Road & Street

Hello everyone, it’s your Korean teacher Jun. Today, in this tutorial, we are going to learn 10 very essential Korean words that you can find or do on roads and streets such as cars, walking and driving. Of course, those Korean words will help you in any situation, So, let’s start it.

도로

[doro]
Road

도로 is a formal Korean word that means ‘the path that only cars and vehicles can pass’. It means the same to the English word ‘road’. However, it’s not very often used as much as ‘road’ because of the next Korean word.

도로를 달리는 사슴
A dear running on the road.

길

[gil]
Street / Path / Way

길 is a very essential Korean word that means ‘any path you can go’. It can be ‘a road’, ‘a street’, ‘a sidewalk’ or ‘a small path in the woods’. You can use 길 very abstractly as ‘a method to the goal (the way of living, obligation or goal)’, history, the way how to do something, in the middle of the process, So, technically, it means any ‘path’.

It’s very important because native Koreans use this word very commonly, They also use ‘도로 (road)’ or ‘거리 (street)’ but 길 is the most common among all other Korean words that means ‘path’.

이 것이 내 길이다
This is my way

거리

[geori]
Street

거리 means ‘street’ or ‘avenue’. It’s very similar to the English word ‘street’ but it’s more focused on paths where people can walk. You can also combine 길 and 거리 like 길거리. It means exactly the same but it sounds more informal and casual.

거리 technically means ‘street’ but, to native Koreans, it feels like streets that are supposed to be crowded like streets in a big city or a downtown.

거리에서 사슴이 사람들을 공격해요
Deers are attacking people on the street

걷다

[geotdda]
To walk

걷다 means ‘to walk’. However, you can’t use 걷다 to say ‘to walk someone or something’ like ‘I walk her home’ or ‘I walk my dog’. There are many Korean words that can be translated as ‘walk’ in English and they are mostly very specified for each action. 걷다 in Korean only describes ‘moving’, ‘using a path’, ‘going to somewhere’

고속도로에서는 걷지 마세요
Don’t walk on the highway

타다

[tada]
To ride / To get in a vehicle

타다 is an informal Korean word that means ‘to ride’. Yon can use it for any vehicles or any transports like a bike, a car, a ship, a boat, a train, an airplane, a horse, a wolf, a unicorn, a dinosaur or even some attractions in theme parks. However, if you translate 타다 only as ‘to ride’, it’d make some trouble sometimes because it’s more similar to ‘get into a vehicle’. For example, Koreans can say ‘차에 타서 운전해요’ which means ‘I get in a car and drive it’.

저는 지난 일요일에 공룡을 타봤어요
I’ve rode a dinosaur at the last sunday

건너다

[geonneoda]
To cross

건너다 means ‘to cross some path or a river’. The English word ‘cross’ is very, veeeeery different than 건너다. As a Korean, it sounds like ‘go over something’ like skipping a step or a stage more than crossing something. When native Koreans cross a road, they always use ‘건너다’.

여기서 길 건너세요
Cross the street here

(자동)차

[jadong-cha]
Car

자동차 means ‘car’ in Korean. 자동차 is made of 2 Korean words. 자동 which means ‘automatic’ and ‘차’ which means ‘vehicle’. However, in modern Korean language, 차 mostly means ‘car’. Native Koreans usually drop ‘자동’. Tea is also spelled ‘차’. Don’t get confused between each Korean word.

차에 치였어요
I got hit by a car

운전하다

[unjeon-hada]
To drive

운전하다 is a formal Korean word that describes an action ‘driving a car or a motorcycle’. It doesn’t have many meanings that the English word drive has. Also, you can’t use 운전하다 to say ‘drive someone’.

저는 귀족이라 운전하지 않아요
I’m noble so I don’t drive

오다

[oda]
To come

오다 means ‘to come’, ‘to arrive’ or ‘to get some place’. Almost Korean expressions with 오다 are very different than how English uses ‘come’. But for now, you can focus on the basic meaning of ‘오다’ : to come.

오지마세요! 방귀 냄새 너무 심해요!
Don’t get close! The fart smell is too strong!

내리다

[nerida]
To get off from a vehicle

내리다 is an informal Korean word that has so many meanings. Basically, it has an image for ‘dropping or falling from somewhere’. You can use it with weather, luggage or vehicles. With vehicles and transports, 내리다 means ‘to get off from a vehicle’, ‘to disembark’ and ‘to dismount’.

차에서 내려서 걸어가세요
Get off the car and walk home

How To Use The Korean Words Like Natives

도로에서는 조심하세요
Be careful on road

이 길로 쭉 가세요
Go straight on this street

거리에 사람이 많아요
This street is crowded

좀 걸을까요?
Do you want to go for a walk?

저는 자전거 타는 걸 좋아해요
I like riding a bike

길 건너시면 안돼요
Don’t cross the street

저는 차가 없어요
I don’t have a car

조심히 운전하세요
Drive carefully

언제 오세요?
When will you come?

여기서 내릴게요
I’ll get off here