Lingo Kaiava

What does "언니" mean?unnie

Older sister — said only by a woman.

Language
🇰🇷 Korean
Romanized
ON-nee
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How it's actually used

A woman calls any older woman 언니 — sister, friend, a favourite shop owner, an older coworker. It is warm and used constantly. Shop staff will even call customers 언니 to be friendly.

Examples

Where it comes from

The female counterpart to 누나, completing the pair that 오빠 and 형 make for men.

Before you say it

Only from a woman. A man saying 언니 is a well-known beginner slip — he needs 누나.

Now actually use it out loud

Reading a definition isn't the same as saying it to someone. Lingo Kaiava is a voice tutor set to Korean — it uses 언니 the way locals do, corrects you in the moment, and never "fixes" the way real people actually talk into textbook Korean.

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