자다
jada[t͡ɕa̠da̠]
To say sleep in Korean, use 자다 (jada), the standard verb for sleeping. For someone you respect, use the honorific 주무시다. If unsure, use 자다. Wiktionary also lists 잠자다 (jamjada).
Meaning: to rest in state of reduced consciousness (verb)
Ways to say it
| Korean | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 자다 | jada | [t͡ɕa̠da̠] (SK Standard, Seoul, narrow) | |
| 잠자다 | jamjada | [t͡ɕa̠md͡ʑa̠da̠] (SK Standard, Seoul, narrow) | |
| 주무시다 | jumusida | [t͡ɕumuɕʰida̠] (SK Standard, Seoul, narrow) | honorific |
자다 is the neutral, everyday verb for sleeping. The noun for sleep is 잠, and 수면 is another noun for the state of sleep.
What does it mean word for word?
잠자다 is a compound of 잠 (sleep) and 자다 (to sleep).
Which one should you use?
자다 is neutral. 주무시다 is the honorific form used when talking about elders or people of higher status, such as a grandparent or a boss. 잠자다 also means to sleep and simply adds the noun for sleep.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
주무시다 is the polite honorific form used to show high respect to the person who is sleeping.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
자다 is the dictionary form. The ending is dropped or changed to make the different politeness levels used in real speech.
How do you pronounce it?
자다 is romanized as jada.
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not use 자다 when asking whether your grandmother or your boss slept well. Use 주무시다.
Did you know?
- The honorific verb 주무시다 may have evolved from a root meaning 'to sink', suggesting a historical conceptual link between sleeping and sinking into rest.
- In Korean, the noun for sleep 잠 can be used as a prefix in phrases describing the quality of sleep, such as 잠투정 for a child's fussiness when they are sleepy.
- The honorific 주무시다 is so distinct that it is used as a completely separate vocabulary word rather than just adding a polite ending to 자다.
Examples in context
- 너 걔랑 잤어?Did you sleep with him/her?잤어 is the casual past tense, and like the English phrase, it can mean sleeping with someone.
- 보통 사람들은 밤에 자고 아침에 일어나지만 밤에 활동하고 아침에 자는 사람들도 있다.Ordinary people sleep at night and wake up in the morning, but there are also people who are active at night and sleep in the morning.자고 and 자는 are forms of the verb used in a longer sentence about when people sleep.
- 교수님은 얼마나 주무시나요?How long do you sleep, Professor?
- 밤에는 일찍 자러 가야 해.We have to go to sleep early at night.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “sleep” translations and entries 자다, 잠자다, 주무시다, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 자다, 잠자다, 주무시다, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0.
