How to Say ‘Boyfriend’ in Korean

One of the most common questions that people get asked in Korea is ‘Do you have a boyfriend?’ This makes learning how to say ‘boyfriend’ in Korean very useful. One of the ways that Koreans often meet their girlfriends or boyfriends is through their friends, so if you want to get a boyfriend, then learning how to say ‘I want a boyfriend.’ is also very useful. To start off with, we should learn the word for ‘boyfriend’ in Korean.

 

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‘Boyfriend’ in Korean

 

남자친구 (namjachingu)

This word is pretty easy to learn. It is made up of two words: 남자 (namja), which means ‘man’; and 친구 (chingu), which means ‘friend’.

This word is simple to use, but might feel a little bit long. If you want to shorten it, you can take the first syllables of each word to make a shorter, two syllable word. In this case, that word is 남친 (namchin). This method of shortening words is quite common in Korean. If you are aware of it then it could make your studying a little bit easier.

 

‘Boyfriend’ in Korean: Limits on Use

In English, the word ‘boyfriend’ is usually only used to refer to your partner. Likewise, in Korean, this word is usually only used to refer to your partner. If you want to refer to a male friend who you are not dating then you must use a different word.

One way of doing this is to use the word 남성 (namseong), meaning ‘male’, instead of 남자. This makes the phrase 남성 친구 (namseong chingu).

 

Be Careful When Using Romanization

When first learning Korean, Romanization can help you learn new words quickly. But after a while, it can start to slow down your Korean study. If you really want to learn Korean, then you should learn how to read Hangeul (the Korean alphabet) as soon as you can. It only takes a couple of hours to learn Hangeul, but the benefits to your Korean learning are massive. It can speed up your learning by helping your reading, writing, pronunciation, and memorization. You could learn how to read Hangeul today, what are you waiting for?

 

Sample sentences

Formal ‘Boyfriend’ in Korean

 

남자친구 있으세요? (namjachingu isseuseyo?)

Do you have a boyfriend?

 

Standard ‘Boyfriend’ in Korean

 

남자친구는 어떤 사람이에요? (namjachingneun eotteon saramieyo?)

What is your boyfriend like?

 

당신*의 남자 친구가 되고 싶어요. (dangshinue namjachinguga doego shipeoyo.

I want to be your boyfriend.

* 당신 (dangshin) means ‘you’, but instead of using 당신, you should replace it with the person’s name.

 

Informal ‘Boyfriend’ in Korean

남자친구 있어? (namjachingu isseo?)

Do you have a boyfriend?

 

남자친구는 어떤 사람이야? (namjachinguneun eotteon saramiya?)

What is your boyfriend like?

 

네 남자친구가 되고 싶어. (ne namjachinguga doego shipeo.)

I want to be your boyfriend.

 

Now that you know how to say ‘boyfriend’ in Korean, talking about your relationships (or hopes for a relationship) should be a lot easier. Who knows, maybe someone may even say to you ‘네 남친이 되고 싶어.’

Let us know your favorite phrase that uses the word ‘boyfriend’ in the comments below!

 

*Want more Korean phrases? Go to our Korean Phrases Page for a complete list!

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