Allowance in Korean 🇰🇷

용돈 info.

Tips to Remember:
• Break the word into two parts: “용” (yong) and “돈” (don). Remember that “돈” means “money” and imagine “money for use” or “money given for everyday use” to recall that 용돈 means an allowance.
• Associate 용돈 with the idea of receiving a regular, small amount of money (like a “pocket money”) from parents or guardians.

Explanations:
• 용돈 (yong-don) specifically refers to an allowance—a set amount of money given regularly, often by parents to their children.
• It implies money provided for personal spending rather than for paying bills or major expenses.

Other Words with a Similar Meaning:
• Pocket money – the English equivalent for a small, regularly given sum.
• Spending money – another expression carrying a similar idea, though not a direct Korean synonym.

Alternate Meanings / Slang:
• In casual conversation, 용돈 can sometimes be used loosely to refer to any small amount of extra cash one has, not necessarily a formal allowance.
• Occasionally, it may be used humorously or sarcastically to describe money given in contexts where it isn’t strictly an “allowance” (for example, when someone refers to an unexpected cash gift as their “용돈”).

Examples of Sentences:
• I get my allowance every week.
→ 나는 매주 용돈을 받아요.
→ Naneun maeju yongdon-eul badayo.

• My parents give me some money so I can buy what I need.
→ 내 부모님은 내가 필요한 것을 살 수 있도록 용돈을 주셨어요.
→ Nae bumonimeun naega piryohan geoseul sal su itdorok yongdon-eul jusyeosseoyo.

• He uses his allowance to buy video games.
→ 그는 용돈을 사용해서 비디오 게임을 사요.
→ Geuneun yongdon-eul sayonghaeseo bidio geim-eul sayo.

a few seconds ago