Quite similar to , but not exactly the same. is essentially the opposite of = to be ( =
to not be) whereas is essentially the opposite of = to have ( = to not have). Although a
distinction between and can be made, it generally is irrelevant to the casual learner of ,
and is more important if one starts to study Chinese.
Common words using this character:

= shortage
= unfair

 = corruption
= real-estate agent
= = To use
(Korean name: )
Aside from typical verbs/nouns that have a meaning related to to use, this character is often found
after nouns to reflect the group of people who would typically use an object. Learning this character
is very beneficial to your Korean studies because most people dont actually memorize the words
or . However, by knowing the meaning/usage of , you can apply it to many
situations.
Common words using this

character:
= goods, articles
= something for family use
= household articles
= something for student use
= something for military use
= terminology
= to use
= car
= = Half
(Korean name: )
Used to represent the word half. Very easy to recognize because the character itself is divided into
two equal halves.

Common words using this

character:
= half
= peninsula (half an island)
= the second half
= the second half of a year
= the first half of a year
= half of a year
= a half-moon
= = White
(Korean name: )
Common words using this

character:
= a person with white skin (white person)
= black and white
= swan
= protein

Hanja Lesson 13: , , , ,

Click here for a PDF copy of all our Hanja lessons.
In this lesson, you will learn five Hanja characters relating to school.
= = Learn/School
(Korean name: )

Although fairly complicated, this is one of the characters all Korean people are expected to know. As
such, it is not uncommon to find the version of this character used in place of the version.
A lot of the words where this character can be found are very common.
Common words using

this character:
= ones grade (year) in school
= student
= to enter a school (admission)
= parents of students in school
= school
= scholar
= Hakwon (study academy)
= scholarship
= science
= mathematics
= high school
= middle school
= elementary school
= university student
= a break from school (vacation)
= = Life/Born
(Korean name: )

I included this character in this lesson because of its use in the word . However, this character
can be found all over Korea, and is another example of a character that Koreans are expected to
know. It is often used to indicate freshness at restaurants, or is used in words to have the meaning
of life (or something related).
Common words using this

character:
= life/living
= student
= university student
= younger brother
= younger sister
= ones entire life
= male student
= female student
= birthday
= to occur/arise
= biology
= draft beer
= = School
(Korean name: )
This character is common and I highly suggest you memorize it but not all Korean people would be
able to recognize/reproduce this character. It has a similar meaning, and is often found in words with
. However, this character more relates to the school than the learner.

Common words using

this character:
= school
= girls school
= boys school
= university
= middle school
= inside a school
= to leave school (the opposite is not )
= vice principal
= principal
= education
= school uniform
= = First
(Korean name: )
The main meaning of this character is to indicate that one thing precedes another (as in, to come
first). It can also be found in the word . Aside from , most of the other words that it
can be found in are comprised of difficult characters.
Common words using

this character:
= teacher (there is no way to write using )
= first, above all

 = ones senior in school

= first come first served
= = Teacher
(Korean name: )
Most commonly found after another character indicating the name of a profession. The
professions that usually describe are those that commonly require a lot of studying. Amazingly,
the word is not , but rather which contains another (more complicated) that
you have yet to learn.
Common words using

this character:
= ambassador
= lecturer/instructor
= chef/cook
= doctor
= nurse
= Korean/Oriental doctor
= pharmacist

Hanja Lesson 14: , , , ,

Click here for a PDF copy of all our Hanja lessons.
In this lesson, you will learn five characters relating to the public, cities or working together.
= = Public/Shared/Equal
(Korean name: )

The Korean name of this character translates to equal/fair , but you will also find this character in
a variety of words relating to the public.
Common words using this character:

= park
= leading role in a story
= performance
= fair/equal
= princess
= public (the other is , which you have not learned yet)
= somebody who works for the government
= to make something public/announce
= = City
(Korean name: )
The words that this character can be found in relate to the word city.
You can also find this character after the names of cities in Korean.

Common words using this

character:
= citizen
= downtown
= big city
= small city
= the (special) City of Seoul
= the City of Uijeongbu

 = the City of Ansan

= market(place)
= city
= = District/Division
(Korean name: )
The word acts as a level of division for parts of a city sort of like how borough, district or
county divide parts of states/cities in the US. Within a city, there will be many . Within a there
will be many . You will find this character after the names of various in Korean, or in regular
words with the meaning division.
I also like this character because the picture depicts the meaning. I picture the outer box as the city,
with the small inner boxes as the respective within the city.
Common words using

this character:
= division
= distinguish
= area/district
= the City of Seoul, Gangnam district
= section
Here is an example of where your knowledge of Hanja characters can pay off. While looking into a
list of words that contain the character , I came across the word (). I have never seen
this word before (in Korean or in ) and I know exactly what it meant as soon as I saw it. With the
meaning of being district and being people/citizens of an area, it is clear that
represents the people who live in a certain district.
-

 = = Neighborhood
(Korean name: )
Aside from being in words that have some relation to neighborhood, you will also find this character
in the names of neighborhoods. The word acts as a level of division for parts of the city, sort of
like how borough or county divide parts of states/cities in the US.

