How to Say ‘Good Luck’ in Korean

Once you’ve made some Korean friends, another thing you may want to learn is how to say ‘Good Luck’ in Korean. Whether it’s for before an important job interview, or an upcoming first date, or just during any regular school or work day, your friends will be extremely delighted to hear you say it.

We wish you good luck in learning how to say ‘Good Luck’ in Korean today!

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‘Good Luck’ in Korean

 

There are a few ways in Korean in which you can wish someone good luck, most of which are rather informal in nature. The one you are likely to hear most often is 화이팅 (hwaiting), which is Konglish for “fighting” although it doesn’t have a direct translation in English, but essentially means you’re wishing the other person good luck. It is a very informal phrase to use, so you might want to keep it to just friends.

Another way to wish someone good luck, especially for an exam or a job interview, is to say 잘봐 (jalbwa). The direct translation of this is ‘see well’, and it’s best used together with the word for exam – 시험 (siheom) – or job interview – 면접 (myeonjeob) – with the word for exam or job interview first, followed by “see well” 잘봐. You can view an example below in the sample sentence section. If the person you are wishing good luck to isn’t your significant other or a close friend, remember to add 요 (yo) at the end of the verb, the phrase now becoming 잘봐요 (jalbwayo), to make it more polite.

 

A word of caution about Romanization

While it is possible for you to study the words in this article simply by reading their romanized versions, it will come in handy for you to be able to read Hangeul if you ever wish to come to Korea. Hangeul is the Korean alphabet, and not difficult to learn. In fact, you can learn it in just 90 minutes.

After you’ve familiarized yourself with Hangeul, life in Korea will suddenly seem so much easier and the country won’t appear so foreign for you. So, if you’re serious about learning Korean, why not learn Hangeul today?

 

Sample Sentences

Formal:

잘보세요!  (Jal boseyo!)

Good luck (with ‘seeing’ something)!

 

Standard:

면접을 잘봐요! (Myeonjeobeul jalbwayo!)

Good luck with your job interview!/See the job interview well!

 

Informal:

오늘 시험 잘봐!  (Oneul siheom jalbwa!)

Good luck with today’s exam!/See today’s exam well!

 

항상 화이팅!  (Hangsang hwaiting!)

Good luck always!

 

Now that you’ve learned the ways for how to say ‘good luck’ in Korean, we encourage you to go out there and use them! Good luck! Er, we mean, 화이팅!

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

 

 

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto

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