Today’s lesson will focus on how to say “bathroom” in Korean.
It is definitely something you will want to learn as soon as you arrive in Korea! Even if you may not need to shower or bathe outside of your home or accommodation, you can be almost guaranteed to need the toilet at any given time, most especially when you’re out exploring South Korea.
In those instances, it is important to know how to say “bathroom” in Korean or “toilet” in Korean so that you can find out where you can do your business. Let’s get to it!
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Different ways to say “bathroom” in Korean
There are mainly three ways to say “bathroom” in Korean, depending on the meaning you wish to convey.
“Toilet” in Korean
If you are talking about the room where the toilet is, the word to use is 화장실 (hwajangshil). This word does indeed double as the word for “toilet” in Korean.
Sample sentence:
난 잠깐 화장실갔다올게. (nan jamkkan hwajangshilkattaolke.)
I’ll be in the bathroom for just a moment.
“Bathroom” in Korean
However, if you are speaking of the bathroom as the room where you would take a shower or a bath, you might want to use the words 욕실 (yokshil), 목욕실 (mokyokshil) and 목욕탕 (mokyokthang) instead. Typically all of these words refer specifically to the type of room that has a bathtub in it. Interestingly enough, many Korean apartments actually do not have bathtubs in them, while others do.
Another point of interest to note is that nearly all bathrooms in Korean apartments and houses, if not all, combine the toilet and shower or even bathtub into one room. Thus, oftentimes Koreans actually use just the word 화장실 (hwajangshil) when they need to use the toilet and then say they’ll go take a shower or go wash up instead of using the descriptive word of the room. Confusing, we know!
Now that you know the above vocabulary, you can add it to this list of essential Korean words to learn first.
Sample sentences:
샤워갔다올게요 (shawokattaolkeyo)
I’ll go take a shower and come back.
씻고 올게요 (sshitgo olkeyo)
I’ll go wash up and come back.
목욕탕에 가서 손을 씻으면 돼요. (mokyokthange gaseo soneul sshiseumyeon dwaeyo.)
You may wash your hands in the bathroom.
그녀는 또 욕실을 독차지했나봐. (geunyeoneun ddo yokshireul dokchajihaetnabwa.)
Looks like she hogged the bathroom again.
How to say “Where is the bathroom” in Korean
When you’re in Korea, it’s important to learn how to ask this question, especially if you’re in public.
저기요! 화장실은 어디세요? (jeogiyo! Hwajangshireun eodiseyo?)
Excuse me! Where is the bathroom?
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 Korea. Hangeul is the Korean alphabet, and not difficult to learn. In fact, you can learn it in just 90 minutes.
After you’ve familiarized yourself with Hangeul, life in Korea will suddenly seem so much easier, and the country won’t appear so foreign to you. So, if you’re serious about learning Korean, why not learn Hangeul today?
Wrap Up
Now that you know how to say “bathroom” in Korean, you won’t have to worry about doing the bathroom dance trying to find it! What other vocabulary and phrases would you like to learn? Let us know in the comments below.
