10 Korean words that appear in every K-pop song
K-pop lyrics draw on a smaller vocabulary than you would think, and most of it belongs to a few themes: love, night, dreams, memory, and the gap between you and me. Learn ten words and the chorus of almost any title track starts to come apart into pieces you recognise.
One warning before the list. Songs are written in casual speech (반말), between a 나 (I) and a 너 (you) who are already intimate. That makes them a poor model for talking to strangers and a good one for learning how Koreans talk to the people they love.
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사랑
sarang
love
The noun. 사랑해 is the verb 'I love you', and 사랑해요 the polite version. Lyrics lean on the noun: 내 사랑 (my love), 첫사랑 (first love), 사랑이 뭔데 (what even is love).
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너
neo
you
Casual 'you', used between close friends and from older to younger. Lyrics are almost entirely casual speech (반말), so 너 is everywhere; in real life say it only to people you are already informal with. 널 is 너를, and 네가 (sung as 니가) is 'you' as the subject.
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마음
maeum
heart, mind, feelings
Not the organ (that is 심장) but the place where feelings live. 내 마음 is 'my heart', 마음이 아파 'my heart hurts', 마음대로 'as you please'.
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눈물
nunmul
tears
Literally: eye water
눈 is eye and 물 is water. 눈물이 나 (tears come out) is how a song says 'I am crying' without saying 울어.
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밤
bam
night
이 밤 (this night) and 오늘 밤 (tonight) open a thousand choruses. It sounds the same as 밤 the chestnut, which is why Korean fans find chestnut jokes irresistible.
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꿈
kkum
dream
Both the sleeping kind and the ambition kind, like English. 꿈속에서 is 'in a dream', 꿈만 같아 'it feels like a dream'.
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기억
gieok
memory
기억해 is 'remember' as a plea, and 기억 속에 'in my memory'. Its partner 추억 is a cherished memory, warmer and sadder.
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영원히
yeongwonhi
forever
The adverb from 영원 (eternity). Promises in ballads end with it, and so do fan chants.
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다시
dasi
again
다시 만나 (meet again), 다시 시작해 (start again), 다시 돌아와 (come back). If a song has a second verse, 다시 is in it.
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혼자
honja
alone
혼자 있어 (I am alone), 혼자 남아 (left alone). 외로워 is the feeling (lonely); 혼자 is the fact.
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Try it on the next song you play: count how many of the ten you hear in the chorus alone. Most title tracks hit four or five, and once you notice 마음 and 다시 you will not be able to stop noticing them.