The 60 most common Korean adverbs

These are the 60 adverbs among the 500 most common Korean words, in the order a corpus of everyday writing says you will meet them.

Meanings are given in English on this page. In the app they appear in your own language, translated on your device.

#	Word	Type	Meaning
31	안	Adverbs	not
43	아니	Adverbs	no; not
56	잘	Adverbs	well
61	못	Adverbs	cannot
71	보다	Adverbs	relatively, more
79	지금	Adverbs	now
82	어서	Adverbs	quickly
83	왜	Adverbs	why
86	좀	Adverbs	little while, short time
92	너무	Adverbs	too, excessively
94	그리고	Adverbs	and, also
98	및	Adverbs	and, additionally
105	함께	Adverbs	together
110	또	Adverbs	also
114	오늘	Adverbs	today
119	다시	Adverbs	again, once more
130	정말	Adverbs	really; truly
144	가장	Adverbs	most, -est
150	모두	Adverbs	all, wholly
151	사실	Adverbs	in fact, actually
154	많이	Adverbs	many, much, a lot, plenty, in abundance
155	바로	Adverbs	truly, without lie or deception
162	그냥	Adverbs	simply; just like that; just as it is
167	진짜	Adverbs	really; actually
205	처음	Adverbs	first-time
208	또한	Adverbs	also, too, furthermore
220	또는	Adverbs	if not; alternatively
227	현재	Adverbs	now, at present; currently
229	계속	Adverbs	continuously
231	아직	Adverbs	still
243	단	Adverbs	but, however
253	그래서	Adverbs	therefore, accordingly, because of that
266	근데	Adverbs	however; but
272	인제	Adverbs	now, but late (overdue); finally
288	약	Adverbs	approximately; about
291	결과	Adverbs	as a result of
292	도시	Adverbs	at all (in a negative context)
296	조금	Adverbs	a little; a bit
297	참	Adverbs	truly, really
301	그러나	Adverbs	but, however
304	없이	Adverbs	without, lacking
338	이미	Adverbs	already
342	내일	Adverbs	tomorrow
345	물론	Adverbs	of course, certainly, naturally
352	그럼	Adverbs	then, in that case
373	꼭	Adverbs	absolutely; surely
379	역시	Adverbs	too, also
390	항상	Adverbs	always
394	거의	Adverbs	almost, nearly
398	먼저	Adverbs	first in time or sequence
408	아주	Adverbs	very
428	매우	Adverbs	very, extremely
436	직접	Adverbs	directly
440	결국	Adverbs	in the end, ultimately
467	그래도	Adverbs	nevertheless
484	씩	Adverbs	with a grin
486	얼마나	Adverbs	how long, how much, how many
487	잘못	Adverbs	erroneously
490	특히	Adverbs	in particular, notably
498	완전	Adverbs	absolutely, completely, totally

All 500 A1 words are on this page, free, with no sign-up.

The rest of the list

A2A2 Beginner: 500 more words-느 · 공격 · 그런데 · 급 · 모델
B1B1 Intermediate: 750 more words차례 · 처 · 출연 · 포기 · 경
B2B2 Upper intermediate: 750 more words서버 · 성우 · 신용 · 실력 · 웃음

A2 to B2 are part of Oqou Pro, in the app, where you can also send any word straight into spaced review and meet it again on the day you are about to forget it.

Where this comes from

The order is measured: it comes from how often each word appears in a large corpus, counted across all the forms of a word rather than each form separately, so a verb is ranked where you really meet it. The band edges are a convention rather than a measurement. Nothing says word 501 is harder than word 500; the levels are cut where established graded reader series cut theirs.

wordfreq 3.1 (frequency order) + en.wiktionary via kaikki.org (part of speech, gender, gloss). Corpus read on 2026-09-16.

Questions

Where does the order come from?

From how often each word appears in a large corpus of everyday writing. Frequency is counted across all the forms of a word and attributed to the dictionary form, so a verb is ranked where a reader really meets it rather than being spread thinly over a dozen endings.

Why are these lists shorter than the ones with 5,000 or 10,000 words?

Because past about 2,500 a frequency rank stops meaning much. Rank 6,000 in a web corpus is not a harder word, it is a word that happens to be common in journalism. Established graded reader series top out near 2,500 headwords for the same reason.

Is every word in the list a real dictionary word?

Yes. Every headword is checked against the language's own Wiktionary entry, which is where the part of speech, the gender and the meaning come from. That check is what removes the proper nouns, single letters and corpus noise that raw frequency lists are full of.

Do I need the app?

Not for this page. The A1 list is free here and free in the app. A2 to B2 are part of Oqou Pro, and the app is also where a word can go from a list into a review queue, which is the part a page cannot do.

Has a native speaker checked these?

Not yet. The frequency order and the part of speech are mechanical, and the meanings come from a dictionary rather than being written by hand, but nothing here has been through native review. If you spot a meaning that is technically right and practically useless, we would like to hear about it.