10 Korean family words you hear every day: 엄마, 아빠, 할머니, 이모 and the rest

mom

Used at every age; a forty-year-old still says 엄마. 어머니 is the formal word, for talking about your mother to others or addressing someone else's. 어머님 is more respectful still, for a partner's mother.

dad

Same pattern: 아빠 to his face, 아버지 in formal speech, 아버님 for a partner's father. Many adults switch to 아버지 as they get older, especially sons.

grandma

Also any elderly woman: the one selling vegetables at the market, the one you give your seat to on the subway. 외할머니 is specifically your mother's mother.

grandpa

The same reach as 할머니: your grandfather and every old man in the neighbourhood. 외할아버지 is on your mother's side.

aunt (mother's sister)

Literally: mother-side aunt

Strictly your mother's sister, and also what you call the woman running a small restaurant: 이모, 여기 물 좀 주세요 (ma'am, some water please). Your father's sister is 고모.

uncle

Literally: three degrees (of kinship)

Your father's brother in the strict sense, though in casual speech children call most uncles 삼촌. Your mother's brother is 외삼촌, and children sometimes use 삼촌 for a friendly adult man.

older brother (said by a woman)

A woman's older brother, her older male friends, her boyfriend, and her favourite idol, in that historical order. A man never says it. Calling a boyfriend 오빠 is normal; calling a stranger 오빠 is a move.

older sister (said by a woman)

A woman's older sister and her close older female friends. Also what women call a shop assistant or a younger-looking waitress, which makes it the friendliest way to get service.

older brother (said by a man)

A man's older brother and any older man he is close to, from a senior at work to a teammate. The drop from 형님 (respectful) to 형 marks the friendship getting closer.

older sister (said by a man)

A man's older sister or older female friend. It does not carry the romantic charge 오빠 has, which is why dramas make a thing of a man calling a woman 누나 and then stopping.