How to Say “I’m upset” in Korean: 속상해요 (soksanghaeyo)

속상해요

soksanghaeyo

Situation: Feelings & cheeringLevel: Intermediate (TOPIK 3–4)

Meaning

I’m upset.

The feeling when things didn’t go your way and your heart feels heavy. 속 means “inside.”

Romanization follows the Revised Romanization system and is a guide to pronunciation.

Syllables: 4 · Words: 1

Said aloud, it sounds like [속쌍해요].

Syllable	Letters (consonant + vowel + final)	Romanization
속	ㅅ+ㅗ+ㄱ	sok
상	ㅅ+ㅏ+ㅇ	[쌍] sang
해	ㅎ+ㅐ	hae
요	ㅇ+ㅛ	yo

A ㅇ at the start of a syllable is silent; at the end of a syllable it sounds like “ng”.

Tensing: after a final ㄱ, ㄷ or ㅂ sound, ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅅ and ㅈ become tense (ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ). 속상 → [속쌍]

Style: Polite (해요체)Sentence type: Statement or set phrase

Ends in -요. The everyday polite style, and a safe choice with shop staff, colleagues, strangers and anyone older than you.

These words from the TOPIK vocabulary lists appear in the phrase (shown in dictionary form).

Korean	Part of speech	Meaning	Level
속상하다	adjective	upset	TOPIK level 4

Test yourself before you move on. Tap an answer.

Question 1 What does “속상해요” mean?

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Answer: I’m upset

Question 2 How do you say “I’m upset” in Korean?

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Answer: 속상해요 soksanghaeyo

Question 3 How is “속상해요” pronounced?

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Answer: [속쌍해요]

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