9 Korean group chat phrases for the 단톡방
A Korean friend group lives in its 단톡방, short for 단체 카톡방, the KakaoTalk group chat. It is where dinners get planned, polls get posted, bills get split and silences get noticed. If you have Korean friends, this is the Korean you will type most.
Because a 단톡방 is almost always friends of a similar age, these nine are in casual speech (반말). Each note says what changes for a group that uses polite 요, such as a work chat or a class group.
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다들 뭐 해?
dadeul mwo hae?
What's everyone up to?
Literally: Everyone, what doing?
Casual speech (반말), for a group of friends. 다들 (everyone) is how you address the whole room; the message that revives a chat that has been quiet for a week.
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이번 주 토요일 시간 돼?
ibeon ju toyoil sigan dwae?
Free this Saturday?
Literally: This week Saturday, does time work?
Casual. 시간 돼? (does time work?) is the standard way to ask about availability among friends. The polite version to a work group would be 이번 주 토요일 시간 되세요?
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투표 올렸어.
tupyo ollyeosseo.
I posted a poll.
Literally: (I) put up a vote.
Casual. KakaoTalk has a built-in poll and Korean groups pick dates with it rather than arguing in messages. 투표해 줘 is 'please vote'.
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몇 시에 어디서 볼까?
myeot sie eodiseo bolkka?
What time and where should we meet?
Literally: At what hour, where, shall (we) see?
Casual. 보다 (to see) is the everyday verb for meeting up; 만나다 sounds more formal in a chat. -ㄹ까? is the let's-decide-together ending.
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나 늦을 것 같아.
na neujeul geot gata.
I think I'll be late.
Literally: I, seems (I) will be late.
Casual. -ㄹ 것 같아 softens it to 'it looks like', which is how you announce bad news to friends. Follow it with 10분만 (just ten minutes) and nobody minds.
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나 빠질게.
na ppajilge.
I'll sit this one out.
Literally: I will drop out.
Casual. 빠지다 is to fall out of something, and this is the clean way to skip a plan without a long excuse. Add 미안 (sorry) in front if the plan was made for you.
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1/N 하자.
il en haja.
Let's split it evenly.
Literally: Let's do one over N.
Casual. Written like the fraction and read 일엔; the slang verb is 엔빵하다. Koreans mostly pay by one person covering the bill and the others sending their share by app afterwards.
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읽씹하지 마.
iksipaji ma.
Don't leave me on read.
Literally: Don't read-and-ignore.
Casual, and half-joking. 읽씹 is 읽다 (read) plus 씹다 (chew, ignore). KakaoTalk shows how many people have not read a message, so everyone knows exactly who is ignoring whom.
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단톡방 조용하네.
dantokbang joyonghane.
The group chat's gone quiet.
Literally: The group chat room is quiet, huh.
Casual. -네 adds the tone of noticing out loud. Usually the opening move before someone proposes a meal.
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Two habits that mark a native 단톡방: nobody writes full sentences (ㅇㅇ for yes, ㄱㄱ for let's go, ㅇㅋ for okay), and reactions carry the conversation (ㅋㅋㅋ for laughing, ㅠㅠ for sad). Once you can read those, the messages above are the longest things you will see.