What kind of music do you like the most out of all the genres that exist in the world?
Perhaps ‘pop’ is your favorite genre?
In South Korea, one of the most popular genres is K-pop. Whether or not you love K-pop, we’ll give you this fun and easy lesson on how to say ‘pop’ in Korean!
Contents
‘Pop’ in Korean
The word for ‘pop’ in Korean is 팝 (pap).
팝 (pap)
pop
That’s right, it’s entirely a Konglish word. It’s written and pronounced the same as the English word it is loaned from.
Generally speaking the word 팝 (pap) is all you need to know, as that is what many Koreans, especially the younger generations, use to refer to the music genre.
If you want to make it clearer, you can add the word 뮤직 (myujik), which means ‘music’, after the word 팝 (pap). So essentially, you construct it as 팝 뮤직 (pap myujik). Pretty easy right? But be sure to say it using Korean pronunciation though, so you’re better understood.
To refer to the Korean genre of pop, K-pop, you should say 한국팝 (hangukpap). 한국 (hanguk) being the Korean word for how to say ‘Korea’.
Below is some vocabulary that is related to 팝 (pap). If you like these, then you may want to see the list of the most common Korean words you should learn first. Go here to check them out.
락 – rak | rock *konglish
힙합 – hipap | hip hop
랩 – raep | rap
클래식 – keullaesik | classic
고전 음악 – gojeon eumak | classical music
대중 음악 – daejung eumak | popular music
대중 가요 – daejung gayo | popular song
대중 문화 – daejung munhwa | pop culture
팝컬처 – pap keolchyeo | pop culture
A word of caution about Romanization
While it is possible for you to study the words in this article simply by reading their romanized versions, it will come in handy for you to be able to read Hangeul if you ever wish to come to South Korea. Hangeul is the Korean alphabet, and not difficult to learn. In fact, you can learn it in just 90 minutes.
Once you’ve learned Hangeul, living in Korea will feel much more familiar, almost like living in your home country. Take a bit of time to learn Hangeul today–you’ll be glad you did!
Sample Sentences
Standard:
1. 케이팝 들어본적 있나요? → Have you ever heard any K-pop?
keipap deureobonjeok innayo?
2. 혹시 저랑 같이 이 팝 콘서트를 다닐래요? → Would you perhaps like to attend this pop concert together with me?
hoksi jeorang gachi i pap konseoteureul danillaeyo?
Informal:
1. 세계적 인기 많은 팝 가수들 중에서 누구를 제일 좋아해? → Which artist of worldwide fame do you like the most?
egyejeok ingi maneun pap gasudeul jungeseo nugureul jeil joahae?
2. 내 생각에는 비틀즈가 세계의 중에서 최고의 팝그룹이었어. → In my opinion, The Beatles was the best pop group in the world.
nae saenggageneun biteuljeuga segyeui jungeseo choegoui papgeurubieosseo.
