Lesson 8

Unit 22. 집 vs. 주택

Translations:
집 = house / home
주택 = house / housing

집 is a generic word for house, and 주택 is house or housing. As 주택 is a more formal word, it is usually used in a professional term or on a legal document. In everyday conversations, however, 주택 tends to be used to refer to single/detached houses in order to differentiate it from apartment houses.

Example #1
주택에 살아요, 아파트에 살아요? = Do you live in a house, or in an apartment?
집에 살아요, 아파트에 살아요? (incorrect)

Example #2
저 집에 가는 길이에요. = I am on my way home.
저 주택에 가는 길이에요. (incorrect)

Example #3
저는 주택에 살아 본 적이 없어요. = I’ve never lived in a house.
저는 집에 살아 본 적이 없어요. (incorrect)

Unit 23. 아빠 vs. 아버지 (엄마 vs. 어머니)

Translations:
아빠 = dad / daddy / father
아버지 = father
엄마 = mom / mommy / mother
어머니 = mother

아빠 is closer to “dad” or “daddy”, and 아버지 is closer to “father,” and they both can also be used when you address your own father. Since 아버지 is a more formal and mature word, people call their father 아빠 when they are little, but start to call him 아버지 when they grow older. It depends on the family, but men tend to call their father 아버지 more often than women do. The same thing applies to 엄마 (mom) and 어머니 (mother).

Example #1
“Dad, what are you doing?”
아빠, 뭐 해? (casual, natural)
아버지, 뭐 하세요? (polite, natural)
아빠, 뭐 하세요? (polite, natural)
아버지, 뭐 해? (incorrect)

Example #2
저도 아빠가 되었어요. = “I’ve also become a father.”
“저도 아버지가 되었어요. (unnatural)

Example #3
“Mom and dad”
엄마 아빠 (natural)
엄마 아버지 (natural)
아빠 엄마 (natural)
아빠 어머니 (unnatural)

Unit 24. 아버지 vs. 아버님 (어머니 vs. 어머님)

Translations:
아버지 = father
아버님 = father-in-law / other people’s father
어머니 = mother
어머님 = mother-in-law / other people’s mother

아버지 means father, and it is also how you address your own father. 아버님 is an honorific word for 아버지, but you can only use it to address another person’s father, such as your father-in-law or your friend's father. You can use 아버님 for your own father only when you write a letter to him or when you mention him to other people after he passes away. The same thing applies to 어머니 and 어머님.

Example #1
저희 아버지는 올해 은퇴하셨어요. = My father retired this year.
저희 아버님은 올해 은퇴하셨어요. = My father-in-law retired this year.

Example #2
경화 씨 아버님, 여기 앉으세요. = (To Kyung-hwa’s father) Please sit here.
경화 씨 아버지, 여기 앉으세요. (incorrect)

Example #3
어머님 아버님 여러분 어서오세요. = Parents, welcome!
어머니 아버지 여러분 어서오세요. (incorrect)