LEARN + KOREAN / Note 45 TOPIK I

It's Called (-라고 해요)

이라고 해요 (after a consonant) or 라고 해요 (after a vowel) frames something as “called” or “named” X, a step removed from the plain copula 이에요/예요. It’s less “this is X” and more “this is what X is called.”

저는 안나라고 해요.

jeoneun annarago haeyo.

I am called Anna.

이건 한국어로 뭐라고 해요?

igeon hangugeoro mworago haeyo?

What is this called in Korean?

In Real Life

이거 한국어로 뭐라고 해요? is arguably the single most useful sentence in this whole curriculum. It’s how you ask for a word you don’t have yet, mid-conversation, pointing at something real and getting the vocabulary on the spot instead of looking it up later.

그건 한복이라고 해요.

geugeon hanbogirago haeyo.

That is called hanbok.

니하오를 한국어로 뭐라고 해요?

nihaoreul hangugeoro mworago haeyo?

How do you say “ni hao” in Korean?

안녕하세요라고 해요.

annyeonghaseyorago haeyo.

It's called “annyeonghaseyo.”

한국말로 당근이라고 해요.

hangungmallo danggeunirago haeyo.

In Korean, it's called carrot.

In Real Life

한국어 and 한국말 both mean “Korean language,” but they’re not perfectly interchangeable. 한국어 feels a touch more formal or written; 한국말 (말 meaning “speech”) leans more conversational, closer to “Korean talk” than “the Korean language” as an academic subject.

Vocabulary

Korean	English
한복 hanbok	hanbok (traditional Korean dress)
당근 danggeun	carrot
한국말 hangungmal	Korean language (conversational)
이름 ireum	name
단어 daneo	word
뜻 tteut	meaning
발음 bareum	pronunciation
영어로 yeongeoro	in English
중국어 junggugeo	Chinese language
일본어 ilboneo	Japanese language
사투리 saturi	regional dialect
줄임말 jurimmal	abbreviation, shortened word
별명 byeolmyeong	nickname
신조어 sinjoeo	newly coined word, slang
표현 pyohyeon	expression
발음하다 bareumhada	to pronounce
문장 munjang	sentence
어휘 eohwi	vocabulary
외래어 oeraeeo	loanword
줄이다 jurida	to shorten, abbreviate