안녕히 계세요
annyeonghi gyeseyo[a̠nɲʌ̹ŋʝi kje̞sʰe̞jo]
In Korean, goodbye when you are leaving is 안녕히 계세요 (annyeonghi gyeseyo).
안녕히 계세요 is a common and respectful way to say goodbye when you are the person departing and the listener is staying. It translates to the sentiment "Please stay in peace."
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of 안녕히 (peacefully/well) and 계세요 (please stay/be).
Which one should you use?
You should use 안녕히 계세요 when you are the one departing and the listener is staying. In contrast, use 안녕히 가세요 (go peacefully) when the listener is the one departing.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
안녕히 계세요 is a polite, standard way to say goodbye to someone of higher or equal social status. For a casual "bye" among close friends or acquaintances of the same age, you can use the informal 잘 가 or even just 안녕. However, 안녕 should not be used with superiors.
How does it change in a sentence?
The form 안녕히 계셔요 is a slightly less formal but still polite variation of 안녕히 계세요.
How do you pronounce it?
annyeonghi gyeseyo
Did you know?
- When hanging up a phone call, Koreans do not use 안녕히 계세요 because neither person is physically 'staying' or 'leaving' a room.
- The root of 안녕히 comes from the Hanja characters 安 (peace) and 寧 (comfort), which were historically used to ask if someone had avoided disasters or illness.
- If you are both leaving a location, such as a cafe, you should not use 안녕히 계세요. Instead, you must both say 안녕히 가세요 to each other because you are both 'going'.
Examples in context
- 먼저 가보겠습니다. 안녕히 계세요.meonjeo gabogesseumnida. annyeonghi gyeseyo.I will be going now. Goodbye.
- 내일 봐요. 안녕히 계세요!naeil bwayo. annyeonghi gyeseyo!See you tomorrow. Goodbye!
Example conversation
Ji-eun is leaving the office where Min-jun is still working.
- 지은 Ji-eun민준 씨, 저 먼저 갈게요.Minjun ssi, jeo meonjeo galgeyo.Min-jun, I am leaving now.
- 민준 Min-jun네, 조심히 가세요.ne, josimhi gaseyo.Yes, please go safely.
- 지은 Ji-eun안녕히 계세요.annyeonghi gyeseyo.Goodbye (stay well).
- 민준 Min-jun내일 만나요.naeil mannayo.See you tomorrow.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry 안녕히 계세요, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 안녕히, CC BY-SA 4.0.
