8 ways to say I'm nervous or worried in Korean (긴장돼요, 걱정돼요)
English has one word for the night before an exam; Korean has several, and they are not interchangeable. 긴장돼요 is the tightness, 떨려요 the shaking, 걱정돼요 the worry with a target, 불안해요 the unease without one.
The phrases below are polite 요 speech, the form for a colleague or a friend you are not yet casual with. Most of them are built on 되다 (to become), which is how Korean says a feeling is happening to you rather than something you are doing.
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긴장돼요.
ginjangdwaeyo.
I'm nervous.
Literally: Tension arises.
Before an interview, a presentation, a first date. About yourself it is 긴장되다 (tension comes over me); the active 긴장하다 is for the instruction 긴장하지 마세요 (do not be nervous). Mixing the two is the classic learner slip.
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떨려요.
tteollyeoyo.
I've got the jitters.
Literally: (I) tremble.
Nerves you can feel in your body, and not only bad ones: 떨려요 before a concert is excitement. 목소리가 떨려요 is 'my voice is shaking'.
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걱정돼요.
geokjeongdwaeyo.
I'm worried.
About something or someone, usually named first: 시험이 걱정돼요 (I am worried about the exam). Same 되다 logic as 긴장돼요.
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불안해요.
buranhaeyo.
I feel anxious.
Deeper and vaguer than 걱정: unease with no single cause, a bad feeling about how things are going. Put 왠지 (somehow) in front and it is exactly the English 'I just feel uneasy'.
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심장이 터질 것 같아요.
simjangi teojil geot gatayo.
My heart's about to burst.
Literally: It seems my heart will explode.
Dramatic on purpose, so it fits waiting for results or standing outside a door you have to knock on. -(으)ㄹ 것 같아요 is 'it seems like it will', the softener that keeps it from sounding medical.
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잘할 수 있을까요?
jalhal su isseulkkayo?
Do you think I can pull it off?
Literally: Will (I) be able to do well?
Self-doubt said out loud to someone you trust. The answer you are fishing for is 잘할 수 있어요 (you can do it), and Koreans will give it.
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머리가 하얘졌어요.
meoriga hayaejyeosseoyo.
My mind went blank.
Literally: My head turned white.
For afterwards, when the nerves won. English minds go blank; Korean heads go white. 하얘지다 is 'to become white', in the past tense here.
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걱정하지 마세요. 잘될 거예요.
geokjeonghaji maseyo. jaldoel geoyeyo.
Don't worry, it'll be fine.
Literally: Do not worry. It will become well.
What you say back. 잘될 거예요 is the standard reassurance, and 잘되다 (to go well) is written as one word. Between friends it is 걱정하지 마, 잘될 거야.
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The 되다 pattern is worth stealing: 긴장돼요, 걱정돼요, 기대돼요 (I am looking forward to it) all describe a feeling arriving rather than an act you perform. Once you hear emotions that way, a large share of Korean feeling vocabulary falls into place.