Today we are going to focus on learning some useful vocabulary for describing occupations and professions.

If you read our article on time and date you might remember we mentioned that μΌ (eel) should only be used as a counter for days as it has a different meaning when used by itself.
In today's lesson we will see μΌ [eel] again as it means βwork.β
μΌ [eel] = work (of any kind)
μ§μ
[ji-geob] = job
If you want to ask what someone does for a living it would be:
λ¬΄μ¨ μΌμ νμΈμ? [mo-seun eel-eul ha-seo-yo] = What do you do?
While if you want to ask what someoneβs job is, it would be:
μ§μ μ΄ λμμ? [ji-geo-bi mwo-ye-yo] = What is your job?
Now letβs check a list of professions and occupations you can add to your Korean vocabulary!
Hangul | Romanization | English |
---|---|---|
νκ³μ¬ | hoe-kye-sa | Accountant |
λ°°μ° | bae-u | Actor/Actress |
건μΆκ° | geon-chuk-ga | Architect |
μμ κ° | ye-sul-ga | Artist |
μ΄λμ μ | un-dong-seon-su | Athlete |
μ μ | jeo-ja | Author |
μνμ | eun-haeng-won | Bank clerk |
μ¬μ κ° | sa-eob-ga | Business person/Entrepreneur |
μ λΉμ¬ | jeong-bi-sa | Car mechanic |
μΆλ©μ | chul-na-bwon | Cashier |
μ¬μ₯ | sa-jang | CEO/President |
μλ¦¬μ¬ | yo-ri-sa | Chef/Cook |
μκ³‘κ° | jak-gok-ga | Composer |
μΉκ³Όμμ¬ | chi-gwa-ui-sa | Dentist |
μ‘°μ¬μ | jo-sa-ja | Detective/Investigator |
μμνμ | yeong-yang-hak-ja | Dietitian/Nutricionist |
λΆμ₯ | bu-jang | Division head/Director |
μμ¬ | ui-sa | Doctor |
κ΅μ‘μ | gyo-yuk-ja | Educator |
νμ¬μ | hoe-sa-won | Employee/Office worker |
κΈ°μ μ | gi-sul-ja | Engineer/Technician |
μ°μμΈ | yeon-ye-in | Entertainer/Celebrity |
κΈ°μ κ° | gi-eob-ga | Entrepreneur |
λλΆ | nong-bu | Farmer |
μλ°©κ΄ | so-bang-gwan | Firefighter |
μΉλ¬΄μ | seung-mu-won | Flight attendant |
μ λΆ κ³΅λ¬΄μ | jeong-bu gong-mu-won | Government official |
λ―Έμ©μ¬ | mi-yong-sa | Hairdresser |
μ£ΌλΆ | ju-bu | Housewife |
ν΅μμ¬ | tong-yeok-sa | Interpreter/Translator |
λ°λͺ κ° | bal-myeong-ga | Inventor |
λ³νΈμ¬ | byeon-ho-sa | Lawyer |
ꡬ쑰μ | gu-jo-won | Lifeguard |
λ§μ μ¬ | ma-sul-sa | Magician |
μ°μ²΄λΆ | u-che-bu | Mail carrier/Postman |
맀λμ | mae-ni-jeo | Manager |
κ΅°μΈ | gun-in | Military personnel/Soldier |
μν κ°λ | yeong-hwa gam-dok | Movie director/Filmmaker |
μμ κ° | eum-ak-ga | Musician |
λͺ¨λΈ | mo-del | Model |
보λͺ¨ | bo-mo | Nanny |
κ°νΈμ¬ | gan-ho-sa | Nurse |
λͺ©μ¬ | mok-sa | Pastor |
μ½μ¬ | yak-sa | Pharmacist |
μ¬μ§μ¬ | sa-jin-sa | Photographer |
μ‘°μ’ μ¬ | jo-jong-sa | Pilot |
κ²½μ°°κ΄ | gyeong-chal-gwan | Police officer |
μ μΉκ° | jeong-chi-ga | Politician |
κ΅μ¬ | gyo-sa | Professor/Teacher |
νλ‘κ·Έλλ¨Έ | peu-ro-geu-rae-meo | Programmer |
μ λΆ | shin-bu | Priest |
κ΅μ₯μ μλ | gyo-jang-seon-saeng-nim | Principal |
λΆλμ°μ μ | bu-dong-san-eob-ja | Real estate agent |
μ μμ | jeob-su-won | Receptionist |
μ¬ν | shim-pan | Referee |
κΈ°μ | gi-ja | Reporter |
ν맀μ | pan-mae-won | Salesman |
μμ μ¬μ | yeong-eob sa-won | Salesperson |
κ³Όνμ | gwa-hak-ja | Scientist |
μμ μμ | an-jeon-yo-won | Security guard |
λΉμ | bi-seo | Secretary |
κ°μ | ga-su | Singer |
μ¬ν볡μ§μ¬ | sa-hoe-bok-ji-sa | Social worker |
νμ | hak-saeng | Student |
νμκΈ°μ¬ | taek-si-gi-sa | Taxi driver |
μ μλ | seon-saeng-nim | Teacher |
λ²μκ° | beon-yeok-ga | Translator |
μ¬νμ¬ | yeo-haeng-sa | Travel agent |
λ°±μ | baek-su | Unemployed |
λ리 μ΄μ μ¬ | dae-ri-un-jeon-sa | Valet driver |
κ΅κ°μ μλ | gyo-gam-seon-saeng-nim | Vice-principal |
μ§μμ | ji-won-ja | Volunteer |
μκ° | jak-ga | Writer/Author |
Letβs check some useful phrases using the vocabulary you just learned!
If someone asks you:
λ¬΄μ¨ μΌμ νμΈμ [mo-seun eel-eul ha-seo-yo]? = What do you do?
The sentence structure to answer that is:
μ λ + occupation + μ λλ€ [jeo-neun + occupation + im-ni-da]. = I am a/an + occupation.
So if you want to say that you are a student it would be like this:
μ λ νμμ λλ€ [jeo-neun hak-saeng im-ni-da]. = I am a student.
Some other useful sentence structures are:
λΉμ μ + occupation + μ
λλ€ [dang-shin-eun + occupation + im-ni-da]. = You are a/an + occupation.
κ·Έλ
λ + occupation + μ
λλ€ [geu-nyeo-neun + occupation + im-ni-da]. = She is a/an + occupation.
κ·Έλ + occupation + μ
λλ€ [geu-neun + occupation + im-ni-da]. = He is a/an + occupation.
Thatβs all for today's lesson! We went through a list of common professions and occupations that should prove useful on your journey of learning Korean.
Make sure to include as many of them as possible in your daily life to help with memorization. With the use of the sentence structures youβve learned it should come naturally after a few tries.
Other Korean vocabulary lists you could check out:
10 Romantic Korean Words and Phrases to Express Your Love in Korean
Korean Emotion Vocabulary: How to Express Your Feelings in Korean
REVIEW AND REPEAT DAILY, AND YOU WILL SEE PROGRESS!
νμ΄ν
!!