How to say “I'm full” in Korean

"I'm full" in Korean is 배불러 (baebulleo), or 배불러요 (baebulleoyo) to be polite. It comes from 배 (stomach) and 부르다 (to be full).

Ways to say it

Korean	Level	When to use it
배불러 baebulleo	Casual	To friends and family after a good meal.
배불러요 baebulleoyo	Polite	Polite. Useful when a host offers you more food.
배부릅니다 baebureumnida	Formal	Formal. Rare in daily life.
배가 불러요 baega bulleoyo	Polite	The same meaning with the subject marker 가. Very natural.
많이 먹었어요 mani meogeosseoyo	Polite	"I ate a lot." A soft way to turn down more food.

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After a big barbecue dinner

Ah, I'm full.

A host offers seconds

I'm full now.

Thanking a grandmother after dinner

I really ate a lot.

Korean hosts, especially grandmothers, often keep offering food. Saying 배불러요 with a smile, maybe more than once, is a polite way to decline.

After a meal, it is good manners to say 잘 먹었습니다 (jal meogeosseumnida), "I ate well, thank you."

부르다 is irregular, so 배부르다 becomes 배불러 with a double ㄹ. It sounds like "bae-bul-leo."

More on 배불러 in our Korean phrase guides.

How do you ask "Are you full?" in Korean?

Say 배불러? (baebulleo?) casually or 배불러요? (baebulleoyo?) politely.

What do Koreans say after eating?

They say 잘 먹었습니다 (jal meogeosseumnida), or 잘 먹었어요 (jal meogeosseoyo), to thank whoever cooked or paid.