전(電): One Hanja Root, Ten Korean Words
Written and reviewed by Jun and Jin, native Korean speakers
Published · How we write & review
After this page, you can recognize the 전(電) root and decode new electricity- and phone-related words built from it.
10-second answer
The short answer
전 (jeon) here comes from 電, the character for "electricity." Almost every modern-tech word carries it: 전화 (jeonhwa, phone = electric + speech), 전기 (jeongi, electricity), 전철 (jeoncheol, electric rail = subway), 충전 (chungjeon, charging). Spot 전 in a word about devices or power and you can usually guess it — like 학(學) (hak) for school words. But 전 is also the reading of 前 (before), 全 (whole) and 戰 (war), so the rule is "tech context → 電."
Quick check — did that land?
1. Which word does NOT contain the electricity root 電?
충전, 전화, 전기! Here's a useful secret.
Words Built on 전(電)
| Word | Breakdown | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 전화 (jeonhwa) | 전(electric) + 화(speech) | Telephone; a phone call |
| 전기 (jeongi) | 전(electric) + 기(energy) | Electricity |
| 전철 (jeoncheol) | 전(electric) + 철(iron/rail) | Electric rail — the everyday word for the subway alongside 지하철 |
| 충전 (chungjeon) | 충(fill) + 전(electric) | Charging (a phone, a transit card, a balance) |
| 전자 (jeonja) | 전(electric) + 자(particle) | Electron; electronic — 전자레인지 microwave, 전자책 e-book |
| 가전 (gajeon) | 가(home) + 전(electric) | Home appliances (가전제품) |
| 전등 (jeondeung) | 전(electric) + 등(lamp) | Electric light |
| 정전 (jeongjeon) | 정(stop) + 전(electric) | Power outage |
| 발전 (baljeon) | 발(emit) + 전(electric) | Power generation (발전소 power plant) — also 'development' with 展, same sound |
| 무선 충전 (museon chungjeon) | 무선(wireless) + 충전 | Wireless charging |
See also: 학(學): One Hanja Root, Ten Korean Words
Same Sound, Different Character
This is the root where learners get burned by homophones. 전 in 전화 is 電, but 전 in 전에 ("before"), 전부 ("all"), 전쟁 ("war") and 전통 ("tradition") are four different characters that merely share the sound. You don't need to memorize the hanja themselves — just use the surrounding word as the clue. If the word is about power, devices, phones, or transport, read 전 as electricity. If it's about time or quantity, it isn't. Korean speakers navigate this by context without ever thinking about the characters, and you can too.
Why 충전 shows up outside electronics
Because 충전 literally means "fill with power," it stretched to anything you top up: 교통카드 충전 (loading a transit card), 포인트 충전 (adding points), and even 에너지 충전 for a person recharging with a nap or a coffee.
Quick Examples
핸드폰 배터리가 없어서 충전 좀 해도 돼요?
haendeupon baeteoriga eopseoseo chungjeon jom haedo dwaeyo?
My phone's dead — can I charge it here?
충전하다 is the verb; 충전기 is the charger, one of the first words every traveler needs.
어젯밤에 우리 동네 정전됐어요.
eojetbame uri dongne jeongjeondwaesseoyo.
Our neighborhood had a power outage last night.
정전되다 — "electricity stopped." Both syllables are 電-family logic once you know the root.
전철 타고 갈까요, 버스 타고 갈까요?
jeoncheol tago galkkayo, beoseu tago galkkayo?
Shall we take the subway or the bus?
전철 and 지하철 are interchangeable in casual speech; 전철 is slightly more common in the Seoul metro area.
Common Mistakes
Mistake #1 — Reading every 전 as 'electric'
전에 (before), 전부 (all), 전쟁 (war) use different characters. Context — power/devices vs. time/quantity — tells you which.
Mistake #2 — Mixing up 전화 and 전화기
전화 is the call or the concept (전화하다 = to call); 전화기 is the physical phone. In casual speech 핸드폰/휴대폰 replaces 전화기 for mobiles.
Mini Quiz
2. What does 정전 mean?
3. Why can 충전 be used for a transit card as well as a phone?
Related Knowledge
Learn Next
Put the 전 root to work — the SIM card walkthrough is full of 전화, 충전, and 전화번호.
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