Kirby Cho (ユーイチ)'s answer to How do you say 'thank you' in Korean?

How do you say “thank you” in Korean?

Kirby Cho

Knows Korean · Author has 2.2K answers and 15.4M answer views · 3y ·

Sino-Korean version

The slang terms (commonly used for virtual comments such as text messages) are either

It’s similar to the abbreviation of “ty/ TY” (Thank You)

or “thx” (can also refer to “가슴” /ga sŭm/: “chest [anatomy]”)

Casual/ Colloquial (Informal non-polite) → Formal non-polite → Informal polite → Deferential (Formal polite)

Honorific (beyond the deferential level) - Use this for elders, customers, in-laws (if you’re engaged by Korean), and/ or any high-status title.

Literal meaning:

“감사” (感謝) /gam sa/: “appreciation” + “드리다” /dŭ ri da/: humble form of “주다” /ju da/: it’s an auxiliary verb but it means “to offer”, “to give”, “to present” and “to do for someone else”.

So, the literal term is “(I) humbly offer (my/ the) appreciation”

Sino-Korean word is labeled as “elegant”, “intelligent”, and “formal”.

Native Korean version

Another slang terms

Same meaning as “ㄳ” and “ㄱㅅ” (can also refer to “그만” /gŭ man/: “no more”, “enough (of this)” or “this much only”)

North Korean (formerly South Korean before 1988)

Casual/ Colloquial (Informal non-polite) → Formal non-polite → Informal polite → Deferential (Formal polite)

South Korean (after 1988 to present day)

Casual/ Colloquial (Informal non-polite) → Formal non-polite → Informal polite → Deferential (Formal polite)

There is no honorific conjugation of this word, hence, this term is Native Korean. But I can provide another dialect: Jeju

Dictionary + Formal non-polite (Present tense) form

Romanized: /go map su da/

The rest of the conjugation is the same as South Korean conjugation

Foreign Loanword

There are some enthusiastic Korean who would say or type/ write Korean Hangŭl from different languages. Like the Japanese language, Korean is also influenced by international culture + language (particularly Western).

Romanized: /Ttaéng kyu/

From English thank you

Romanized: /Gŭ ra shi a sŭ/

From Spanish (Español) gracias

Romanized: /Mé rŭ shi/

From French (Français) merci

Romanized: /Ttang ké/

From German (Deutsch) danke

Romanized: /Gŭ ra chi é/

From Italian (Italiano) grazie

Romanized: /É pŭ kka ri sŭ tto/

From Greek (ελληνικά /Elliniká/) ευχαριστώ /efcharistó/

Romanized: /Shu kŭ ran/

From Arabic (/al-ʿarabiyyah/ اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ) /šukran/ شُكْرًا‎

Romanized: /Sshi é sshi é/

From Chinese (中文 /zhōng wén/) “謝謝”/ “谢谢” /xiè xie/

[Read as “사사” (謝謝) /sa sa/ in Sino-Korean but not an actual Korean word.]

Romanized: /A ri ga tto go ja i ma sŭ/

From Japanese (にほんご /ni hon go/)「ありがとうございます」/a ri ga tō go za i ma su/

Romanized: /Kkam√ŏn/

From Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt) cám ơn

[In Vietnamese Hán tự/ chữ Hán, it is “感恩” which is read as “감은” /gam ŭn/ in Sino-Korean {“감” (感) as in “감사” (感謝) /gam sa/ and “은” (恩) as in “김정은” (金正恩) /gim jŏng ŭn/: “Kim Jong-Un”}.]