TOPIK I Vocabulary: 300 Korean Words With Examples

Hangul takes an afternoon. The 300 words behind TOPIK I are the actual work.

300 cardsLast updated 2026-08-17

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Learners are told Hangul can be read in a day, and it can. Then the alphabet stops helping, because reading 비싸요 aloud does not tell you it means expensive, and nothing in the script warns you that Korean adjectives conjugate like verbs, that 있다 covers both having and existing, or that 배 is a stomach, a pear and a boat depending on the sentence around it. This deck covers the 300 words that carry TOPIK I. Every card shows the Korean, and the back gives the romanisation, the English meaning, the part of speech, and an original Korean sentence with its translation. Cards are tagged by theme — people, home, food, travel, time, position, questions — and by part of speech, so you can drill only verbs, or only the counters that trip up every beginner. Import it and the deck joins your spaced-repetition schedule, and what stays in rotation is the set you still have to stop and decode.

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What's inside

Showing 100 representative cards from the full 300-card deck.

Front	Back
저 — what does it mean?	I, me (polite) (pronoun). jeo.
너 — what does it mean?	you (casual) (pronoun). neo.
사람 — what does it mean?	person (noun). saram.
여자 — what does it mean?	woman (noun). yeoja.
친구 — what does it mean?	friend (noun). chingu.
아버지 — what does it mean?	father (noun). abeoji.
형 — what does it mean?	older brother (male speaker) (noun). hyeong.
오빠 — what does it mean?	older brother (female speaker) (noun). oppa.
선생님 — what does it mean?	teacher (noun). seonsaengnim.
대학교 — what does it mean?	university (noun). daehakgyo.
숙제 — what does it mean?	homework (noun). sukje.
공책 — what does it mean?	notebook (noun). gongchaek.
회사 — what does it mean?	company (noun). hoesa.
회사원 — what does it mean?	office worker (noun). hoesawon.
가게 — what does it mean?	shop (noun). gage.
백화점 — what does it mean?	department store (noun). baekhwajeom.
집 — what does it mean?	house, home (noun). jip.
화장실 — what does it mean?	toilet (noun). hwajangsil.
책상 — what does it mean?	desk (noun). chaeksang.
열쇠 — what does it mean?	key (noun). yeolsoe.
물 — what does it mean?	water (noun). mul.
커피 — what does it mean?	coffee (noun). keopi.
밥 — what does it mean?	rice, meal (noun). bap.
고기 — what does it mean?	meat (noun). gogi.
야채 — what does it mean?	vegetables (noun). yachae.
김치 — what does it mean?	kimchi (noun). gimchi.
아침 — what does it mean?	morning; breakfast (noun). achim.
저녁 — what does it mean?	dinner; evening (noun). jeonyeok.
역 — what does it mean?	station (noun). yeok.
기차 — what does it mean?	train (noun). gicha.
표 — what does it mean?	ticket (noun). pyo.
여행 — what does it mean?	travel (noun). yeohaeng.
병원 — what does it mean?	hospital (noun). byeongwon.
약 — what does it mean?	medicine (noun). yak.
눈 — what does it mean?	eye; snow (noun). nun.
손 — what does it mean?	hand (noun). son.
오늘 — what does it mean?	today (noun). oneul.
어제 — what does it mean?	yesterday (noun). eoje.
아침에 — what does it mean?	in the morning (adverb). achime.
시간 — what does it mean?	time, hour (noun). sigan.
달 — what does it mean?	month; moon (noun). dal.
날씨 — what does it mean?	weather (noun). nalssi.
봄 — what does it mean?	spring (noun). bom.
가다 — what does it mean?	to go (verb). gada.
먹다 — what does it mean?	to eat (verb). meokda.
듣다 — what does it mean?	to listen, to hear (verb). deutda.
쓰다 — what does it mean?	to write; to use (verb). sseuda.
주다 — what does it mean?	to give (verb). juda.
놓다 — what does it mean?	to put down (verb). nota.
켜다 — what does it mean?	to turn on (verb). kyeoda.
청소하다 — what does it mean?	to clean (verb). cheongsohada.
자다 — what does it mean?	to sleep (verb). jada.
공부하다 — what does it mean?	to study (verb). gongbuhada.
알다 — what does it mean?	to know (verb). alda.
기다리다 — what does it mean?	to wait (verb). gidarida.
살다 — what does it mean?	to live (verb). salda.
걷다 — what does it mean?	to walk (verb). geotda.
들어가다 — what does it mean?	to go in (verb). deureogada.
좋아하다 — what does it mean?	to like (verb). joahada.
빌리다 — what does it mean?	to borrow (verb). billida.
크다 — what does it mean?	to be big (adjective). keuda.
적다 — what does it mean?	to be few (adjective). jeokda.
새롭다 — what does it mean?	to be new (adjective). saeropda.
길다 — what does it mean?	to be long (adjective). gilda.
낮다 — what does it mean?	to be low (adjective). natda.
무겁다 — what does it mean?	to be heavy (adjective). mugeopda.
춥다 — what does it mean?	to be cold (weather) (adjective). chupda.
맛있다 — what does it mean?	to be delicious (adjective). masitda.
달다 — what does it mean?	to be sweet (adjective). dalda.
바쁘다 — what does it mean?	to be busy (adjective). bappeuda.
아프다 — what does it mean?	to be sick, to hurt (adjective). apeuda.
기쁘다 — what does it mean?	to be glad (adjective). gippeuda.
조용하다 — what does it mean?	to be quiet (adjective). joyonghada.
더럽다 — what does it mean?	to be dirty (adjective). deoreopda.
친절하다 — what does it mean?	to be kind (adjective). chinjeolhada.
중요하다 — what does it mean?	to be important (adjective). jungyohada.
멀다 — what does it mean?	to be far (adjective). meolda.
하나 — what does it mean?	one (numeral). hana.
넷 — what does it mean?	four (numeral). net.
스물 — what does it mean?	twenty (numeral). seumul.
만 — what does it mean?	ten thousand (numeral). man.
살 — what does it mean?	counter for age (noun). sal.
위 — what does it mean?	above, on (noun). wi.
밖 — what does it mean?	outside (noun). bak.
옆 — what does it mean?	beside (noun). yeop.
여기 — what does it mean?	here (pronoun). yeogi.
어디 — what does it mean?	where (pronoun). eodi.
저것 — what does it mean?	that over there (pronoun). jeogeot.
언제 — what does it mean?	when (adverb). eonje.
몇 — what does it mean?	how many (determiner). myeot.
아주 — what does it mean?	very (adverb). aju.
더 — what does it mean?	more (adverb). deo.
전혀 — what does it mean?	not at all (adverb). jeonhyeo.
천천히 — what does it mean?	slowly (adverb). cheoncheonhi.
안녕하세요 — what does it mean?	hello (phrase). annyeonghaseyo.
반갑습니다 — what does it mean?	nice to meet you (phrase). bangapseumnida.
죄송합니다 — what does it mean?	I am sorry (phrase). joesonghamnida.
잘 먹겠습니다 — what does it mean?	said before eating (phrase). jal meokgetseumnida.
모르겠어요 — what does it mean?	I do not know (phrase). moreugesseoyo.
입다 — what does it mean?	to wear (verb). ipda.

