언니의 어려 보이는 스타일 변신 작전
B1 Korean listening practice · Korean · Curated for intermediate learners
What does “eonni” mean in Korean?
A younger sister ropes her older sister into a style makeover: «너 언니 좀 도와줄 수 있어?» (“can you help your eonni?”). 언니 (eonni) means “older sister”, but only when a female is speaking, and it stretches far beyond family.
A girl calls any slightly older woman, a friend, a shop clerk, a favourite K-pop idol, 언니. Korean even picks the word by the speaker’s gender: a boy says 누나 (nuna) for an older sister and 형 (hyeong) for an older brother, while a girl says 언니 and 오빠 (oppa). Age and relationship are baked right into who you may call what.
Vocabulary frequency
How common is the vocabulary in this B1 Korean listening practice listening practice?
General Korean frequency
Words above this video’s level
Quick glosses for vocabulary that goes beyond this video’s B1 level.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general). Buckets approximate; exact ranks not stored.
- ▸Among K-pop fans calling a favourite female idol 언니.
- ▸In Korean shops and cafés, a friendly word for an older woman.
- ▸Alongside 오빠, 누나, and 형 in the Korean address system.
- ▸In K-dramas mapping who calls whom by rank.