False Friends in Korean

Vocabulário

• 사고 (事故)accident (Sino-Korean)
• 사고 (思考)thinking (Sino-Korean)
• 의사 (醫師)doctor / physician
• 의사 (意思)intention / will
• 기사 (記事)article / news story
• 기사 (騎士)knight / driver
• 말 (言)speech / word (native Korean)
• 말 (馬)horse (native Korean)
• 눈 (雪)snow (native Korean)
• 눈 (眼)eye (native Korean)
• 배 (腹)stomach (native Korean)
• 배 (船/梨)ship / pear (native Korean)

Expressões

• 교통 사고가 났어요 (事故) vs 사고력을 키워야 해요 (思考)Traffic accident vs develop thinking skills
• 의사 선생님을 만났어요 (醫師) vs 참여 의사가 있어요 (意思)Met the doctor vs intend to participate
• 기사 (記事 article) vs 기사 (운전기사 driver)Read an article vs Driver, stop here
• 말을 타요 (馬) vs 말을 조심해야 해요 (言)I ride a horse vs watch your words
• 눈이 너무 많이 왔어요 (雪) vs 눈이 빨개요 (眼)There was too much snow vs My eyes are red
• 배가 고파요 (腹) vs 배를 타고 여행했어요 (船)I'm hungry vs I traveled by ship

Erros frequentes

• ✗의사가 없어요 (meaning 'no doctor', but context is about intentions)
  ✓의사 (意思)의 의미를 혼동했습니다 — 문맥에서 의사=의도/의향이에요

  Without context, 의사 없어요 is ambiguous; in the context of intent/willingness, 의사 (意思) is the correct reading

• ✗사고가 많아요 (intending to say 'has many thoughts', context is thinking)
  ✓사고력이 뛰어나요 또는 생각이 많아요를 써야 합니다

  사고 (思考) alone without 力 is rarely used for 'thinking capacity'; 사고가 많다 typically means 'many accidents' — use 생각 or 사고력 to be clear

• ✗배 먹었어요? (asking if someone ate a pear, but sounds like asking about their stomach)
  ✓배(梨) 먹었어요? 또는 배가 불러요? (腹) 처럼 문맥을 명확히 해주세요

  Without context, 배 먹었어요 is ambiguous between pear and stomach — add a modifier or clarify with context

• ✗눈이 예뻐요 (intending 'snow is pretty', but context suggests eyes)
  ✓눈(雪)이 예쁘게 내려요 vs 눈(眼)이 예뻐요 — 수식어나 동사로 구분하세요

  눈이 예뻐요 most naturally reads as 'your eyes are pretty'; to mean snow, use a snow-specific verb like 내리다

• ✗말이 없어요 (intending 'there are no horses', but context is speech)
  ✓말(馬)이 없어요 vs 말(言)이 없어요 — 문맥을 통해서만 구분됩니다

  Both readings are valid — context (stable vs conversation) must make it clear; ambiguous sentences should be avoided or clarified

Quiz rápido