9 Korean drinking phrases and the manners that go with them
Drinking in Korea is a group activity with rules, and the rules are the point. Who pours for whom, which hand holds the glass, which way you turn your head: these matter more than how much you drink, and foreigners who get them right earn a disproportionate amount of goodwill.
These nine phrases are what you will hear and need at a table of soju and beer, in the polite 요 form that suits coworkers and new acquaintances. Friends your own age drop to casual speech after the first round, usually with an invitation to do so.
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건배
geonbae
Cheers
Literally: dry glass
The standard toast. Among friends you will hear 짠 (jjan), the sound of glasses touching, and at company dinners someone will stand and shout 위하여 (to...). Clink lower than an older person's glass.
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원샷
wonsyat
Bottoms up
Literally: one shot (Konglish)
A dare more than a toast. You may decline: 저는 조금만요 (just a little for me). Turn your head away from the eldest person when you drink; it is one of the few table rules people still watch for.
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한잔할래요?
hanjanhallaeyo?
Want to grab a drink?
Literally: One glass do-want?
한잔하다 is its own verb, written without a space, and 'one glass' is never one glass. This is the standard invitation after work or a long week.
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제가 따라 드릴게요.
jega ttara deurilgeyo.
Let me pour for you.
Literally: I pour give-will.
You pour for others and they pour for you; filling your own glass is for drinking alone. Hold the bottle with two hands for anyone older, and hold your glass with two hands while it is being filled.
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저 술 잘 못 마셔요.
jeo sul jal mot masyeoyo.
I'm not much of a drinker.
Literally: I alcohol well cannot drink.
The polite out. Say it before the first glass and nobody pushes. 오늘은 좀 쉴게요 (I'll sit this one out tonight) works if you have a reputation to protect.
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딱 한 잔만.
ttak han janman.
Just one more.
Literally: Exactly one glass only.
딱 means exactly, and it has never once been exact. Said by the person pouring as much as the person drinking.
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안주 뭐 시킬까요?
anju mwo sikilkkayo?
What should we order to eat?
Literally: Anju what order-shall-we?
안주 is food eaten with drinks, and drinking without it is almost unthinkable. Fried chicken with beer, pork belly with soju, pajeon with makgeolli: the pairings are as fixed as the words.
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2차 가요?
icha gayo?
On to round two?
Literally: Second round go?
Korean nights move in numbered rounds: 1차 dinner, 2차 a bar or noraebang, 3차 if nobody is sensible. Leaving after 1차 is fine; just say 저 먼저 갈게요 (I'll head off first).
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취했어요?
chwihaesseoyo?
Are you drunk?
Literally: Got drunk?
Direct but friendly between peers. The softer self-report is 술이 좀 올랐어요 (the drink's gone to my head a bit). Tomorrow's word is 숙취 (hangover), cured with 해장국.
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The pattern underneath all of it is that drinking is done to each other, not alone: you pour for them, they pour for you, nobody's glass is empty for long. If you remember one thing, make it the two-handed pour for anyone older. If you remember two, add 저 술 잘 못 마셔요, said early and with a smile, which is respected far more than people expect.