9 Korean phrases for emergencies, lost wallets and getting un-lost
Nobody plans to use these, which is why they are worth having ready before the day you need them. When a wallet goes missing on the subway or a stomach ache turns serious at 11pm, the words have to be there already; there is no time to look them up.
Everything here is polite 요 speech, which is right for strangers, officers, and pharmacists. The useful habit is to pair each line with a noun you can swap: once you can say 지갑을 잃어버렸어요, 여권을 잃어버렸어요 is the same sentence with a different first word.
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도와주세요.
dowajuseyo.
Please help me.
Literally: Help and give (to me).
The one to shout. 돕다 (to help) plus 주세요 (please give) is a complete request, and nobody will ask what you mean. 살려 주세요 (save me) is the stronger version for danger to life.
Ask Ipsae about this phrase → -
119에 전화해 주세요.
il-il-gue jeonhwahae juseyo.
Please call 119.
119 is fire and ambulance; 112 is police. Numbers are read digit by digit (일일구). If you are the one calling, 119 has interpreters, so saying 영어 (English) early gets you one.
Ask Ipsae about this phrase → -
여기가 아파요.
yeogiga apayo.
It hurts here.
Point as you say it. 아프다 covers pain and illness alike, so 머리가 아파요 is a headache and 배가 아파요 a stomach ache. 많이 아파요 (it hurts a lot) tells a pharmacist or nurse how worried to be.
Ask Ipsae about this phrase → -
병원에 가야 돼요.
byeongwone gaya dwaeyo.
I need to go to a hospital.
Literally: (I) must go to a hospital.
병원 means any clinic, not only a hospital, and Koreans go for things other countries treat at home. For a pharmacy the word is 약국. -아/어야 돼요 is 'have to', and it signals urgency without drama.
Ask Ipsae about this phrase → -
지갑을 잃어버렸어요.
jigabeul ireobeoryeosseoyo.
I lost my wallet.
Swap in 여권 (passport), 핸드폰 (phone), or 가방 (bag). 잃어버리다 is losing a thing; 잊어버리다, one letter off, is forgetting, and saying you forgot your passport sends people looking in the wrong place.
Ask Ipsae about this phrase → -
길을 잃었어요.
gireul ireosseoyo.
I'm lost.
Literally: (I) lost the road.
The same verb as losing a wallet, with 길 (the way) as the thing lost. Follow it with the name of where you want to be and 어떻게 가요? (how do I get there?); Koreans will usually walk you partway rather than explain.
Ask Ipsae about this phrase → -
경찰서가 어디예요?
gyeongchalseoga eodiyeyo?
Where is the police station?
In practice you will be sent to a 파출소 or 지구대, the small neighbourhood police posts on nearly every main street, and that is where lost items and reports go. Officers will have a translation app ready.
Ask Ipsae about this phrase → -
분실물 센터 있어요?
bunsilmul senteo isseoyo?
Is there a lost-and-found?
Literally: Lost-item center, is there?
Subway stations, department stores, and airports all have one, and things left on a train do tend to come back. Say 분실물 at any station window and they will know what you need before you finish.
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영어 하시는 분 있어요?
yeongeo hasineun bun isseoyo?
Is there someone who speaks English?
Literally: English-doing person, is there?
분 is the respectful word for a person and 하시는 the honorific form of 'doing', so this asks nicely. English is the realistic bridge language in most offices; for a tourist hotline, 1330 has English and several other languages.
Ask Ipsae about this phrase →
Three numbers are worth saving in your phone alongside this list: 119 for fire and ambulance, 112 for police, and 1330 for the tourist helpline, which can interpret for you with the other two. And 괜찮아요 (I'm okay) is the phrase you will need most often, because Koreans who see a foreigner in trouble will ask before you can ask them.