Does anyone know how word frequency on Naver dictionary works?
There are 3 possible stars, and I kind of figured out that one star means word is less frequent and three stars means it's most frequent but then you have situations like this
where same word has different number of stars.
I thought one could be for English, one for Korean frequency, but it still doesn't explain why all three different options are shown
I’m not sure if people have noticed but Naver have modified their Korean-English dictionary so that there is now a dictionary designed for people learning Korean (rather than Koreans learning English).
The differences I can see so far are;
Added romanisation for words (not a fan .. but I can see their intent)
Audio files for the words and examples sentences in Korean!! (yay~)
Naver Dictionary was my first and has continued to be my best friend when it comes to learning Korean. It’s accurate (97% of the time), reliable, and can be used for studying in various ways.
In this post I’ll cover the following:
How to look up a word
Vocabulary lists
Adding a word to your list
Making a new list
Other tips
How to study using the dictionary
Open Dictionary
Using the dictionary for translation
I’ll be using the Korean language version of the dictionary. There is an English version available, but I strongly suggest immersing yourself in the Korean version. It’s not that different, but you get the bonus of successfully navigating a website in Korean, hooray!
I’ll start with a list of useful vocabulary to know when navigating the dictionary. (Side note- If you haven’t yet learned Hangeul [the Korean alphabet] I strongly suggest you do so!)
검색: search, look up
사전: dictionary
단어: word
본문: meanings, definitions
예문: example
단어장: vocabulary list
추가: add, insert
만들다: make
번역기: automated translator
더보기: see more (more info)
확인: confirm
취소: cancel
1. How to look up a word
When you first head to endic.naver.com you’ll probably see a page that looks like this.
There’s a search bar in the middle- this is for entering words, phrases, or sentences. You can enter any search term in Korean or in English. The green “검색” button is what you’ll use to search.
When you’re ready to search something, just type in your term and click the green button! (TIP: If you don’t have the Korean alphabet enabled on your keyboard you can read how to do that here. For PC users/For Mac users)
After you type in your term and click the green search button, you’ll be taken to a page that looks like this.
I searched the word “유용하다” - It’s visible in the green bar near the top of the page.
Right under the green bar is a collection of blue linked words. These are related search terms.
Under that, the first category under the results is 단어/숙어. This category will give you various meanings as well as idioms (if applicable) for the word. Usually the first result under this category will be the one you’re looking for. As you can see, the first result for 유용하다 is “useful, helpful, valuable.”
If you scroll down, you’ll see another bolded category titled 본문. I personally don’t pay attention to this section much. It usually gives English words and shows how the Korean word relates to the English word.
The next category is one of my favorites. Under 본문, you’ll see a bolded category titled 예문. This is a collection of sentences in which the term you searched is used.
I always reference this when searching a word, because many words have nuanced meanings in many different contexts. At the bottom of the category, you’ll see a button called “예문 더보기,” if you click this it will take you to a separate page listing all the example sentences.
Under 예문 there’s sometimes a category titled V LIVE 자막.
These are user submitted as well as official translations for content on the V LIVE app. I find this useful to see how words are used in speech, since V LIVE is a streaming video service.
2. Vocabulary Lists
Naver Dicitionary has a cool feature where you can save words to a personalized list. In Korean, you’ll see the word 단어장.
Before attempting to use this feature, you’ll need to make a Naver account if you haven’t already. If you switch the homepage to English you can sign up easily. After you’ve registered your account, make sure you’re logged in!
I’ll continue with my example word, 유용하다.
On the original results page, you’ll see a little box with a red plus symbol next to the word.
This box says “단어장추가” (”Add to word list”). If you click it, the box will expand and show any current lists as well as the button to create a new vocabulary list (”새 단어장 만들기”).
When you click “새 단어장 만들기” a small window like the one below will appear.
You can enter a name for your vocabulary list here next to “단어장 이름.” When you’re satisfied with the name, you can click “확인” (“confirm”). This will create your new word list, as well as add your selected word to the list.
You can access your vocabulary lists via the homepage, or the small icon in the search results page. Look for the word “단어장” or “내 단어장” (highlighted in screencaps below).
After going to your selected list, your screen will look something like this.
You can navigate your lists in the right-hand box that shows your profile.
I’ve highlighted the option near the top that says “퀴즈풀기.” This puts your words into a “quiz” form so you can test yourself on the meanings. I don’t use this feature much (I prefer flashcard sites like memrise) but you can try it out if you wish!
I highlighted the box that says 발음듣기 (pronunciation) but I’m pretty sure this only works with English words, as I’ve never gotten it to work for Korean vocabulary words lol. Why did I highlight that. Moving on.
3. Other tips
In this section I’ll just tell you how I prefer to use Naver Dictionary to study, as well as introduce the Open Dictionary feature.
Whenever I don’t know a word, I’ll look it up using the search function and note the meaning (in the 단어/숙어 section) but will especially pay attention to the 예문 section. I find reading the word in the context of applicable sentences helps a great deal when trying to remember what the word actually means, as well as seeing how it’s conjugated and what particles it takes. If I find a sentence I really like, I might write it down to really remember it. I’ll always save the word in a vocabulary list as well, so I can access it whenever I need to. (Bonus tip: If you are familiar with Chinese or Japanese characters, paying attention to the Hanja next to the word can help greatly as well!)
Another good feature of the dictionary is the Open Dictionary section. Here you’ll find a collection of slang or new words that aren’t in the “official” dictionary. If you’re trying to look up a word that’s not in the official dictionary, your results might look something like this.
The highlighted box says “오픈사전” which means “open dictionary.” If you see this box next to a word, it means the translation comes from the open dictionary section and not the official dictionary. If you click on the word, it’ll take you to a more detailed page such as this one.
