잘생기다

Korean

Etymology

From 잘 (jal, “well”) and 생기다 (saenggida, “to happen; to appear”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕa̠ɭsʰɛŋɡida̠] ~ [t͡ɕa̠ɭsʰe̞ŋɡida̠]
• Phonetic hangul: [잘생기다/잘셍기다]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	jalsaenggida
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	jalsaenggida
McCune–Reischauer?	chalsaenggida
Yale Romanization?	cal.sayngkita

Verb

잘생기다 • (jalsaenggida) (infinitive 잘생겨 or 잘생기어, sequential 잘생기니)

1. to be or become handsome, good-looking, beautiful

Usage notes

Always used in past tense, 잘생겼다 (jalsaenggyeotda), meaning “to be handsome”. It has been reclassified as a verb in 2017 by the National Institute of Korean Language, because 잘생겼다 (jalsaenggyeotda) as an adjective could imply "someone used to look good, but not now."

Conjugation

    Selected forms of the verb 잘생기다 (jalsaenggida): vowel-stem, regular

Sentence-final forms
		Formal non-polite (해라체)	Informal non-polite (해체)	Informal polite (해요체)	Formal polite (하십시오체)
Indicative	Non-past	잘생긴다 jalsaengginda	잘생겨 jalsaenggyeo	잘생겨요, 잘생기어요 jalsaenggyeoyo, jalsaenggieoyo	잘생깁니다 jalsaenggimnida
	Past	잘생겼다 jalsaenggyeotda	잘생겼어 jalsaenggyeosseo	잘생겼어요 jalsaenggyeosseoyo	잘생겼습니다 jalsaenggyeotseumnida
Interrogative	Non-past	잘생기느냐 jalsaenggineunya	잘생겨 jalsaenggyeo	잘생겨요, 잘생기어요 jalsaenggyeoyo, jalsaenggieoyo	잘생깁니까 jalsaenggimnikka
	Past	잘생겼느냐 jalsaenggyeonneunya	잘생겼어 jalsaenggyeosseo	잘생겼어요 jalsaenggyeosseoyo	잘생겼습니까 jalsaenggyeotseumnikka
Hortative		잘생기자 jalsaenggija	잘생겨 jalsaenggyeo	잘생겨요, 잘생기어요 jalsaenggyeoyo, jalsaenggieoyo	잘생기십시다 jalsaenggisipsida
Imperative		잘생겨라, 잘생기어라 jalsaenggyeora, jalsaenggieora	잘생겨 jalsaenggyeo	잘생겨요, 잘생기어요 jalsaenggyeoyo, jalsaenggieoyo	잘생깁시오 jalsaenggipsio
Assertive		잘생기겠다 jalsaenggigetda	잘생기겠어 jalsaenggigesseo	잘생기겠어요 jalsaenggigesseoyo	잘생기겠습니다 jalsaenggigetseumnida
Connective forms
Cause/Reason		잘생겨 jalsaenggyeo	잘생겨서, 잘생기어서 jalsaenggyeoseo, jalsaenggieoseo	잘생기니 jalsaenggini	잘생기니까 jalsaengginikka
Contrast		잘생기지만 jalsaenggijiman	잘생기는데 jalsaenggineunde	잘생기더니 jalsaenggideoni
Conjunction		잘생기고 jalsaenggigo
Condition		잘생기면 jalsaenggimyeon	잘생겨야, 잘생기어야 jalsaenggyeoya, jalsaenggieoya
Motive		잘생기려고 jalsaenggiryeogo
Noun and determiner forms
Verbal nouns		잘생김 jalsaenggim	잘생기기 jalsaenggigi
Past-tense verbal nouns		잘생겼음, 잘생기었음 jalsaenggyeosseum, jalsaenggieosseum	잘생겼기, 잘생기었기 jalsaenggyeotgi, jalsaenggieotgi
Determiners	Past	잘생긴 jalsaenggin
	Present	잘생기는 jalsaenggineun
	Future	잘생길 jalsaenggil

Sentence-final forms with honorific
		Formal non-polite (해라체)	Informal non-polite (해체)	Informal polite (해요체)	Formal polite (하십시오체)
Indicative	Non-past	잘생기신다 jalsaenggisinda	잘생기셔 jalsaenggisyeo	잘생기세요, 잘생기셔요 jalsaenggiseyo, jalsaenggisyeoyo	잘생기십니다 jalsaenggisimnida
	Past	잘생기셨다 jalsaenggisyeotda	잘생기셨어 jalsaenggisyeosseo	잘생기셨어요 jalsaenggisyeosseoyo	잘생기셨습니다 jalsaenggisyeotseumnida
Interrogative	Non-past	잘생기시느냐 jalsaenggisineunya	잘생기셔 jalsaenggisyeo	잘생기세요, 잘생기셔요 jalsaenggiseyo, jalsaenggisyeoyo	잘생기십니까 jalsaenggisimnikka
	Past	잘생기셨느냐 jalsaenggisyeonneunya	잘생기셨어 jalsaenggisyeosseo	잘생기셨어요 jalsaenggisyeosseoyo	잘생기셨습니까 jalsaenggisyeotseumnikka
Imperative		잘생기시라 jalsaenggisira	잘생기셔 jalsaenggisyeo	잘생기세요 jalsaenggiseyo	잘생기십시오 jalsaenggisipsio
Assertive		잘생기시겠다 jalsaenggisigetda	잘생기시겠어 jalsaenggisigesseo	잘생기시겠어요 jalsaenggisigesseoyo	잘생기시겠습니다 jalsaenggisigetseumnida
Connective forms with honorific
Cause/Reason		잘생기셔 jalsaenggisyeo	잘생기셔서 jalsaenggisyeoseo	잘생기시니 jalsaenggisini	잘생기시니까 jalsaenggisinikka
Contrast		잘생기시지만 jalsaenggisijiman	잘생기시는데 jalsaenggisineunde	잘생기시더니 jalsaenggisideoni
Conjunction		잘생기시고 jalsaenggisigo
Condition		잘생기시면 jalsaenggisimyeon	잘생기셔야 jalsaenggisyeoya
Motive		잘생기시려고 jalsaenggisiryeogo
Noun and determiner forms with honorific
Verbal nouns		잘생기심 jalsaenggisim	잘생기시기 jalsaenggisigi
Past-tense verbal nouns		잘생기셨음 jalsaenggisyeosseum	잘생기셨기 jalsaenggisyeotgi
Determiners	Past	잘생기신 jalsaenggisin
	Present	잘생기시는 jalsaenggisineun
	Future	잘생기실 jalsaenggisil

Synonyms

• (straight, clean): 반반하다 (banbanhada, “pretty, good-looking”), 반듯하다 (bandeuthada, “pretty, good-looking”)
• (stylish): 멋있다 (meositda, “cool, stylish, wonderful”)
• (long and smooth): 훤칠하다 (hwonchilhada, “attractively tall”)

Antonyms

• 못생기다 (motsaenggida, “to be ugly”)