#introduce yourself in korean

Hi guys~ I made a tea rating system for my posts so that you can know right away what level you’re going to be reading. I hope it’s useful. Today, I’m going to be talking about introducing yourself in Korean for both beginners and intermediate Korean learners. So, I’ll start by saying hi.

Thankfully, introducing yourself in Korean is pretty easy. Beginners can use a basic 안녕하세요? (Hello) and then your name +이에요/예요. 

And the difference between 이에요 and 예요 is easy. 

이에요 is used if your name ends in a consonant sound(ㄱㄴㄷㄹㅁㅂㅅㅇㅈㅊㅋㅌㅍㅎ) and 예요 is used after a vowel sound (ㅏㅓㅗㅜㅡㅣㅐㅔㅚㅟㅢㅑㅕㅛㅠㅒㅖㅘㅝㅙㅞ). 

Here are some examples and ways to introduce yourself. 

안녕하세요? 저는 김수빈이에요. Hello, I’m Subin Kim. 

    *수빈 ends with the consonant ㄴ, so 이에요 must be used.

안녕하세요? 저는 수호예요. Hello, I’m Suho. 

     *수호 ends with the vowel ㅗ, so 예요 must be used.

Or, you can use the words 제 이름 (my name) like in the picture above.

안녕하세요? 제 이름은 김수빈이에요. Hello, my name is Subin Kim. 

안녕하세요? 제 이름은 수호예요. Hello, my name is Suho. 

입니다 is used in formal speeches or maybe at a company, or sometimes between men. (Women don’t use it as often in informal situations). You might see it often on the news or when idols introduce themselves on TV shows. 

For example: 

안녕하세요? 저는 유키입니다. Hello, my name is Yuki. 

Or you can use the more advanced phrase (이)라고 하다 (I am called). 

안녕하세요? 저는 알리라고 해요. Hello, I’m called Allie. 

     *알리 ends in the vowel ㅣ, so 라고 하다 is used.

안녕하세요? 저는 동석이라고 해요. Hello, I’m called Dongseok. 

     *동석 ends in the consonant ㄱ, so 이라고 하다 is used. 

As with the first introductions, 라고 하다 is attached to names that end in a vowel, and 이라고 하다 is attached to names that end in a consonant.     

“I’m called NAME” might sound a little awkward in English, but it’s a really common way to introduce yourself. *The phrase “name(이)라고 부르다(불러요)” is taught in some books, but is not a common introduction. You might use it to say: My name is Thomas, but please call me Tom. 제 이름은 토마스지만 톰이라고 불러 주세요.* 

For school clubs or slightly more formal introductions, it’s common to use the formal version of (이)라고 하다, which is (이)라고 합니다. It’s used often if you’re introducing yourself in front of many people at one time like when joining a school club or being forced to introduce yourself to a class.

For example:

안녕하세요? 저는 제임스라고 합니다. Hello, I’m called James. 

And now you might be wondering about an informal way to introduce yourself. Well, I’ve got you covered. You can say 안녕 (informal hi) and then you can add 이야 to the end of your name if it ends with a consonant and 야 to the end of your name if it ends in a vowel. 

Or you can use the intimate speech level with (이)라고 하다, which is (이)라고 해.

For example:

안녕? 나는 수호야. Hi, I’m Suho. 

안녕? 나는 동석이야. Hi, I’m Dongseok. 

안녕? 내 이름은 알리야. Hi, I’m Allie. 

안녕? 나는 민서라고 해. Hi, I’m called Minseo. 

But, honestly, unless you were meeting a child, you probably wouldn’t introduce yourself this way. And even then, the child wouldn’t use your name, so you might not even say it. Even though it’s common to use informal speech (반말) to people younger than you, most people start talking in formal speech because it is polite, and you’re not close yet.

But people who meet in elementary to high school might greet this way, because they know their classmates are the same age as they are. So, you’ll see this informal introduction in high school dramas or webtoons.

And if you’ve read to this point, you’re probably thinking all this is great, but there are so many options. What one do I use? So, here’s my personal opinion. I think the best two options on this list are 저는 ㅇㅇ예요/ㅇㅇ이에요 for beginners and 저는 ㅇㅇ(이)라고 해요 for anyone. The first one is simple and absolutely acceptable, and the second one, while being extremely common, sounds a bit more advanced and natural. So, you can show off your skills a bit. And if you’re introducing yourself in front of a class or something, 저는 ㅇㅇ(이)라고 합니다 is a great choice. 

If you have any questions, leave a comment.

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