Korean Days of the Week (and the Planets Inside Them)
Written and reviewed by Jun and Jin, native Korean speakers
Published · How we write & review
After this page, you can name all seven Korean days and remember them by the planets hidden inside each one.
10-second answer
The short answer
Korean days all end in 요일 (yoil, "day of the week"), and the first syllable names a celestial body or classical element: 월 (wol, moon), 화 (hwa, fire/Mars), 수 (su, water/Mercury), 목 (mok, wood/Jupiter), 금 (geum, metal/Venus), 토 (to, earth/Saturn), 일 (il, sun). So Monday is 월요일 (woryoil) — literally "moon day," just like in English.
Quick check — did that land?
1. What is Wednesday in Korean?
월요일. Monday has a secret hiding inside its Korean name
The Full Week
| Korean | Day | First syllable means |
|---|---|---|
| 월요일 (woryoil) | Monday | 월 — moon |
| 화요일 (hwayoil) | Tuesday | 화 — fire (Mars) |
| 수요일 (suyoil) | Wednesday | 수 — water (Mercury) |
| 목요일 (mogyoil) | Thursday | 목 — wood (Jupiter) |
| 금요일 (geumyoil) | Friday | 금 — metal/gold (Venus) |
| 토요일 (toyoil) | Saturday | 토 — earth/soil (Saturn) |
| 일요일 (iryoil) | Sunday | 일 — sun |
The memory hook: Monday = moon day and Sunday = sun day work EXACTLY like English. The middle five follow the classical five elements (fire, water, wood, metal, earth) — the same system used in Japanese day names.
Print the free Korean days and months chart to keep the whole week, in native handwriting, on one page.
See also: 무슨 vs 어느 vs 어떤
Using Them in Sentences
Bonus Vocabulary
- 주말 (jumal) — weekend · 평일 (pyeongil) — weekday
- 오늘 (oneul) — today · 내일 (naeil) — tomorrow · 어제 (eoje) — yesterday
- 이번 주 (ibeon ju) — this week · 다음 주 (daeum ju) — next week · 지난주 (jinanju) — last week
Common Mistakes
Mistake #1 — Forgetting the particle 에 with days
"On Friday" needs 에: 금요일에 만나요, not 금요일 만나요 (understood, but the particle is standard).
Mistake #2 — Pronouncing 월요일 as three separate blocks
It flows as wo-ryo-il — the ㄹ carries over to the next syllable in natural speech.
Mini Quiz
2. What does the 월 in 월요일 literally mean?
3. How do you ask "What day is it today?"
4. Match each day to its Korean name.
Related Knowledge
Learn Next
Days down — months are even easier (number + 월), with exactly two sneaky exceptions.
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