Korean Phrases for a Health Checkup in Korea
A 건강검진 (geonganggeomjin, health checkup) is not something you go looking for in Korea — it arrives. If you are on national health insurance or working at a Korean company, a notice turns up telling you it is your year, and a morning later you are moving down a corridor from one room to the next, being handed to a new person every few minutes. Nobody explains the order, because everyone else already knows it. Two patterns from the SULSUL workbook are what let you ask. Pattern 37 — -기 전에 — covers everything you need to know beforehand: 검사하기 전에 물 마셔도 돼요? (geomsahagi jeone mul masyeodo dwaeyo?), "Can I drink water before the test?" Pattern 38 — -ㄴ/은 후에 / -고 나서 — covers everything that comes after: 검사 끝나고 나서 밥 먹어도 돼요? (geomsa kkeunnago naseo bap meogeodo dwaeyo?), "Can I eat after the tests are done?"
- Say why you came: 건강검진 받으러 왔어요 (geonganggeomjin badeureo wasseoyo), "I came for a health checkup."
- Ask what is off limits: 검사하기 전에 뭐 하면 안 돼요? (geomsahagi jeone mwo hamyeon an dwaeyo?), "What am I not allowed to do before the test?"
- Ask about water: 검사하기 전에 물 마셔도 돼요? (geomsahagi jeone mul masyeodo dwaeyo?), "Can I drink water before the test?"
- Ask about eating: 검사 끝나고 나서 밥 먹어도 돼요? (geomsa kkeunnago naseo bap meogeodo dwaeyo?), "Can I eat after the tests are done?"
- Ask about results: 검사한 후에 결과 언제 나와요? (geomsahan hue gyeolgwa eonje nawayo?), "When do the results come out after the test?"
What do you say at the reception desk?
The morning starts at 접수 (jeopsu), reception, and it is quick: your 신분증 (sinbunjeung, ID) goes across the counter and a 문진표 (munjinpyo) comes back — the questionnaire about how much you drink, smoke, sleep and move, written in Korean only. Fill it in before the queue behind you builds.
Them: 어떤 검진 받으세요? — eotteon geomjin badeuseyo? — "Which checkup are you here for?"
You: 건강검진 받으러 왔어요. — geonganggeomjin badeureo wasseoyo. — "I came for a health checkup."
Them: 네, 신분증 주시겠어요? 문진표 먼저 작성해 주세요. — ne, sinbunjeung jusigesseoyo? munjinpyo meonjeo jakseonghae juseyo. — "Sure, could I have your ID? Please fill in the questionnaire first."
You: 검사하기 전에 뭐 하면 안 돼요? — geomsahagi jeone mwo hamyeon an dwaeyo? — "What am I not allowed to do before the test?"
Pattern 37 is the easiest shape in the whole workbook, because there is nothing to conjugate: take any verb stem and add -기 전에, batchim or not. 먹기 전에 (before eating), 가기 전에 (before going), 자기 전에 (before sleeping). After a noun you drop the -기 and use plain 전에 — 검사 전에 (geomsa jeone), 식사 전에 (siksa jeone). The one you will need before you even leave the house is 검진 받기 전에 예약해야 해요? (geomjin batgi jeone yeyakhaeya haeyo?), "Do I have to book before getting the checkup?" — at most centres the answer is yes, and the busy months fill up early.
| Situation | Say this |
|---|---|
| Say why you came | 건강검진 받으러 왔어요 (geonganggeomjin badeureo wasseoyo) |
| Ask what is off limits | 검사하기 전에 뭐 하면 안 돼요? (geomsahagi jeone mwo hamyeon an dwaeyo?) |
| Ask about water | 검사하기 전에 물 마셔도 돼요? (geomsahagi jeone mul masyeodo dwaeyo?) |
| Ask about eating | 검사 끝나고 나서 밥 먹어도 돼요? (geomsa kkeunnago naseo bap meogeodo dwaeyo?) |
| Ask about results | 검사한 후에 결과 언제 나와요? (geomsahan hue gyeolgwa eonje nawayo?) |
Practice this out loud with SULSUL — the app says it, you repeat it →
How do you ask what happens after each test?
