Everyday Korean – How to say “it hurts” or “it’s painful” in Korean.
아파요 Ah Pa Yo. – It hurts/ It’s painful.
In this episode, we will learn how to say “it hurts” or “it’s painful” in Korean. We say,
아파요 Ah Pa Yo.
To your friends or people younger than you, you just say 아파 Ah Pa.
Let’s say, you have a stomachache, in Korean, you say
배 아파요. Bae Ah Pa Yo.
배 Bae is stomach in Korean.
So, you put the part of your body that hurts in front of 아파요.
Let’s say, you want to say your legs hurt. You say,
다리 아파요. Da Ri Ah Pa Yo.
다리 (Da Ri ) means legs.
Another example can be, you have a headache. You say,
머리 아파요. Maw Ri Ah Pa Yo.
Let’s say you want to say “you have a backache.” You say,
허리 아파요. Hor Ri Ah Pa Yo.
There is a Korean song, called “아파 It hurts” by Korean girl group, 2NE1, and you may want to check it out! 
This song is a sad song about breakup and how much it hurts.
Summary:
It hurts or it’s painful. – 아파요 Ah Pa Yo.
I have a stomachache. – 배 아파요 Bae Ah Pa Yo
My legs hurt. – 다리 아파요 Da Ri Ah Pa Yo.
I have a headache. – 머리 아파요. Maw Ri Ah Pa Yo.
I have a backache. - 허리 아파요. Hor Ri Ah Pa Yo.
To say to your friends/people younger than you, 아파 Ah Pa.
Please leave a comment if you have any questions. Happy Studying!
Is there a phrase in Korean (Hangul) for “How are you?”, as in “Hello! How are you?” and “How are you feeling?” Are those translated into seprate phrases?
You can say, 잘 지내요? (Jal Ji Neh Yo)? You can use this expression for all of ‘how are you?’ ‘how are you feeling?’.
Thanks for the post~ Just wondering though.. what’s the difference in pronunciation in 아파 (it hurts) from 아빠 (dad)? They both some really similar to me, how can you tell the difference?.. Or do you just know through context?
Hi Jesselle, thanks for your question. The pronunciation of 아파 (it hurts) is ‘Ah Pa’. So it’s P sound. For 아빠 (dad) is ‘Ah Ppa’. It is ‘double P’ sound so you need to pronounce P more strongly. It’s two different pronunciation so people would know what it means, not through the context. Hope this helps!
I love to learn Korean language !! Thanks !!
Thank you!
Isn’t ‘appa’ also father? Wouldn’t these sound similar?
Hello, yes..’Appa’ means dad, but it sounds with duoble P, so it has a stronger ‘P’ sound. For it hurts ‘apa’, it has only one P sound. It may sound similar but it’s different.
Thank you for teaching me korean language in such an easy way…
Hello
I’m learning korean,and I have many questions, but I’ll start with this one: if someone tells you thanx ,how to say “I did nothing”
Thank you
Hi Hanan, Thanks for your question. Usually, when someone says “thank you” in Korean, you can just say 괜찮아요. (Gwen Chan Ah Yo) which means ‘It’s OK.’
Instead of “I did nothing”, saying 괜찮아요 is more common.
But, if you insist that you want to say meaning “I did nothing”, you can say, 아무것도 안 했어요. “Ah Moo Gut Do Ahn Hat Sso Yo”. I think people would find it weird if you say this.
Another way to say is “You’re welcome” in return of “Thank you”, you can say, 천만에요. ( Chun Mahn Ae Yo.)
Hope this helps! 감사합니다.