One thing to keep in mind about the open dictionary is that it’s user-submitted definitions, so there’s a possibility the translations could be misleading. As you can see here, there’s various definitions of the word “심멎.” Use discretion when attempting to find meanings for words like this!
4. Using the dictionary for translation
You may be tempted to use the little box at the bottom of the homepage that says “영어 번역기.” So let’s do a little experiment.
I chose one of Bangtan’s tweets. Let’s put it in the translator and see what it comes up with.
Yikes.
Okay, so it’s not absolutely horrendous but we can do much better.
A good thing about the translator is that it lists all the words used in the space under the translation box. You can use this for quick reference if you’re suspicious of a translation. But if you want to be really sure, you can search them for yourself using the dictionary main page and browsing relevant sections such as 단어/숙어, 예문, and V LIVE 자막.
Let’s give it a shot.
The first word is 600만. This is translated correctly as “6 million.”
The rest of the sentence is 언제 됐냐. If you search “언제” in the dictionary, it tells you that the meaning is “when.” Simple enough.
However, 됐냐 is conjugated. If I enter “됐냐” into the dictionary search bar, I can find example sentences and meanings, and I find out that 됐냐 comes from 되다 - to become. I look through the example sentences and V LIVE translations and conclude that 됐냐 means something like “how did ~ become” or “how did ~ get.”
So, 600만 언제 됐냐 means something like “When (언제) did it become (됐냐) 6 million (600만)?” or “When did we get 6 million?”
Next sentence: 이제 뭐하지.
Searching 이제 reveals that it means “now.”
If you search “뭐하지” in the dictionary, you can find specific examples where 뭐하지 is used. Awesome!
The V LIVE section of the results gives many situations where 뭐 하지 is used. Looks like it means something similar to “What should ~subject~ do?”
So, 이제 뭐하지 could mean “What should we do (뭐하지) now (이제)”
Last sentence! 일단 미리 축하추하.
Searching 일단 reveals that it means “first.”
Searching 미리 shows the definition of “in advance” or “beforehand.”
Searching 축하축하 and scrolling to the V LIVE section gives situations in which that specific phrase is used.
Looks like it’s a casual spoken way of saying “congratulations.”
So! Put that all together and we get 일단 미리 축하축하 “First of all (일단) congrats (축하축하) in advance (미리).”
Now, this won’t get you a perfect translation. However, I find this method to be much more accurate than just plugging everything into an automated translator. Also, if you’re trying to study Korean, it’s a great way to use something like your favorite idol’s tweet and turn it into a study session! If you’re trying to do something like level up on a fancafe (coughcough) this method will provide you a much more accurate translation as well.
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This is a really quick overview of Naver Dictionary and the ways I use it, I hope you can get some use out of my own little tips. I kind of rushed putting this together, so there might have been some things I missed or overlooked. If you have any questions or suggestions please let me know!
Translation of the words from above with a few examples:
맺다 - to close, to form, to contract (계약을 맺다 - to sign a contract; 뒤끝을 맺다 - to put an end to, to settle)
모으다 - to collect, to garner, to save up, to gather, to raise
(돈을 모으다 - to collect money; 힘을 모으다 - to work together/ to cooperate; 끌어모으다 - to attract, to engage)
묶다 - to tie, to lash, to fasten ( 꼭 묶다 - to fasten tight, 꽁꽁 묶다 - to tie up)
매다 - to tie, to knot, to lace ( 개를 매다 - to chain a dog, 끈을 매다 - to tie the strings, 늦추 매다 - to tie (a belt) loosely) (but it turns out it can also mean “to put on, to buckle up”)
꾸미다 - to decorate, to ornament something, to come up with (몸을 꾸미다 - to dress up, to adorn oneself; 일을 꾸미다 - to make a plan/ form a sheme; 얼굴을 꾸미다 - to make up (the face))
짓다 - to make, to build, to construct, to compose ( 짝을 짓다 - to pair up, to form; 특징 짓다 - to mark, to characterize; 집을 짓다 - to build a house/home; 노래를 짓다 - to compose a song; 글을 짓다 - to write a poem)
다지다 - to stomp, to lay, to brace oneself (also to mince, to chop) (땅을/ 터를 다지다 - to harden the ground; 고기를 다지다 - to finely chop up or to mince the meat)
단단히 하다 - to firm up, to solidify, to be firm (doing something ‘단단히’ is basically doing it fast, firmly, effectively)
엇걸리게 하다 - to be on the cross (엇걸리다 - to be made in a diagonal loop; 엇걸리는 상황 - mixed situation)
굽다 - to roast, to grill, to bake, to toast (it also can mean to bend, curve or to be crooked) ( 구워먹는 고기/음식 - meat/food that is eaten roasted)
구부러지다 - to bend, to crook, to wrap
굽히다 - to bend, to change, to give up (자설을 굽히다 - to change one’s views; 자설을 굽히지 않다 - to stick to one’s views; 허리를 굽히다 - to bend the body (허리 - waist))
구부리다 - to bend, to crook
막다 - to block, to close, to fill in (”문 막아! - Shut the door!”)
못하게 하다 - basically to make something or someone unable to be/do etc. in some way (남을 끽소리 못하게 하다 - to beat an other person to a pulp) (끽소리 - yell)
엉기다 - to clot, to get tangled (엉겨 붙다 - to stick together)
A few examples of frequently used words with the same hanja (結):
결과 - result
결국 - finally, eventually
결혼 - wedding
결론 - conclusion
결부 - bond
Wow, so this was a long one.. if you have managed reading it all (and even memorized a few things) then you definitely deserve a big thumbs up!
(Source of the picture and most of the examples: Naver Dictionary)
