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Korean vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "how have you been" in Korean?
잘 지냈어?
jal jinaesseo?
In Korean, "how have you been" is 잘 지냈어? (jal jinaesseo?).
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Pronunciation
Say it as four quick beats, "jal jee-nae-ssuh," with the stress falling gently on "nae" and the whole phrase rising slightly at the end like a real question.
Writing and usage
잘 지냈어? is written using hangul. It's a phrase, and this word is also taught inside the Noun Town language learning game, where it appears in interactive lessons alongside hundreds of other everyday words.
Example sentence
how have you been
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How to remember 잘 지냈어?
Picture a friend grabbing your shoulders and asking "jal?" — jolly, jaunty, just checking in on you.
Related words
- good morning 좋은 아침입니다 joeun achimipnida
- good afternoon 안녕하세요 annyeonghaseyo
- good evening 안녕하세요 annyeonghaseyo
- good night 안녕히 주무세요 annyeonghi jumuseyo
- how is it going 어떻게 되고 있나요? eotteoke doego itnayo?
- whats up 무슨 일이야 museun iriya
- its nice outside today 오늘 밖이 좋아 oneul bakki joa
- the weather is nice 날씨가 좋다 nalssiga jota
- what are you doing this weekend 이번 주말에 뭐 할 거야? ibeon jumare mwo hal geoya?
Browse all Korean words in the glossary.
Questions about 잘 지냈어?
How do you pronounce 잘 지냈어??
Say it as four quick beats, "jal jee-nae-ssuh," with the stress falling gently on "nae" and the whole phrase rising slightly at the end like a real question.
Is 잘 지냈어? formal or casual?
잘 지냈어? is a common everyday expression. Context and tone of voice matter more than the words themselves for how formal it sounds.
How is 잘 지냈어? written in Korean?
잘 지냈어? is written using hangul. Romanised, it reads as jal jinaesseo?.
Where can I practice Korean words for free?
You can play free Korean minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, with no sign-up needed. Every word in the Korean glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.
"How have you been" in other languages
Curated by Callan Ratcliffe
This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Korean language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation. Want to play the full game? Get Noun Town on Steam.
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