안녕
annyeong[a̠nɲʌ̹ŋ]
안녕 (annyeong) is the Korean way to say hi.
안녕 is a friendly, informal greeting.
Meaning: friendly, informal greeting (intj)
What does it mean word for word?
The word 안녕 literally means peace or well-being.
Which one should you use?
While 안녕 is informal, the standard polite form 안녕하세요 is used when speaking with strangers, elders or in professional settings. For a formal way to say hi or ask how someone is, you can use 안녕하세요?
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
안녕 is an informal greeting used only with friends, people younger than you or those with whom you have a close relationship. The most common informal greeting is 안녕!
How do you pronounce it?
annyeong
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid using 안녕 when addressing teachers, bosses or people older than them, as it can be perceived as rude.
Did you know?
- In Korean media like K-dramas, a sudden switch from the polite 안녕하세요 to the informal 안녕 is often a dramatic storytelling device used to signal that two characters have become much closer.
- Because 안녕 can be used both as a greeting and a way to say 'goodbye', it functions as a versatile marker of a person's current state of peace, regardless of whether they are arriving or leaving.
- In modern slang, young people may shorten 안녕 to 안녕~ with a wavy line in text to sound more cute or affectionate, known as 'aegyo'.
Examples in context
- 안녕!Hi!This example shows the use of 안녕.Tatoeba #5548647 by YUJIHEE, translation #2742244 by MTC
- 안녕.Hi.Tatoeba #8355888 by Eunhee, translation #538123 by CM
- 안녕, 잘 지냈어?annyeong, jal jinaesseo?Hi, how have you been?
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Subin and Hyunwoo meet at a local park.
- 수빈 Su-bin안녕, 현우야!annyeong, hyeon-u-ya!Hi, Hyunwoo!
- 현우 Hyeon-woo안녕, 수빈아. 오랜만이야.annyeong, subin-a. oraenman-iya.Hi, Subin. It's been a long time.
- 수빈 Su-bin응, 정말 오랜만이다.eung, jeongmal oraenman-ida.Yeah, it really has been a while.
- 현우 Hyeon-woo잘 지냈지?jal jinaet-ji?You've been doing well, right?
Sources
- Wiktionary, “hi” translations and entries 안녕, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
