🇺🇸 Translation
Happy new year! 🐉
📙 Lesson point
How to say “Happy new year” in Korean
Hello, everyone! Today, we’re going to learn thoroughly about the Korean way of saying “Happy new year” with the expression ‘새해 복 많이 받으세요.’ We’ll break this down and understand the words and syntax. First, we’ll learn about the meaning of ‘새해.’ Next, we’ll take a look at the word ‘복,’ which is a unique word that exists in Korea. Finally, we’ll learn about the adverb ‘많이’ and the verb ‘받다.’
After reading today’s post, not only will you be able to learn how to say “Happy new year!” in Korean, but you’ll also understand how this Korean expression is grammatically formed. Moreover, we’ll look into the actual expression that New Jeans used for their Instagram post. Let’s begin!
Korean noun ‘새해’
First, let’s take a look at the Korean noun ‘새해.’ This word means ‘new year.’ Here, ‘새-‘ is a Korean prefix that means ‘new.’ Let’s look at some examples to see how this prefix is used.
새 앨범 : New album
새 남자친구 : New boyfriend
새 신발 : New shoes
‘해’ is a noun that means ‘year’ in Korean. It is usually combined with the prefixes ‘새-‘ and ‘올-.’ There are multiple words that means ‘year’ in Korean, and this one is not really used independently.
올해 : This year
새해 : New year
Korean word ‘복’
Now, let’s go to the next word. ‘복’ is a unique Korean word that doesn’t have a word that has the exact same meaning in English. If you look it up on Korean dictionary, ‘복’ is defined as: “Satisfaction, happiness or the feeling of good luck that one can enjoy from life.”
This word gives very traditional vibes. If someone has a lot of ‘복’, it gives the nuance that the person is naturally given a lot of talent, happiness, or good luck by destiny. Simply put, ‘복’ can be translated as “Luck / Happiness.” Therefore, ‘새해 복’ would means “New year’s luck.”
Korean adverb ‘많이’
Now, let’s look at the Korean adverb ‘많이.’ It is an adjective that means “to be a lot” or “to be many.”
‘많이’ is the adverb form. it is probably one of the most frequently used adverbs in Korean language. Correct translation of ‘많이’ would be “in a manner that is large in quantity.” Simply put, it means “a lot.”
What is the verb that ‘많이’ is supplementing in the phrase ‘새해 복 많이 받으세요’? It would be ‘받다’ which we’ll learn next.
Korean verb ‘받다’
‘받다’ means “to receive” or “to take something that is given to someone.” There are multiple different ways to conjugate this verb into its imperative forms, ‘받으세요’ being one of them. It’s the most appropriate tone of speech in terms of politeness and formality. Here are some other conjugations you can use:
받아: Take it. Receive it.
(Casual, informal, and non-polite imperative)
다니엘, 전화 받아
= Hey, Danielle, answer the call
이제 질문 받아
= Now, take questions
여기 내 선물 받아
= Here, take my present
받아요: Take it please
(Casual, informal, but slightly politer with the ‘-요’ ending)
받으세요: Take it please
(Slighly more formal and definitely politer with ‘시/세’ honorifics)
받으십시오: Take it please
(The most formal and the politest. Sounds rigid. Used only when there’s a clear social hierarchy in the relationship between the people who are having the dialogue. For instance, you'd say this to your superior if you're a soldier)
Korean expression ‘새해 복 많이 받으세요’
Based on what we learned, let’s break down the expression ‘새해 복 많이 받으세요’ word by word.
새해 : new year
복 : luck
많이 : a lot
받으세요 : please receive
This would be an expression that says that you wish for the other person to receive a lot of good luck and happiness for the new year. If you change the verb conjugation at the end, you can make different versions of the same phrase.
새해 복 많이 받아 (Only to close friends)
새해 복 많이 받아요 (Slightly politer, so you’d use this for people to whom you’re close. In many instances, just adding the ‘요’ ending doesn’t seem polite enough)
새해 복 많이 받으세요 (Most common, most appropriate level of politeness)
새해 복 많이 받으십시오 (You’d say this to your superior if you’re a soldier)
New Jeans says: ‘새해 복 많이 받으세요’
To conclude, let’s now take a look at the post NewJeans posted on their Instagram. Based on what we learned before, we know that ‘새해 복 많이 받으세요’ is a politer version of ‘새해 복 많이 받아.’ Therefore, we can see that NewJeans is wishing good luck for the new year for their fans in a polite way. We can simply translate ‘새해 복 많이 받으세요!’ into “happy new year!” in English.