“Delicious” in Korean is something that you’ll be saying quite often in Korea. After all, one of the best things about being in Korea is the food. Whether you are at a barbecue restaurant or trying out some snacks from a stall on the street, you are sure to want to know how to say “it’s delicious” in Korean.
Ready? Here’s a quick rundown of how to say “delicious” in Korean so you can do just that!
We’ve included a FREE PDF version of this lesson you can take with you on the go. Check it out below:
The PDF above is an example of what’s in our free online Korean language guide. Let’s get to learning!
Contents
Different ways to say “delicious” in Korean
The word “delicious” is made up of the word 맛 (mat), meaning “taste,” and the verb 있다 (itda), which means “to exist.” These are combined to make the word 맛있다 (masitda), which literally means “taste exists” but actually means “delicious.”
Many other expressions in Korean use 있다 (itda) as well. For example, 재미있다 (jaemiitda) means “fun” and literally means “fun exists.” The good news is if you learn how to use one 있다 (itda) expression, you can use them all!
The opposite of 있다 (itda) is 없다 (eopda), which means “to not exist.” If you want to say, “This food is disgusting,” then you can say 맛없다 (mat eopda).
If you are talking to yourself (which is always fun), then you can say 맛있다 (masitda) when you want to say “delicious.” However, if talking to somebody else, don’t forget your manners! You should always remember to use the correct level of politeness. Let’s talk formality levels!
Here’s also a video that will teach you how to say “delicious” in Korean.
Formal “Delicious” in Korean
The formal word for “delicious” in Korean is 맛있습니다 (masitseumnida). You might hear this word in a presentation about food, in an interview, or in an announcement.
Example:
그것은 물론 맛있습니다 (geugeoseun mullon masitseumnida)
It’s delicious, of course.
Standard “Delicious” in Korean
The standard version for “delicious” in Korean is 맛있어요 (masisseoyo). You can use this expression when talking to people who are older or not particularly close to you.
Example:
다음 날에 먹으면 더 맛있어요 (daeum nare meogeumyeon deo masisseoyo)
They’re much more delicious if eaten the next day.
그것은 매우 달고 맛있어요 (geugeoseun maeu dalgo masisseoyo)
It’s very sweet and delicious.
Informal “Delicious” in Korean
Lastly, you can say “delicious” in Korean in an informal way as 맛있어 (masisseo). You can use this expression with people who are very close to you, such as with your girlfriend or date.
Example:
정말 맛있어! (jeongmal masisseo)
Really delicious!
Other ways to say “delicious” in Korean
If you want to say “delicious” to describe something, as in “a delicious apple,” then you should use the word 맛있는 (masinneun). This is the adjective form!
Example:
맛있는 바나나 (masinneun banana)
delicious banana
맛있는 점심 (masinneun jeomsim)
delicious lunch
저는 맛있는 피자를 주문 할거예요 (jeoneun masinneun pijareul jumun halgeoyeyo)
I will order a delicious pizza.
A Word of Caution About Romanization
We’ve added in the romanization for all of these words to help with pronunciation. However, we recommend that you try to move on to reading comfortably in Hangul (the Korean alphabet), as this will improve your pronunciation and your reading skills. It will also help you notice patterns in words, which will lead you to improve the rate at which you learn new Korean words and grammar points.
You can download a free guide to learn the Korean alphabet in about an hour here.
Learning vocabulary words is a great way to help you learn the basics of a language, but your language learning will only really take off once you start attempting to have conversations in Korean. Take a look at our free list of Korean phrases or our full Korean course for all the help you will need when studying Korean.
Wrap Up
Well, that does it for this lesson! Now that you know how to say “it’s delicious” in Korean, be sure to tell your local restaurant how great their food is!
Leave a comment below with the most delicious Korean food you know (and try and do it in Korean if you can).
Hi from Tasmania Australia.
I’ve been watching kdramas for about one year and have been teaching myself to speak Korean by listening. I can pick up the formal and informal versions but am sometimes surprised to see how the written word looks compared to the sounds. It’s lots of fun to learn and I love the Koran language, culture and food… A very beautiful place.
Great work, Shannon! You will be more used to how Korean actually sounds as you listen to and read more Korean literature or textbook! Keep going! ^^
Hello ! Nice to see you again. I want to ask why I sometimes hear BTS members say something like pashta and the captions say delicious . Is it like a slang or something?
Hi, Suha! It’s ‘맛있다’, meaning ‘delicious’. ^^
Why is written as s in Hangul but pronounced as t.
Good question! Among all the consonants, only 7 consonants ‘ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅇ’ are used to pronounce the batchim words! So ‘ㅅ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅌ, ㅎ’ are all pronounced as ‘ㄷ’ and written as ‘t’ in romanization when they’re at the bottom of the word! For example, 갓 is pronounced as [갇], 찾다 [찯따], 밭 [받]. ^^
I often hear people say something that sounds like “mashda” while eating when they want to say it is delicious. Is it just a shortened version of ‘맛있습니다’ or a cute form of it you solely express to your close friends and family members?
Thank you in advance and 화이팅!
Hi, Finn! ‘맛있다’ is the informal version! You can say ‘맛있다’ when you say it alone or say it to your friend. You should say ‘맛있습니다’ or ‘맛있어요’ when you say it to an older person. ^^
I often hear people saying this and sounding like “마있어”. Is it just the shortened version of 맛있어 or they just pronounce fast? Thanks!
Hi, Shane! “마있어” is a cute way to say “맛있어”. ^^