What does “eonni” mean in Korean?
언니의 어려 보이는 스타일 변신 작전
B1 Korean listening practice · Standard Korean · Picked for people who know some
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.
How common are the words?
How common are the words in this B1 Korean listening practice video?
How common in written Korean
Harder words in this video
These words are harder than B1. Here is what they mean.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸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.