TeacherJoy

Let’s learn how to express “lucky” in Korean. In many cases, English adjectives are set sentence patterns in Korean.

• tall: 키가 크다
• full: 배가 부르다
• tasty: 맛이 있다
• fun: 재미가 있다.

Many of these sentences now became fixed words:

• 배가 부르다 → 배부르다
• 맛이 있다 → 맛있다
• 재미가 있다 → 재미있다

To say “I’m lucky” in Korean, we say ‘운이 좋아요’. Here, ‘운’ is a Sino-Korean word. Its root meaning is “to move.” I guess because luck isn’t static—it moves around!

Now, let’s see how swapping the verbs changes the vibe:

• 이번엔 운이 좋았어요. (I was lucky this time.)
• 이번엔 운이 없었어요. (I was unlucky this time.)
• 오늘은 진짜 운이 좋은 날이야. (Today is a really lucky day.)
• 오늘은 진짜 운이 없는 날이야. (Today is a really unlucky day.)

To say “lucky,” we use ‘운이 좋다’. For “unlucky,” we usually say ‘운이 없다’. Saying ‘운이 나쁘다’ or “운이 안 좋다” feels like you are placing a personal meaning on the luck you had. 

Luck always moves around, so if it didn’t come to you this time, it’ll surely come next time! Though saying ‘운이 나빴어요’ and “운이 안 좋았어요” are still perfectly fine to use.

If you search “lucky” or “unlucky” in a dictionary, you might also see the word ‘재수’. Be very careful with this!

Originally, ‘재수’ meant luck related to wealth. But because money is important to everyone, it expanded to mean general good luck.

Saying ‘재수가 좋다’ is totally fine like “와, 오늘 진짜 재수 좋았어.” (Wow, I was really lucky today.) But if you say ‘재수 없다’ or ‘재수 나쁘다’ about a person—like ‘재수 없는 사람’—it actually becomes an insult! 

It doesn’t mean “an unlucky person.” It means someone who is incredibly arrogant, selfish, or a show-off.