Frequently asked

Does importing this deck use my AI allowance?

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Can I edit the cards after importing?

Yes. Imported cards are yours: you can edit both sides, delete cards you do not need, change tags, and move cards to another deck.

What is in the deck?

125 nouns, 60 verbs, 53 descriptive verbs, 21 adverbs, 14 pronouns, 10 numerals and 15 set phrases, 300 in total. One word per card, so nothing appears twice.

Do I need to read Hangul first?

It helps, but the romanisation on every card means you can start before you are fluent at reading. The fronts are Hangul only on purpose: recognising the written word is what the exam tests, and romanisation you lean on for too long becomes a habit that slows reading down.

Why are adjectives labelled descriptive verbs?

Because that is how they behave. 크다 is not used the way an English adjective is; it conjugates and can end a sentence on its own. Labelling it a verb on the card is a reminder every time you see it, which is more useful than learning the rule once and forgetting it in conversation.

Is this enough to pass TOPIK I?

It covers the vocabulary layer thoroughly. Import it and open it daily, and the only words that come up are the ones you cannot yet produce. Spend the time that frees up on listening practice and on reading short passages, which is where TOPIK I marks are usually lost.

Editorial method and sources

Memly's editors use the primary sources below to check scope and terminology, then independently write and review the cards.

NIIED: TOPIK format and levels