Common words using this character:

= the City of Seoul, Gangnam district, Suseo neighborhood
= inside a neighborhood (not to be confused with , which actually means neighborhood)
= the entrance to a neighborhood
= the name of a popular neighborhood in Seoul
= = Combine, Unite
(Korean name: )
This character is mostly found in more difficult words, but the simplicity of its scripture (and simple
meaning when used by itself) makes it very recognizable for Korean people.
Common words using

this character:
= agreement
= put together
= combine
= rational

Hanja Lesson 15: , , , ,

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In this lesson, you will learn five characters relating places and locations.
= = Place/Location
(Korean name: )
You will specifically find this character after nouns indicating the place in which something happens.
For example, the word translates to performance. While you might never actively study the
word (), with your knowledge of this character, you can assume that this word means
the place that a performance occurs (a theatre, venue, etc).
Common words using

this character:
= market
= factory
= the site/place that something happens
= exercise yard
= theatre
= workplace
= office worker
= parking lot
= store
= farm
Notice above that you can assume the meaning of the other characters in the word. For example,
() is found in words meaning work, () is found in words related to selling, () is
found in words relating to farming.
-

 = = Room
(Korean name: )
Much like , is often used after a noun to indicate a room that something takes place.
Common words using

this character:
= inside/inside a room/house
= a kings room/house
= classroom
= beauty parlor
= a teachers office
= research room
= a room in a hospital
= bathroom, restroom
= office (for work)
= = Food
(Korean name: )
This word has little to do with locations, but I didnt set aside a lesson specifically for food, so I am
introducing this character here. It can however be found in the word restaurant (), which is why
I chose to introduce it in this lesson.

Common words using

this character:
= eating out
= food products
= food poisoning
= restaurant
= work dinner
= food
= meal
= = Land, Earth
(Korean name: )
Common words using

this character:
= underground
= above ground
= area, region
= area, region
= Earth
= land, ground
= farmland
= geography
= = Area, Region, Side
(Korean name: )
There really isnt one way that I can describe how this character is used. A lot of the time (but not all
the time), you will find this character used in words related to a place or direction.

Common words using this character:

= area, region
= one side(d)
= in every direction (four sides)
= northern region
= direction
= direction
= method
= method

Hanja Lesson 16: , , , ,

Click here for a PDF copy of all our Hanja lessons.
In this lesson, you will learn five characters related to time.
= = Time
(Korean name: )
Common words using

this character:
= time
= at that time
= the same time
= a moment
= time
= clock

 = the same time

= the time or days one used to do something (my school days, university days, etc)
= = Time, Period
(Korean name: )
Common words using

this character:
= time
= the second half of a year
= the first half of a year
= semester
= a quarter (of a year in business)
= the latter part of something
= the beginning part of something
= = Space, Interval, Between
(Korean name: )
While often used with words of time, this character itself usually means the space between two
things. Similar to , also acts as a grammatical principle in Korean sentences as well. It is
used to indicate that one does something amongst (between) things/people. For example:
= The teacher distributed the class materials amongst the
students
It is also used as a grammatical principle to indicate a possible outcome of multiple situations. For
example:
= If you want to go to
University or not, you need to study

Common words

using this character:

= time
= period
= the middle of
= man, human
= moment
= space/room to do something
= in the span of a year
= section
= = Same
(Korean name: )
Common words using

this character:
= same time
= same time
= to be the same as
= younger brother
= younger sister
= joint, congruent
= community
= agreement
= = One Hundred/Everything/Total
(Korean name: )
Very little to do with time, but I couldnt find any other place to put this simple character.

Common words using

this character:
= one hundred
= department store
= encyclopedia
= one hundred days (the 100th day birthday of a child, or the 100th day of a couples
relationship.

