Bye in Korean

안녕 everyone. I’m your teacher Jun. bye! Lol. no. no bye. I’m kidding. Today we’ll learn how to say bye in Korean. Do you already know 안녕? Well… If you know only 안녕. Then you must read this tutorial because 안녕 can be very rude! Anyway, I’m pretty sure your Korean friends would be happy if you say hi and bye in Korean. So, today we will learn how to say bye in Korean properly.

Warm Up Your Brain

Let’s warm up your brain to memorize the Korean vocabulary better. Bring your imaginary Korean friend from your brain and say bye to him or her and see what he’d say lol.

How To Say Bye in Korean

안녕히 계세요

[annyunghi gyeseyo]
bye

It’s bye in a polite tone when you are the one who is leaving. 안녕히 is an adverb form of 안녕하다 which means ‘well’ or ‘peacefully. 계세요 is an honorific verb that means ‘stay’ or ‘be in some place’. So 안녕히 계세요 literally means ‘stay well’. Wait, then what can you say when you are the one who stays?

Native Koreans often don’t pronounce h sound in 히 and y sound in 계. So, it sounds like ‘안녕이 계세요 [annyung-i geseyo]’.

How To Say Bye in Korean 2

안녕히 가세요

[annyunghi gaseyo]
bye

안녕히 가세요 is ‘bye’ that you can say to a person who is leaving. 가세요 means ‘go’ that uses ㅅ honorific which is more polite than a standard honorific. You can use it also when all people are leaving.

Native Koreans often don’t pronounce h sound in 히. So, it sounds like ‘안녕이 가세요 [annyung-i gaseyo]’.

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Bye & Korean Culture

Koreans bow gently when they say bye also just like when they say hi. Bend your body slightly and don’t raise your hands around your chest when you bow in a Korean way. You can just nod your head simply if you are older than others.

At Online

When you have a conversation on internet or text, 안녕히 계세요 and 안녕히 가세요 might not be so natural. Native Koreans often just stop texting without saying anything or say ‘다음에 봐요’ which means ‘see you later’. Well… Koreans often go informal at online so they often say informal goodbyes too.

안녕 vs 안녕히 Phrases

So many students use 안녕 instead of 안녕히 계세요 or 안녕히 가세요. Of course, it’s shorter and easier to memorize but very inappropriate often. I’m pretty sure almost Koreans are okay about 안녕 when you say it only because they see you only as a foreigner who isn’t good at Korean. Saying 안녕 to anyone can be actually very rude, native Koreans don’t do it much.