How to Say "Relatives" in Korean

친척

chincheok[t͡ɕʰiɲt͡ɕʰʌ̹k̚]

The English phrase "relatives" is 친척 (chincheok) in Korean.

친척 is used to refer to people who are members of the same family.

How do you pronounce it?

chincheok

Korean has dozens of unique titles for 친척 based on whether they are from the father's or mother's side of the family. For example, a father's sister and a mother's sister are called by entirely different words.
The word 친척 is a Sino-Korean compound where the first character 친 (親) refers to 'blood relations' and the second character 척 (戚) refers to 'relatives by marriage'.
The concept of 'relatives' in Korea is deeply tied to the Confucian tradition, which dictates not just how you name them, but exactly how you must behave toward them based on age.

톰과 메리는 가까운 친척이야.
Tom and Mary are close relatives.
This sentence is useful for showing how to use 친척 to describe the relationship between two people.
Tatoeba #8361879 by Eunhee, translation #2959040 by sharptoothed
명절에는 친척들이 많이 모여요.
myeongjeol-eneun chincheok-deuri mani moyeoyo.
Relatives gather a lot during traditional holidays.
우리 친척은 아주 많아요.
uri chincheok-eun aju manayo.
I have many relatives.

Subin and Minjun are talking about family gatherings.

수빈 Su-bin

민준 씨는 친척이 많아요?
Minjun ssi-neun chincheok-i manayo?
Minjun, do you have many relatives?
민준 Min-jun

네, 친척이 정말 많아요.
Ne, chincheok-i jeongmal manayo.
Yes, I have a lot of relatives.
수빈 Su-bin

와, 그럼 명절이 아주 북적북적하겠어요.
Wa, geureom myeongjeol-i aju bukjeok-bukjeok-hagesseoyo.
Wow, then the holidays must be very lively.
민준 Min-jun

맞아요, 항상 정신이 없어요.
Majayo, hangsang jeongsin-i eopseoyo.
That's right, it's always hectic.

Sources

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