Korean family words aren’t just vocabulary—they encode relative age and gender, and kinship terms for your family differ from what you call someone else’s relatives in polite speech.
Messing up 오빠/형 or 언니/누나 is a classic learner moment; the fix is a small decision tree, not memorizing every edge case on day one.
Start from our Korean basics hub, drill the Korean polite phrases quiz and Korean everyday phrases quiz, and review thank you / sorry / register.
“Older brother / sister” depends on your gender
If you are female:
- Older brother: 오빠 (oppa)
- Older sister: 언니 (eonni)
If you are male:
- Older brother: 형 (hyeong) — also 형님 (hyeongnim) in more respectful contexts.
- Older sister: 누나 (nuna)
Younger sibling: 동생 (dongsaeng) — often specified: 남동생 (brother) / 여동생 (sister).
Why it trips people up: English has one “older brother”; Korean splits by your gender.
Pick the column that matches you, then choose the word for older brother vs older sister.
Parents & grandparents (basics)
- Parents: 부모님 (bumonim) — polite “parents” (often for others’ parents too in formal talk).
Your own: 아버지 / 어머니 (with appropriate honorific leveling in real families—speech level varies).
- Grandparents: 할아버지 (harabeoji), 할머니 (halmeoni).
With strangers’ family, 존댓말 (jondaemal, honorific speech) patterns matter; beginners often stay safe by using polite sentence endings and titles until invited down.
님 (nim) — respect slot
선생님 (seonsaengnim — teacher), 사장님 (sajangnim — owner/boss, context-dependent), OO님 after a name for polite distance.
Trap: Slapping 님 on everything—sometimes 씨 (ssi) after a full name is the neutral polite choice; 님 can be too heavy for peers in casual workplaces.
When unsure among adults, full name + 씨 + -요 endings is a common safe lane.
What not to do early on
- Call a stranger 오빠 because you heard it in songs—오빠 to unrelated men is relationship- and age-loaded.
- Use 반말 (banmal) kinship terms with people who aren’t close—default to 요 forms until the relationship is clear.
Short script: introducing family (polite)
- 저의 어머니는 한국에 계세요. (Jeoui eomeonineun Hanguge gyeseyo.) — “My mother is in Korea.” (pattern illustration; adjust facts.)
- 형제 있어요? (Hyeongje isseoyo?) — “Do you have siblings?” (casual-polite mix varies—listen for native phrasing.)
Link with food & café Korean
You’ve already practiced service talk in ordering food and café Korean—same -요 muscle applies here.
StudyArcade
Make a six-card deck: my older brother (female speaker), my older brother (male speaker), younger sibling, parents (polite), grandparents, one 님 title.
Rotate until automatic.
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https://apps.apple.com/app/studyarcade-study-games/id6759309341