-고프다 = want to | What 배고프다 really means

안녕하세요 리더님! Koreanstudyjunkie입니다|

The other day while I was reading a Korean novel, I stumbled across a word that had -고프다 attached. After looking it up, I realized it meant "want to". I was really confused, so I decided to make this lesson on it.

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What is 고프다?

고프다 originally means “to be empty” or “to crave,” and is most commonly seen in the form 배고프다 (hungry = stomach-empty).

Over time, it also began to be attached to verb stems to express a deep, almost instinctual desire to do something— especially in older or poetic Korean.

Examples:

• 배고프다 = to be hungry (literally: stomach-empty)

• 목이 고프다 (less common, poetic) = to be thirsty (literally: throat-empty)

• 자고프다 = to crave sleep

• 먹고프다 = to really want to eat

• 울고프다 = to feel like crying

• 떠나고프다 = to long to leave/go away

It can also be translated as "to thirst for" and "to desire"

Examples:

사랑이 고프다

To thirst for love

Desire love

사람이 고프다

To thirst for human contact, Desire human contact

These days, most of these are replaced by -고 싶다, but 고프다 is still used in:

• Literary or poetic texts

• Lyrics or storytelling

• Emotional, instinctive desires (especially in older or rural dialects)

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How does 고프다 work grammatically?

Structure:

• Verb stem + -고프다

• Treated like an adjective (descriptive verb)

While searching for examples, mostly just 배가 고프다 would show up, but I tried to find as many good ones as I could.

Example Sentences:

잠이 고파서 아무 데서나 잘 수 있을 것 같아. (I’m so sleep-deprived I feel like I could sleep anywhere.)

여행이 고픈 계절이야. (It’s the season when I crave travel.)

아침을 안 먹었더니 무척 배가 고팠다. (I skipped breakfast, so I was really hungry.)

휴식이 고픈 하루였어. (It was a day I desperately needed rest.)

자유가 고픈 청춘들이 거리로 나왔어요. (Youth hungry for freedom came out to the streets.)

종이라도 씹어 먹을 수 있을 정도로 배가 고팠다. (I was so hungry I could have chewed and eaten even paper.)

목이 너무 고파서 물만 봐도 행복해. (I’m so thirsty that just seeing water makes me happy.)

사랑이 고픈 사람이었어요. (He was someone starved for love.)

나는 너무 배가 고파서 눈앞에 보이는 음식점에 무작정 들어갔다. (I was so hungry that I just walked into the first restaurant I saw.)

자극이 고파서 새로운 걸 찾아다녔어. (I was craving stimulation, so I went looking for something new.)

칭찬이 고픈 아이는 작은 말에도 기뻐해요. (A child craving praise is happy even with small compliments.)

가: 너 왜 이렇게 힘이 없어 보이니?

나: 하루 종일 굶어서 배가 고파서 그래

A: Why do you look so out of energy?

B: I haven’t eaten all day, so I’m hungry—that’s why.

위로가 고픈 날이었어. (Today was a day I needed comfort badly.)

인정이 고픈 마음이 때론 실수를 만들죠. (A heart craving validation sometimes leads to mistakes.)

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That's all for this lesson! Incase you stumbled upon this phrase and were curious, I hope I was able to clear it up for you a bit.

If you scroll a bit, you'll see 3 lessons I have hand-picked just for you.