A checkup is a sequence, and you are the only person in the building who does not know it. 채혈 (chaehyeol) is the blood draw, 소변 검사 (sobyeon geomsa) the urine test, 흉부 엑스레이 (hyungbu ekseurei) the chest X-ray, and 위내시경 (winaesigyeong) the gastroscopy. Pattern 38 is how you ask what comes next without guessing.
You: 채혈하고 나서 어디로 가요? — chaehyeolhago naseo eodiro gayo? — "Where do I go after the blood draw?"
Them: 그럼 채혈부터 하고 나서 엑스레이 찍을게요. — geureom chaehyeolbuteo hago naseo ekseurei jjigeulgeyo. — "We'll do the blood draw first and then the X-ray."
You: 내시경 한 후에 운전해도 돼요? — naesigyeong han hue unjeonhaedo dwaeyo? — "Can I drive after the endoscopy?"
Them: 수면 내시경 하시면 오늘 운전하시면 안 돼요. — sumyeon naesigyeong hasimyeon oneul unjeonhasimyeon an dwaeyo. — "If you have the sedated endoscopy, you must not drive today."
There are two ways to say "after," and they mean the same thing. -ㄴ/은 후에 attaches to the verb stem — -ㄴ 후에 with no batchim, -은 후에 with one (검사한 후에, 먹은 후에) — and after a noun it needs nothing at all: 퇴근 후에 (toegeun hue), "after work." -고 나서 goes on any stem with no rules whatsoever, which makes it the safer one to reach for when you are being rushed: 끝나고 나서, 하고 나서, 먹고 나서. Swap in -은 다음에 or -은 뒤에 anywhere and nothing changes but the sound of it. The sentence people most regret not asking is the sedation one — a 수면 내시경 leaves you groggy for hours, so a 보호자 (bohoja), someone to take you home, is often asked for at booking.
What usually goes wrong at a Korean health checkup?
The first thing is the fast. 금식 (geumsik) starts the night before, not the morning of, and it is stricter than most people expect — no food, no coffee, no snack on the way. Water is usually the one exception in small amounts, but that is a question to ask rather than assume: 물도 마시면 안 돼요? (muldo masimyeon an dwaeyo?), "Not even water?" When they ask how long you have gone without eating, 어제저녁부터 금식했어요 (eojejeonyeokbuteo geumsikhaesseoyo), "I've been fasting since last night," is the whole answer. Turning up having eaten does not usually mean a smaller checkup; it means a second trip.
The second is the questionnaire. The 문진표 is dense, medical and rarely offered in English, and the honest move is to stop rather than tick things blindly — 이거 무슨 뜻이에요? (igeo museun tteusieyo?), "What does this mean?" is a normal thing to say to the nurse standing right there. The same goes for anything said to you at speed between rooms: 천천히 말해 주세요 (cheoncheonhi malhae juseyo), "Please speak slowly," and the rest of that toolkit is in what to say when Korean is too fast and how to politely ask for help in Korean.
The third is what happens weeks later. The 결과지 (gyeolgwaji), the results sheet, is posted to your registered address rather than handed to you on the day, so an old address means results you never see — the counter that fixes that is in Korean phrases for the community service center in Korea. If something on it is flagged, the word is 재검사 (jaegeomsa), a re-test, and that is a normal follow-up rather than bad news by itself. Taking it to a doctor to have it explained is how to see a doctor in Korea, anything prescribed afterwards is picked up with Korean phrases at a pharmacy in Korea, and the teeth are a separate appointment altogether at Korean phrases at the dentist in Korea.
Say it out loud, not just in your head
검사하기 전에 물 마셔도 돼요? is a sentence you cannot look up mid-sentence — you are in a gown, a nurse is holding a clipboard, and the next name has already been called.
SULSUL is a speaking gym for exactly that moment: pick a survival pattern, say it out loud, get an instant fix from the AI pronunciation coach, then run the real situation as a mission. The 100-pattern PDF workbook comes along as a bonus.
