여자 vs 여자 아이 vs 소녀 | 소녀 vs 소년

KSJ 쌤
Jan 23
3 min read

안녕하세요 리더님! I’m KoreanStudyJunkie.

Recently, one of my students asked me what the difference was between “woman” and “girls” was in Korean. Obviously, I know the word for “woman” and I know the word for “girl”, but there’s a deeper question there - a cultural question about which is used and in which situations. In America, we tend to use girls a lot as an all encompassing word for women of all ages, but that may be different in Korea, so let’s look into that today!

First, let’s look at the words..

여자

Meaning: adult female

English: woman

Refers to an adult
Neutral and commonly used
Appropriate in both formal and casual situations

Examples:

She is a woman.

저 여자는 한국 사람이에요.

I met a woman at the café.

여자 친구랑 여행을 갔어요.

여자 아이

Meaning: female child

English: girl / little girl

Emphasizes that the person is a child
Very literal: “woman + child”
Neutral and descriptive

Examples:

The little girl is playing in the park.

공원에서 여자 아이들이 놀고 있어요.

She is a girl.

그 여자 아이는 다섯 살이에요.

소녀

Meaning: young girl / maiden

English: girl, sometimes young girl or maiden

More emotional, poetic, or literary
Focuses on youth, innocence, or image, not just age
Can describe a young woman in a romantic or nostalgic way

Examples:

The novel is about a young girl.

그 소설의 주인공은 열여섯 살 소녀예요.

She still has a girl-like heart.

그녀는 아직도 소녀 같은 마음을 가지고 있어요.

NOTE:

The same mindset applies for the opposite sex

남자 - man

남자 아이 - boy

소년 - boy

CULTURAL USAGE DIFFERENCES

English (American usage)

In the U.S., “girls” is often used as an all-purpose, casual word for women of many ages.

Examples:

“I’m going out with the girls.” (all adults)
“She’s a nice girl.” (adult woman)
“Girls’ night”

This sounds friendly, casual, and normal, not childish. Although, some people take offense to the word “girl”, most people don’t think of it as a negative thing.

Korean usage

In Korean, you CANNOT use one word like that across all ages.

여자 = safe default for adults

Neutral and respectful
Used for adult women

Using 여자 for an adult is normal and polite.

여자 아이 = only for children

Strictly means female child
Using this for an adult would be wrong, not casual

소녀 = age-limited & stylistic

Usually refers to young girls
Or used poetically / nostalgically
Calling an adult woman 소녀 in real life often sounds cringey, romanticized, or inappropriate

Calling adult women 아이 / 소녀 in Korean can feel infantilizing, old-fashioned, or like something from novels, ads, or male-gaze language

This is very different from casual American English.

Of course I can’t generalize every female-presenting person in Korea, some people may not care as much as others!

A NOTE TO ENGLISH SPEAKERS

If you would say “girl” in English about an adult woman, DO NOT translate it directly into Korean.

You can use 여자 (as a general usage)

Or better yet, avoid gender labels and use 그 사람 (that person), 친구 (friend), 동료 (coworker), etc.

여기까지예요! That’s all for this post. I hope you learned something new. If you want to keep learning, I have linked 3 posts I think you’d like below.

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