Annyeonghaseyo?
Hello everyone, so I went to visit Korea this last winter, with no knowledge of their language. I enjoyed my holiday and learned a word or two. But I am getting confused with the word annyeonghaseyo.When I enter a convenience store in Korea I usually get greeted with an "annyeonghaseyo" but when I leave they also greet me with "annyeonghaseyo". I first thought that this only means "hello" and that they have another word for saying goodbye.Maybe its me hearing something similar to that word "annyeonhaseyo" ? Or does this word have two meanings? Hello & goodbye? It would be nice if anyone can enlighten me. You have my thanks in advance :)Hj

Question

Annyeonghaseyo?
Hello everyone, so I went to visit Korea this last winter, with no knowledge of their language. I enjoyed my holiday and learned a word or two. But I am getting confused with the word annyeonghaseyo.When I enter a convenience store in Korea I usually get greeted with an "annyeonghaseyo" but when I leave they also greet me with "annyeonghaseyo". I first thought that this only means "hello" and that they have another word for saying goodbye.Maybe its me hearing something similar to  that word "annyeonhaseyo" ? Or does this word have two meanings? Hello & goodbye? It would be nice if anyone can enlighten me. You have my thanks in advance :)Hj

Answer

Hi, I'm Jina!

You're right.
안녕하세요 (An-nyeong-ha-se-yo) is Hello as you said,
 and 안녕히가세요 (An-nyeong-hee-ga-se-yo) is Bye.

It's common that Korean doesn't really pronounce them clearly. Sometimes you can only hear 하세요 (ha-se-yo) because they barely pronounce 안녕 (an-nyeong).

So it's possible that they just didn't pronounce 안녕히가세요 (An-nyeong-hee-ga-se-yo) clearly as well.

Even when I say 안녕히가세요 (An-nyeong-hee-ga-se-yo) fast, it sounds like [An-nyeo-e-ah-se-yo], almost like [An-nyeo-ah-se-yo].

You might be confused because of that and think that was 안녕하세요 (An-nyeong-ha-se-yo).

I hope it will help you (:

Answer

안녕하세요 literally means "Are you at peace?"

안녕 is interchangeable because it literally means just "peace", but if you want to be formal:

안녕히 가세요
-Literal meaning: Go in peace.

You would say this if you are staying and the other person is leaving.

안녕히 계세요
-Literal meaning: Stay in peace.

You would say this if you are leaving and the other person is staying.

Also, if you speak chinese, 안녕 was borrowed from 安寧. As you can see, they sound very alike.

Answer by: Miapapayapia