한자Korean Hanja — 1,087 Characters and the 6,344 Words They Build

Every character used by the vocabulary on this site, commonest first, each with its Korean reading and the number of words it appears in. Open one to see all of them, with the character marked inside each spelling.

한자Characters: 1,924
낱말Sino-Korean words: 6,344
비중Of all vocabulary: 42%
음Distinct readings: 345

1,924 characters 1,087 with a page Most words first

Showing 1–240 of 1,924 characters

的 적 188 人 인 116 者 자 106 學 학 94 生 생 91 性 성 89 國 국 82 大 대 77 體 체 65 物 물 64 主 주 63 地 지 63 出 출 63 事 사 60 實 실 60 中 중 59 行 행 59 長 장 57 理 리 56 發 발 55 化 화 53 家 가 52 力 력 52 動 동 51 一 일 50 自 자 50 心 심 49 業 업 49 外 외 47 場 장 46 分 분 45 所 소 45 子 자 44 日 일 44 機 기 43 用 용 42 會 회 42 氣 기 42 定 정 42 水 수 41 部 부 41 入 입 40 成 성 40 內 내 39 期 기 39 感 감 39 文 문 38 間 간 38 民 민 38 敎 교 38 公 공 38 作 작 37 對 대 37 代 대 37 無 무 37 點 점 36 法 법 36 色 색 36 當 당 36 時 시 35 正 정 35 産 산 34 全 전 33 意 의 33 道 도 33 本 본 33 義 의 33 員 원 32 關 관 32 品 품 32 合 합 32 後 후 31 新 신 31 職 직 31 上 상 31 現 현 31 經 경 31 食 식 30 門 문 30 書 서 30 進 진 30 通 통 29 下 하 29 保 보 29 年 년 28 手 수 28 數 수 28 面 면 28 名 명 27 活 활 27 質 질 27 論 론 27 高 고 27 權 권 27 前 전 26 運 운 26 要 요 26 社 사 26 室 실 26 安 안 26 觀 관 26 相 상 26 山 산 25 表 표 25 解 해 25 反 반 25 便 편 24 演 연 24 有 유 24 世 세 24 平 평 24 軍 군 24 信 신 24 線 선 24 立 립 24 開 개 24 特 특 23 務 무 23 度 도 23 然 연 23 記 기 23 式 식 23 神 신 23 工 공 22 明 명 22 別 별 22 月 월 22 空 공 22 同 동 22 强 강 22 豫 예 22 原 원 22 示 시 22 先 선 21 電 전 21 議 의 21 位 위 21 證 증 21 重 중 21 最 최 21 常 상 21 器 기 21 形 형 21 害 해 21 情 정 21 設 설 21 官 관 21 說 설 20 母 모 20 方 방 20 術 술 20 告 고 20 能 능 20 選 선 20 決 결 20 不 불 20 士 사 20 想 상 20 戰 전 20 集 집 20 制 제 20 校 교 19 市 시 19 約 약 19 放 방 19 結 결 19 科 과 19 共 공 19 話 화 18 計 계 18 節 절 18 過 과 18 初 초 18 身 신 18 傳 전 18 路 로 18 指 지 18 政 정 18 團 단 18 支 지 18 收 수 18 任 임 18 畵 화 17 眞 진 17 車 차 17 十 십 17 東 동 17 接 접 17 次 차 17 目 목 17 種 종 17 王 왕 17 總 총 17 創 창 17 個 개 16 房 방 16 限 한 16 備 비 16 語 어 16 來 래 16 金 금 16 南 남 16 在 재 16 多 다 16 婚 혼 16 確 확 16 洋 양 16 女 녀 16 治 치 16 光 광 16 請 청 16 斷 단 16 統 통 16 造 조 16 報 보 16 資 자 16 加 가 16 農 농 16 命 명 16 念 념 16 音 음 15 半 반 15 格 격 15 處 처 15 交 교 15 球 구 15 野 야 15 口 구 15 美 미 15 史 사 15 技 기 15 消 소 15 北 북 15 配 배 15 展 전 15 管 관 15 提 제 15 參 참 15 營 영 15 象 상 15

A greyed character builds fewer than 3 words in this vocabulary, so it has no page of its own — three words is where a character stops being a word and starts being a pattern.

Showing 1–240 of 1,924 characters

왜 한자인가What an hour of this buys

Not literacy in Chinese. A way of reading Korean words you have never seen before.

42% of the words here are 한자어 — Sino-Korean, built out of these characters the way audible, audience and auditorium are built out of one Latin root. The difference is that English leaves the root visible and Korean does not: 학교, 학생, 대학 and 문학 look unrelated written in Hangul, and are not.

Learn one character — 學, read 학 — and 94 of them open at once: 학교 學校 school, 학생 學生 student, 대학 大學 college, university, 문학 文學 literature. The pattern does not run out; it is how the vocabulary is built.

The second reason is the one nobody warns you about. These 1,087 characters share only 345 readings, so Korean is full of words that sound identical and mean nothing like each other — 사고 is an accident (事故) or a train of thought (思考), 전기 is electricity (電氣) or a biography (傳記). The character is the disambiguator, and once you can see it the homophones stop being a problem and become a hint.

You never have to write one. Recognition is the whole skill, and it is far cheaper than it looks: characters recur, and every page here shows a character next to every word it builds, marked inside the spelling.

자주 묻는 질문Common questions

Do I need to learn hanja to read Korean?

No. Korean is written in Hangul and you can reach a high level without recognising a single character. What hanja buys you is speed: 42% of the words on this site are 한자어, built from these characters the way English builds from Latin roots, so a few hundred characters turn thousands of unfamiliar words from things to memorise into things you can work out. That trade starts paying at 3급 and is decisive at 5급.

How many hanja are there in Korean?

The Ministry of Education's 한문 교육용 기초 한자 is 1,800 characters — 900 taught in middle school, 900 in high school. The vocabulary here uses 1,924 distinct characters, and 1,087 of them build three or more words. You do not need anything like all of them: the commonest 100 account for 3,331 of the 6,344 Sino-Korean words on the site.

Are Korean hanja the same as Chinese characters?

They are the same characters, in the traditional forms — Korea never adopted the simplified shapes mainland China uses, so 學 stays 學 and not 学. The meanings mostly carry over. The readings are Korean and, unlike Japanese, almost always one per character: 學 is 학 everywhere it appears. A handful have two, like 金 — 금 in 금요일, 김 in 김포 and in the surname.

Why does Korean have so many homophones?

Because 1,087 characters share only 345 readings between them. 사 alone is more than twenty different characters — 事 affair, 社 company, 史 history, 四 four — so 사고 is either 事故, an accident, or 思考, a way of thinking. Hangul spells both the same. The hanja is what tells them apart, which is why a Korean dictionary still prints it.

Where do the readings on this site come from?

They are derived, not looked up. When a word's Hangul and its hanja spelling are the same length the two line up character for character — 문화/文化 gives 文=문 and 化=화 — and the commonest alignment across every word containing a character is its reading. What that cannot give is the 훈, the native gloss a Korean dictionary prints beside it (배울 학), so this site does not show one rather than inventing it.

Hanja spellings, word meanings and examples from the 국립국어원 한국어기초사전, used under CC BY-SA 2.0 KR.