Seasons and Months in Korean
If you’re learning Korean, knowing how to talk about the seasons and months of the year is an essential part of everyday vocabulary. These words are useful for discussing weather, dates, holidays, and planning events. In Korean, month names are formed using numbers, and the seasons often appear in daily conversations, media, and even in idiomatic expressions.
Korean uses the native word for “month” – 월 (wol) – along with Sino-Korean numbers to name each month. The seasons are expressed with native Korean words and sometimes used metaphorically. Let’s take a look at the vocabulary with audio and example phrases to help you remember them better.
Seasons of the Year in Korean
| English | Korean with pronunciation volume_down |
|---|---|
| winter | 겨울 |
| spring | 봄 |
| summer | 여름 |
| autumn | 가을 |
Korean has four distinct seasons. The word for “season” is 계절 (gyejeol). Each season name ends with the character –철 (cheol) meaning “season,” though this is often omitted in casual usage. For example:
- 봄이에요. – It’s spring.
- 겨울은 정말 추워요. – Winter is really cold.
Seasons are commonly used in weather forecasts, daily talk, and cultural references.
Names of the Months in Korean
| English | Korean with pronunciation volume_down |
|---|---|
| January | 일월 |
| February | 이월 |
| March | 삼월 |
| April | 사월 |
| May | 오월 |
| June | 유월 |
| July | 칠월 |
| August | 팔월 |
| September | 구월 |
| October | 시월 |
| November | 십일월 |
| December | 십이월 |
In Korean, months are named using Sino-Korean numbers from 1 to 12 followed by the word 월 (wol), meaning “month.” For example, January is 1월 (irwol), February is 2월 (iwol), and so on. It’s simple and systematic:
- 제 생일은 5월이에요. – My birthday is in May.
- 우리는 10월에 결혼했어요. – We got married in October.
To refer to dates, Koreans say the month first and then the day. For example, 6월 15일 means “June 15th.” Note that some months have pronunciation changes, such as 6월 (yuwol) and 10월 (siwol).
With this vocabulary, you’ll be able to talk confidently about seasons and months in Korean conversations, weather updates, and date-related topics.
Continue Learning Korean
Now that you’ve learned the seasons and months, move on to our lesson on Days of the Week in Korean or explore Korean Colours to talk about dates and time more naturally.