남자

namja · TOPIK 1

man, male

👨 남자 = 男子: nam (male) + ja (person), same word as Chinese nánzǐ

남 is the hanja 男 (male), also in 남편 (husband) and 남동생 (younger brother). 자 is 子 (person, child), which also ends 여자 (woman). Swap the first syllable and you flip the gender: 남자 man, 여자 woman.

More Korean words · How Korean works