Korean Words For Bedroom

방

[bang]
Room

방 means room especially of residential houses or buildings. It’s used really often when the room has no particular purpose.

Korean language has a word ‘bedroom (침실)’ but it’s quite formal, so ‘my room’ is more common to use.

방 doesn’t have any other meanings that the English word room has. 방 only means a part or division of a building.

여기가 제 방이에요
[yeogi-ga je bang-ieyo]
This is my room

침대

[chim de]
Bed

침대 means the furniture ‘bed’ in Korean. It doesn’t have any other meanings that the English word ‘bed’ has.

Many foreigners think Koreans sleep on the floor. Well… That’s some sort of stereotype. Only really old people are used to it. Many Koreans are more used to sleeping on a bed. 침대 is the Korean word for typical beds.

침대 밖은 위험해
[chimde baggeun wieomhe]
It’s dangerous outside of a bed

편하다

[pyeonhada]
To be comfortable / convenient / relax

There are many Korean words that mean ‘to be comfortable’. 편하다 is the most common Korean word among them. 편하다 describes something is comfortable, convenient, relaxing or easy to use / do / be with. 편하다 is more like an informal Korean word but it’s also perfectly good for formal Korean conversations.

Many students normally learned that ‘편안하다’ is ‘to be comfortable’ but 편안하다 is not commonly used in casual conversations. It is more for physical relaxing like when you sit on some really comfortable sofa.

편하다 is often pronounced as [pyeonada] without h when native Koreans speak naturally and fast.

방에 있는게 제일 편해요
[bange itneun-ge jeil pyeoneyo]
Staying in (my) room is most comfortable

알람

[alam]
Alarm

Native Koreans use the English word alarm. However, the Korean word 알람 is pronounced without r. Korean language doesn’t have a Korean word for alarm.

There are other Korean words for alarm with specific purposes but they are not very commonly used. 알람 is most common.

아침 알람… 죽여줘…
[achim alam jugeowo]
Morning alarm… Please, kill me…

일어나다

[ireo-nada]
To get up / wake up / stand up

일어나다 is a tricky informal Korean word. 일어나다 technically means ‘to get up’ but it also can be ‘to wake up’, ‘to stand up’, ‘to raise’, ‘to occur’. The image of 일어나다 is ‘standing up from the bottom’. Sometimes, it can be very tricky if you want to say ‘wake up and get up’ because there is no many ways to say it not weirdly.

일어나다 makes a lot of Korean idioms and expressions with other Korean words. Look at those idioms carefully when you have a chance.

일어났어요?
[ireonasseyo]
Are you up?

일찍

[iljjik]
Early / Soon (adverb)

일찍 is an informal Korean word that means ‘early’ or ‘soon’ as an adverb. You must remember 일찍 is an adverb, not an adjective. You can’t use 일찍 to say ‘it’s early’ or ‘early morning’. You have to use it with a verb like ‘wake up early’ or ‘I got home early’.

일찍 일어났어요
[iljjik ireonasseoyo]
I woke up early

(잠)(을) 자다

[(jam)(uel) jada]
To sleep

잠을 자다 is an informal Korean word that means ‘to sleep’ as a verb. It has a quite interesting feature with Korean words in it. 잠 means ‘sleep’ as a noun and 자다 means ‘sleep’ as a verb. So, technically 잠을 자다 means ‘sleep a sleep’. It seems a bit odd but is a very natural Korean phrase.

You can drop 잠 or only 을 : 자다 / 잠자다. When you don’t drop any of it, it makes it sound quite formal even though it’s an informal Korean word.

이제 자야겠어요
[ije jayagesseoyo]
I should sleep now

졸리다

[jolida]
To be sleepy

졸리다 means ‘sleepy’. It’s exactly the same to ‘sleepy’ in English. To memorize this word easily, try ‘Joli is sleepy’.

Native Koreans very often say or write ‘졸립다’ instead of ‘졸리다’. According to dictionaries, it’s a dialectal word and technically incorrect but very commonly used.

졸리다 also means ‘to be strangled’ (lol). But fortunately, when native Koreans use 졸리다 as ‘to be strangled’, they always mention of what’s strangled such as neck… or anything you can strangle lol.

너무 졸려요. TV 위에서 잘거예요
[neomu jolyeoyo tibi wieseo jalgeoeyo]
I’m too sleepy. I’ll sleep on a TV

(잠)(을)자러가다

[(jam)(eul)jareo-gada]
To go to sleep

자러가다 is an informal Korean word that means ‘to go to sleep’. It’s a compound Korean word that is made of 2 different Korean words. 자다 means ‘sleep’ and 가다 means ‘go’. So, 잠을 자러가다 literally means ‘go to sleep’.

By the way, There is no Korean expression for going to bed. If you say ‘침대로 가다 (go to bed)’, it never means ‘I’m going to sleep’. That only describes you literally and physically move your body to bed.

졸려요. 자러갈게요
[jolyeoto jareogalgeyo]
I’m sleepy. I’m going to sleep

꿈(을) 꾸다

[ggum(eul) gguda]
To dream

꿈 means ‘dream’ as a noun and 꾸다 means ‘dream’ as a verb. Even though similar Koreans words are repeated  llike 잠을 자다, you shouldn’t skip one of them. It has to be ‘꿈꾸다’ or ‘ 꿈을 꾸다’ always.

Normally dropping a marker, such as 은, 는, 이, 가, 을, 를, makes the verb sound more casual. However, 꿈을 꾸다 is an exception.

꿈을 꾸다 is exactly same to ‘dream’ in English. It’s also used to describe a wish like ‘my dream is seeing a better world’.

밤에 이상한 꿈을 꿨어요
[bame isanghan ggumeul ggwosseoyo]
I had a strange dream last night

How To Use The Korean Words Like Natives

방이 좁네요
(This) room is small

침대에 누워있어요
I’m lying on bed

편하게 계세요
Make yourself comfortable
Make yourself at home

9시에 알람 맞췄어요
I set the alarm at 9

일어나기 싫어요
I don’t want to get up

일찍 잘거에요
I’m going to sleep early

어제 잠을 잘 못잤어요
I couldn’t sleep well last night
I slept poorly last night

너무 졸려요
I’m too sleepy

저는 이제 자러갈게요
I’m going to bed now

나쁜 꿈을 꿨어요
I had a bad dream