18. Park

In this tutorial, we are going to learn Korean words of objects that you can find in a park such as ‘tree’ or ‘pet’. Even if you don’t go to parks often, this tutorial will teach you many very useful Korean words for everyday conversations
 

공원

[gongwon]
Park

공원 means ‘park’. It’s perfectly same to the English word ‘part’.

이 공원에는 강아지 똥이 많아요
There are many doggie poops in this park

걷다

[geotdda]
To walk

걷다 is an informal Korean word for ‘walking’.

The Korean word 걷다 describes walking but the way to use it can be different than the English word ‘to talk’. 걷다 is focused on the action of walking more than moving forward a destination. For example, if you say ‘walk to part’ in Korean, you have to use the post-position ‘까지’ which means ‘until’ because it’s not about going to some place.

우리 강아지 똥 위를 걸어요
Let’s walk on doggie poops

산책하다

[Sanchekada]
To stroll / To go for a walk

산책하다 is a formal Korean word that means ‘to stroll’ or ‘to go for a walk’. Even though it’s formal, native Koreans use it very commonly in casual conversations. You can find this Korean word quite often on advertisements because it sounds like ‘walking slowly to enjoy and look around’.

Of course, Koreans also often use 걷다 for going for a walk also (especially me). I guess it’s because 산책 sounds more for relaxing.

To walk a dog, you have to use 산책하다. But that’s odd because it was not much relaxing to walk a dog based on my experiences how many times I had to say ‘NO’ and ‘COME ON’ LOL.

우리 잠깐 산책할까요?
Shall we go for a walk for a while?

새

[se]
Bird

새 is an informal Korean word for ‘bird’.

You can really easily find a synonym 새 which means ‘new’. It’s good to know to avoid confusions.

새때의 습격
The invasion of birds

나무

[namu]
Tree

나무 is an informal Korean word for ‘tree’. You don’t need more explanations for this Korean word. You can use it with no any trouble.

나무가 진짜 커요!

The tree is really big!

벤치

[benchi]
Bench

벤치 means ‘bench’. Yes, the pronunciation is same. However, native Koreans often call bench as 의자 which means chair because 의자 describes any furniture or structures that is designed to sit on.

잠깐 저 벤치에 앉아서 쉬어요
let’s sit on that bench and take a break

한가하다

[hangahada]
To be free from work or study or schedule

한가하다 is a formal Korean word that means ‘to have no work to do’ or ‘to be free from schedule’. It sounds very polite when you ask if someone’s schedule is free. But you can use it very casually in any conversations.

It also describes a moment that you can feel very relaxing and peaceful from all stresses.

저 오늘 밤에 한가해요
I’m free tonight

강아지

[gangaji]
Puppy

강아지 technically only means or ‘puppy’ but all native Koreans use it to a fully grown dogs also like the English word ‘doggy’.

Dog is ‘개’ in Korean. However, it sounds really not good sometimes because native Koreans use it as an insulting and also it sounds like describing a scary dog. Oh, By the way, don’t use ‘개’ to refer to someone’s dog, it really doesn’t sound alright.

우리 집 강아지는 완전 미쳤어요
My dog is totally crazy

고양이

[goyangi]
Cat

고양이 is an informal Korean word that means ‘cat’. Unlike 강아지, the Korean word 고양이 describes any cat. It doesn’t matter if a cat is fully grown or a baby. 고양이 doesn’t have any bad nuance. You can use it without troubles always.

저 고양이가 강아지를 때려요
That cat hits dogs

애완동물

[ewandongmul]
Pet

애완동물 is a formal Korean word for ‘pet’. Technically, Korean language doesn’t have a word for ‘pet’. It only has a word for animal pet. However, you can use it to any kinds of pets even if it’s not an animal, although this Korean word clearly has ‘동물 (animal)’ in it. Of course, it can sound a bit odd a bit though.

By the way, 애완동물 sounds very formal so native Koreans usually don’t use it except for very formal situations.

If you want to say ‘pet’ for not animal creatures. Say 애완 + noun like 애완 돌맹이 (pet stone).

애완동물 출입 금지
Pets are not allowed to enter

How To Use The Korean Words Like Natives

저희 집 근처에 큰 공원이 있어요
There is a big park near my house

오늘 진짜 많이 걸었어요
Today I walked really a lot

산책하러 갈거예요
I’m going to walk for a while

이 공원에는 새가 많아요
This park has a lot of birds

은행 나무 똥 냄새
Ginkgo tree poop smell

앉을 벤치가 하나도 없네요
There is no single bench to sit

이번 주말에는 한가해요
I’m free at this weekend

강아지 산책시켜야 돼요
I have to walk my dog

고양이는 귀여워요
Cats are cute

애완동물 키워요?
Do you have a pet?