How to Say “Good” in Korean: 좋아요 (joayo)

joayo

Situation: Greetings & basicsLevel: Starter (just learning Hangul)

Meaning

Good. / Sounds good.

Use it to say “sounds good” or to agree to a plan. The ㅎ is silent, so it is pronounced 조아요.

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

Syllables: 3 · Words: 1

Said aloud, it sounds like [조아요].

Syllable	Letters (consonant + vowel + final)	Romanization
좋	ㅈ+ㅗ+ㅎ	[조] jo
아	ㅇ+ㅏ	a
요	ㅇ+ㅛ	yo

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

Silent ㅎ: a final ㅎ (including the ㅎ inside ㄶ and ㅀ) is not pronounced before a vowel. 좋아 → [조아]

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
좋다	adjective	good, nice	TOPIK level 1

Test yourself before you move on. Tap an answer.

Question 1 What does “좋아요” mean?

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Answer: Good. / Sounds good

Question 2 How do you say “Good. / Sounds good” in Korean?

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Answer: 좋아요 joayo

Question 3 How is “좋아요” pronounced?

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Answer: [조아요]

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