How to Say "Capital" in Korean

수도

sudo[sʰudo̞]

The Korean word for the political capital of a nation or state is 수도 (sudo).

수도 is used specifically to refer to a political capital city, the seat of a government.

Meaning: chief (in a political sense, as being the seat of the general government of a state or nation) (adj)

Which one should you use?

While 수도 refers to a political capital city, the word 자본 is used to express capital in a financial or economic sense, such as assets or money.

To use 수도 as an adjective to modify a noun, such as saying 'the city which is the capital', you add the suffix –인 to the noun to form 수도인.

sudo

Because Korean uses many homonyms, the phonetic sound 수도 can mean 'capital city', but it can also mean 'the way of religious practice' or 'the path of water'.
The word 수도 for 'capital city' is composed of the characters for 'head' and 'city', literally meaning 'the head city'.

루마니아는 발칸 국가이다. 수도는 부쿠레슈티이다.
Romania is a Balkan country. Its capital is Bucharest.
Tatoeba #11105904 by intertime, translation #1657275 by CK
파리는 프랑스의 수도다.
Paris is the capital of France.
Tatoeba #4963126 by rainbow4us, translation #35027 by CK
아테네는 그리스의 수도야.
Athens is the capital of Greece.
Tatoeba #4765090 by kimhkng, translation #2639406 by Olya
서울은 한국의 수도입니다.
Seoul is the capital of South Korea.
나는 서울이 한국의 수도라고 생각해.
I think Seoul is the capital of South Korea.
32 more sentences on Tatoeba

Minji and Jihun are studying geography together.

민지 Min-ji

한국의 수도는 어디예요?
Hangug-ui sudoneun eodiyeyo?
Where is the capital of Korea?
지훈 Ji-hun

서울이 한국의 수도예요.
Seoul-i Hangug-ui sudoyeyo.
Seoul is the capital of Korea.
민지 Min-ji

맞아요. 서울은 정말 큰 도시예요.
Majayo. Seoul-eun jeongmal keun dosiyeyo.
That's right. Seoul is a really big city.
지훈 Ji-hun

네, 많은 사람이 거기에 살아요.
Ne, maneun sarami geogie sarayo.
Yes, many people live there.

Sources

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