How to Say Goodbye in Korean

(Korean) 안녕히 가세요, 안녕히 계세요
(English) Goodbye, See you
(Japanese) さよなら、またね


반말 Casual language タメ口
안녕

비격식 존댓말 Polite language for daily conversation 非格式体の敬語
안녕히 가세요, 안녕히 계세요

격식 존댓말 Formal language for writing and business 格式体の敬語
안녕히 가십시오, 안녕히 계십시오


대화 Conversations 会話
A: 안녕히 계세요.
B: 안녕히 가세요.

 

When you say “goodbye” in formal/polite Korean, there are two types of expressions, and both of these expressions have the word 안녕 in them. 안녕 means well-being, peace, and health.

One is when you are the one who is leaving. The other is when you are the one who is staying and you are seeing the people or the person leaving.

If you are leaving and the other person is (or the other people are) staying, you can say:
안녕히 계세요. or 안녕히 계십시오.

If you are staying, and the other person is (or the other people are) leaving, you can say:
안녕히 가세요. or 안녕히 가십시오.

But If two or more people meet and all of them are leaving and going in separate directions, they can all say 안녕히 가세요 to each other since no one is staying.

For now, do not worry about the literal meaning of the expressions and just learn them as they are. However if you are really curious and if you were to translate these greetings literally, they would be translated like this:

안녕히 계세요 means "Stay in peace".
안녕히 가세요 means "Go in peace".

Again, do not worry about the literal meaning of these greetings JUST YET!


敬語の韓国語で「さようなら」と言う時、２種類の表現がありますが、どちらの表現にも「안녕」という言葉が入っています。안녕 は、元気、安泰、平和を意味します。

まず一つは、相手がその場所に残っていて、自分は立ち去る時です。もう一つは、自分はその場所に残っていて、相手がその場を立ち去る時です。

相手はその場所に残っていて、自分がその場を立ち去る場合は、こう言います。
안녕히 계세요. または、안녕히 계십시오.

自分はその場所に残っていて、相手がその場を立ち去る場合は、次のように言うことができます。
안녕히 가세요. または、안녕히 가십시오.

しかし、二人以上の人が会っていて全員がそのばを出て解散する場合は、その場には誰も残っていないことになるので、お互いに 안녕히 가세요 と言えます。

とりあえず、表現の文字通りの意味は気にせず、そのまま覚えましょう。しかし、もし本当に意味に興味があって、これらの挨拶を文字通りに訳すとしたら、次のように訳されます。

안녕히 계세요（안녕히 가세요）は「元気でお帰りください」という意味です。
안녕히 가세요（안녕히 계세요）は「元気で居てください」という意味です。

繰り返しになりますが、これらの挨拶の文字通りの意味は気にしないでください。