Learn How To Say “Thank You” In Korean

Learning how to say “Thank You” in Korean is incredibly important, especially if you want to sound polite and respectful. In this short lesson, you’ll learn the most common way to say “thank you” in Korean, and we’ll show you the informal, polite, and formal ways to say ‘thank you’ in Korean.

Thank You In Korean

Thank you in Korean is 고맙습니다 [go-map-ssum-ni-da]. 고맙습니다 is the verb 고맙다 (to be thankful) with the formal ending ~(스)ㅂ니다 attached. Even though this is a formal expression, it is actually the most common way to say “thank you” in Korean.

Of course, like many Korean expressions, there are different ways to say “thank you” with different politeness levels. Let’s take a look at the informal, polite, and formal ways to say “thank you” in Korean.

Informal Thank You In Korean:
고마워 [go-ma-wo]

The informal way to say “thank you” in Korean is 고마워 [go-ma-wo]. As this is an informal expression, you should only use this with close friends or people much younger than you. For example, if you want to say “thank you” in Korean to a child and you are an adult, it is perfectly fine to say 고마워 [go-ma-wo]. However, if you were talking to your boss at work, a stranger, or someone older than you, it would be rude to use 고마워 to say thank you.

Polite Thank You In Korean:
고마워요 [go-ma-wo-yo]

The polite way to say thank you in Korean is 고마워요 [go-ma-wo-yo]. As you can see, it is the same as the informal expression above with the polite ending 요 [yo] attached. As this is the polite way to say thank you in Korean, you can safely use it with people younger and older than you and you would sound polite. However, it is much more common to use one of the following two formal ways to say thank you in Korean.

Formal Thank You In Korean 1:
고맙습니다 [go-map-ssum-ni-da]

The formal way to say “thank you” in Korean is 고맙습니다 [go-map-ssum-ni-da]. Although this is a formal expression, it is actually the most common way to say “thank you” in Korean. So, if you are speaking to a stranger, someone older than you, your boss at work, etc, you can use 고맙습니다 [go-map-ssum-ni-da] to say “thank you” in Korean and you will sound polite and respectful.

Formal Thank You In Korean 2:
감사합니다 [gam-sa-ham-ni-da]

감사합니다 [gam-sa-ham-ni-da] is another formal way to say thank you in Korean. 감사합니다 [gam-sa-ham-ni-da] and 고맙습니다 [go-map-ssum-ni-da] are both commonly used and although these are formal expressions, they are used in everyday situations to say thank you politely.

Related Lessons

Thanks for reading. Now that you know how to say “thank you” learn how to say “You’re Welcome” in Korean.