Korean for Travelers: Airport and Taxi Phrases You Can Read
You've landed in Korea. You have to get through passport control, find your luggage, get some money, and get a taxi. Twenty short sentences cover almost all of it, and if you can read Hangul, you can read them. This guide gives you those sentences, shows the five patterns hiding inside them, and explains the few pronunciation surprises.
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Five patterns that do most of the work
You don't need to memorize twenty sentences. Almost all of them are built from five patterns. Learn these and you can swap in your own words.
1. ~주세요 (juseyo): "please give / please do". With a noun, it means "please give me": 영수증 주세요 (receipt, please). With a verb ending in -아/어, it means "please do this for me": 열어주세요 (please open it), 가주세요 (please go), 세워주세요 (please stop). It is the most useful ending you can learn.
2. 어디서 ~요? / 어디예요? (eodiseo / eodiyeyo): "where". 택시는 어디서 타요? asks where to catch a taxi. 지하철역이 어디예요? asks where a place is. Put your own noun in front and you can ask about nearly anything.
3. ~하고 싶어요 (hago sipeoyo): "I'd like to ...". 환전하고 싶어요 means "I'd like to exchange money." Replace the first word with another action to say what you want to do.
4. 있어요 / 없어요 (isseoyo / eopseoyo): "there is / there isn't". 와이파이 있어요? asks "is there WiFi?" and 신고할 물건 없어요 says "I have nothing to declare." The same word family also means "to stay": 일주일 있을 거예요, "I'll be here for a week."
5. ~돼요? (dwaeyo?): "is it okay?" 창문 열어도 돼요? asks if you may open the window, and 카드 돼요? asks if card is accepted.
At the airport
These ten sentences follow the order you will actually meet them: immigration, baggage, money and connection, then leaving the airport.
| Korean | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 여권 보여주세요 | yeogwon boyeojuseyo | Please show me your passport |
| 관광하러 왔어요 | gwangwanghareo wasseoyo | I came to travel |
| 일주일 있을 거예요 | iljuil isseul geoyeyo | I'll be here for a week |
| 짐이 안 나왔어요 | jimi an nawasseoyo | My luggage didn't come out |
| 신고할 물건 없어요 | singohal mulgeon eopseoyo | I have nothing to declare |
| 환전하고 싶어요 | hwanjeonhago sipeoyo | I'd like to exchange money |
| 와이파이 있어요? | waipai isseoyo? | Is there WiFi? |
| 심카드 어디서 사요? | simkadeu eodiseo sayo? | Where do I buy a SIM card? |
| 택시는 어디서 타요? | taeksineun eodiseo tayo? | Where do I catch a taxi? |
| 지하철역이 어디예요? | jihacheollyeogi eodiyeyo? | Where's the subway station? |
In the taxi
A tip that works everywhere: show the address on your phone while you say 이 주소로 가주세요. Korean addresses are hard to pronounce, and pointing removes the problem.
| Korean | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 트렁크 좀 열어주세요 | teureongkeu jom yeoreojuseyo | Please open the trunk |
| 이 주소로 가주세요 | i jusoro gajuseyo | Please go to this address |
| 얼마나 걸려요? | eolmana geollyeoyo? | How long will it take? |
| 창문 열어도 돼요? | changmun yeoreodo dwaeyo? | Can I open the window? |
| 천천히 가주세요 | cheoncheonhi gajuseyo | Please go slowly |
| 기사님, 여기 맞아요? | gisanim, yeogi majayo? | Excuse me, is this the right place? |
| 여기서 세워주세요 | yeogiseo sewojuseyo | Please stop here |
| 카드 돼요? | kadeu dwaeyo? | Do you take card? |
| 영수증 주세요 | yeongsujeung juseyo | Receipt, please |
| 지금 몇 시예요? | jigeum myeot siyeyo? | What time is it now? |
Notice 기사님 in the table. 기사 means "driver", and the ending -님 adds respect, so 기사님 is the polite way to address a taxi driver.
Pronunciation surprises
- 짐이 is "jimi", not "jim-i". When a final consonant is followed by a vowel block, it slides over to the next block. This is the "hidden sound comes back" rule from Batchim: Korean Final Consonants Explained.
- 지하철역이 is "jihacheollyeogi". The final ㄱ of 역 slides over to the next block, and an "l" sound is added in front of it. You don't need to understand the rule yet. Just copy the sound.
- 있어요 is "isseoyo". The ㅆ at the bottom of 있 is read as a "t" sound alone, but before a vowel it becomes a full "ss". The same hidden-sound idea.
- 되다 becomes 돼요 "dwaeyo". The spelling 돼요 looks odd, but it is just the polite form of 되다, "to be okay". Learn the whole word as it appears.
Practice
Say these five aloud, then check the tables above.
여권 보여주세요 와이파이 있어요? 환전하고 싶어요 천천히 가주세요 영수증 주세요
Next: staying longer? Korean for a One-Month Stay covers renting a room, neighbors, the post office, and more.