Korean→English

Translate Korean to English the way locals mean it.

Korean speakers often soften refusals, criticism, and emotional reactions with words that look literal, so a textbook translation can sound much more direct or accepting than the message really is.

Going the other way? English to Korean

474 local dialects

AIRTranslate on iPhone choosing between Korean varieties

What locals actually say

아니 근데 그건 좀...

Yeah, but that’s kind of a problem...

아니 근데 introduces pushback rather than a literal denial, and 좀 softens the criticism; the trailing dots leave the objection deliberately unfinished.

괜찮아요, 다음에 봐요.

No worries, maybe another time.

괜찮아요 can politely mean “no thanks” or “it’s fine,” while 다음에 봐요 is often a gentle way to end the interaction without making a firm plan.

오늘은 그냥 집에서 쉬려고 ㅎㅎ

I think I’m just going to stay home and take it easy today, haha.

그냥 makes the choice sound casual and unforced, while ㅎㅎ lightens the message and signals a friendly, slightly self-conscious tone.

이거 얼마예요? 카드 돼요?

How much is this? Do you take cards?

돼요? is a colloquial polite shortening of 되어요 and is commonly used when checking whether a payment method is accepted.

쭉 가다가 오른쪽으로 꺾으시면 돼요.

Just go straight and turn right.

-다가 marks the point where one action changes into the next, while -으시면 돼요 gives a polite, reassuring direction meaning that doing so is sufficient.

아이스 아메리카노 하나, 샷 추가해서 주세요.

An iced Americano with an extra shot, please.

아이스 아메리카노 and 샷 are everyday Korean café loanwords, and 주세요 is the standard polite request used when ordering.

엄마가 밥은 먹고 다니래요.

My mom says I need to make sure I'm eating properly.

-래요 is the conversational form of indirect quotation, and 먹고 다니다 signals maintaining a habit while going about one's daily life.

이건 오늘 안으로만 보내 주시면 돼요.

You just need to send this by the end of today.

오늘 안으로 means within today, and -으시면 돼요 is a polite business-friendly construction saying that fulfilling the action is all that is needed.

Notes like these come with every AIRTranslate translation, so you learn why locals phrase it that way as you go.

How Korean differs

South Korean. Match speech level to tone: 해요체 neutral-polite default, 합쇼체 formal business, 반말 only for clearly casual peer text; contemporary Seoul vocabulary and loanwords (아이스 아메리카노, 오케이 casually).

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Localization Notes explaining why locals say it that way