Unnie (언니) is used when you’re a female and talking to other older females. You can call your older male friends “oppa”, even if you’re not talking to them directly. If you’re a female, you can use this to refer to your boyfriend, brothers, or friends. Oppa (오빠) is used when you’re a female and you’re talking to or about older males. On the other hand, if you are in a Korean restaurant, even if the (usually older female) waitresses are strangers to you, it’s not weird for men to call them by 누나 (noona) and women by 언니 (unnie), regardless of the age difference. You might want to refrain from using oppa, hyung, noona, and unnie when meeting people first. Whenever you refer to them in a conversation with someone else, you should attach one of these terms after the person’s name you are talking about. If there are decades worth of age differences between you two, these terms are less likely to be used.Įven if you’re not talking directly to the people you call oppa, hyung, noona, and unnie. In romanized English, you can spell the word as “ noona.” However, you may also see 누나 in romanized English as “nuna.” When To Use Oppa (오빠), Unnie (언니), Hyung (형), and Noona (누나) Listen here: 누나 (noona) = older sister (males speaking to older females) How to write noona in Korean The Korean word for “older sister” can be pronounced as noona (누나). If you’re a woman and an older sister of a male sibling, your younger brother will also call you noona.

So, if you’re a man who has a female friend older than you are, you call her noona. For example, 누나 (noona) is used to address an older female for males, even if she is not your sister by blood. A younger brother or a younger man will use the Korean word 누나 (noona) to address a female friend who is older.

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