Hanja Lesson 17: , , , ,

Click here for a PDF copy of all our Hanja lessons.
In this lesson, you will learn five characters that are used in words describing parts or a whole of
something.
= = Division, Part
(Korean name: )
= = Division, Part, Minute
(Korean name: )
You will find that these two characters have very similar meanings. In fact, they both have the same
Korean name. You can find both of these characters in a variety of words (and sometimes used
together) related to parts/divisions of something.
The main difference between the two is that is also the word for minute as in, divisions of an
hour.

Common words using these characters:

= most
= part, section
= one part
= inside part
= outside part
= headquarters (original office)
= components of a product
= = Many/Most/All
(Korean name: )
Common words using

this character:
= majority
= the vast majority
= variety
= = Number
(Korean name: )

In addition to the words that this can be found in, you will also see this character used after many
nouns to indicate that one is referring to the number of that noun.
Common words using

this character:
= majority
= the vast majority
= mathematics
= score
= tens of
= hundreds of
= the number of strokes in a Chinese character
= = Whole, All
(Korean name: )
Common words using

this character:
= the whole of something
= the whole country
= all parts

 = all people
= perfect, complete

Hanja Lesson 18: , , , ,

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In this lesson, you will learn five characters relating to the present or new things.
= = New
(Korean name: )
It is not uncommon to see this character written out in on a new product to indicate that it is
new.
Common words using

this character:
= freshman (new student)
= rookie
= new city
= new product
= newspaper
= bride
= innovation

 = = Current
(Korean name: )
You can not only find this character in a variety of common words, but you can also find it (combined
with the following character) plastered across buildings in Seoul. Although the company
(Hyundai) is known as a car company in Canada/the United States, it is actually an international
conglomerate with their hands in everything. One thing they are involved in is construction, and you
can find their logo all over Korea.
Common words using

this character:
= Hyundai Corporation
= modern times
= current
= cash
= the scene of something
= = Generation, Representative
(Korean name: )
You can find the character all over Korea on the awnings of businesses. Beside this character,
you will often see a phone number written. The character is used in these cases to indicate that
one should call that number if he/she would like to contact a representative of that company.

Common words using this

character:
= a time, age, generation
= modern times
= representative
= modern man
= generation
= new generation
= ancient times
= = Culture, Writing
(Korean name: )
There are many academic subjects that end with the character . These subjects generally refer
to the written component of the previous character.
Common words using this character:

= culture
= literature
= Chinese characters
= humanities/liberal arts
= an official (public) document
= civilization
= = Change
(Korean name: )

Common words using this character:

= culture
= change
= restroom, washroom
= chemistry
= make up
= make up products
= popular culture

Hanja Lesson 19: , , , ,

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In this lesson, you will learn five characters related to power, strength and trust.
= = Power
(Korean name: )
You will notice that a lot of western people have this character tattooed on their body. Not only is the
character simple, but its meaning of power is something that people feel is worth putting on their
body.
Common words using this character:

= manpower
= ones physical strength
= effort
= ones memory
= violence
= ability
= pressure

 = = Strength
(Korean name: )
Common words using

this character:
= strengthen
= strong person
= strong
= emphasis
= ones strong points
= a powerful nation (not common in conversation, but its meaning is easy to understand now
that you know the three component characters within the word)
= = Weak
(Korean name: )
I see this character all the time on the subway in Seoul indicating that the specific car I am in is the
one with weak air-conditioning.
Common words using

this character:

 = weaken
= weak person
= the old and weak
= ones weak points
= a small and weak (not powerful) nation
= = Fire
(Korean name: )
I dont really use many words containing this character in everyday life, but this is specifically one of
the elementary characters that all Korean people can recognize.
Common words using this character:

= Tuesday
= volcano
= firepower
= to burn something
= = Trust/Believe
(Korean name: )
Common words using

this character:
= credit
= faith, confidence

 = faith/religious belief
= betrayal

Hanja Lesson 20: , , , ,

Click here for a PDF copy of all our Hanja lessons.
In this lesson you will learn five characters related to the earth.
= = Earth
(Korean name: )
Common words using this character:

= land, ground
= Saturday
= a countrys land, territory
= = Man/Humankind
(Korean name: )
Common words using this

character:
= the world
= generation
= new generation
= the Middle Ages
= = Tree
(Korean name: )

Another elementary character that doesnt come up much in conversation, but is one of the
characters that most Korean people know. Technically can be used to mean tree, but the Korean
word is used much more often.
Common words using this character:

= Thursday
= = Ball, Circle
(Korean name: )
Common words using

this character:
= Earth
= soccer
= soccer field
= baseball
= baseball field
= basketball
= volleyball
= = To be Set up/Established
(Korean name: )

Common words using this character:

= national
= national park
= national high school
= national university
= private
= independent