Doing Laundry in Korean: Laundromat Dialogue & Clothes Vocabulary 🧺

What do you do when your washing machine breaks? In this beginner-friendly Korean dialogue, you’ll join Minjun and Seoyeon who unexpectedly meet at a laundromat. This lesson is perfect for learning essential vocabulary related to laundry, clothes, and colors, as well as a key grammar point for expressing purpose.

💬 Video Transcript

민준: 어, 서연 씨! 안녕하세요!
(Minjun: Oh, Seoyeon! Hello!)

서연: 어, 민준 씨! 안녕하세요! 여기에는 왜 왔어요?
(Seoyeon: Oh, Minjun! Hello! Why did you come here?)

민준: 빨래하러 왔어요. 서연 씨는요?
(Minjun: I came to do laundry. How about you, Seoyeon?)

서연: 저도 빨래하러 왔어요.
(Seoyeon: I also came to do laundry.)

민준: 정말요? 서연 씨도 세탁기가 고장 났어요?
(Minjun: Really? Is your washing machine broken, too?)

서연: 네! 민준 씨도요? 우리 집 세탁기가 고장 났어요.
(Seoyeon: Yes! You too, Minjun? My washing machine at home is broken.)

민준: 저도요. 우리 집 세탁기도 고장 났어요. 그래서 여기 왔어요.
(Minjun: Me too. My washing machine at home is also broken. That’s why I came here.)

서연: 와. 신기해요. 우리 똑같아요!
(Seoyeon: Wow. That’s amazing. We’re the same!)

민준: 저는 빨래가 아주 많아요.
(Minjun: I have a lot of laundry.)

서연: 저도 빨래가 정말 많아요. 우리 같이 해요.
(Seoyeon: I also have a lot of laundry. Let’s do it together.)

민준: 좋아요! 같이 해요. 먼저, 옷을 나눠요.
(Minjun: Okay! Let’s do it together. First, let’s sort the clothes.)

서연: 네. 흰색 옷하고 색깔 옷.
(Seoyeon: Okay. White clothes and colored clothes.)

민준: 맞아요. 흰색 옷은 여기에. 색깔 옷은 저기에.
(Minjun: That’s right. White clothes here. Colored clothes over there.)

서연: 알았어요. 자, 시작해요!
(Seoyeon: Got it. Okay, let’s start!)

민준: 이건 제 흰색 티셔츠예요. 여기에 넣어요.
(Minjun: This is my white t-shirt. I’ll put it in here.)

서연: 이건 제 흰색 양말이에요. 여기에 넣어요.
(Seoyeon: These are my white socks. I’ll put them in here.)

민준: 이건 제 흰색 바지예요. 여기에요.
(Minjun: These are my white pants. Here.)

서연: 와, 민준 씨는 흰색 옷이 많아요.
(Seoyeon: Wow, Minjun, you have a lot of white clothes.)

민준: 네. 저는 흰색을 좋아해요. 이건 파란색 셔츠예요. 저기에 넣어요.
(Minjun: Yes. I like the color white. This is a blue shirt. I’ll put it in over there.)

서연: 이건 제 노란색 원피스예요. 저기에 넣어요.
(Seoyeon: This is my yellow dress. I’ll put it in over there.)

민준: 이건 제 검은색 바지예요. 저기에요.
(Minjun: These are my black pants. Over there.)

서연: 이건 제 빨간색 티셔츠예요. 저기에요.
(Seoyeon: This is my red t-shirt. Over there.)

민준: 와, 서연 씨는 색깔 옷이 많아요.
(Minjun: Wow, Seoyeon, you have a lot of colored clothes.)

서연: 네. 저는 색깔 옷을 좋아해요. 다 했어요! 이제 세탁기에 넣어요.
(Seoyeon: Yes. I like colored clothes. All done! Now let’s put them in the washing machine.)

민준: 좋아요. 이 세탁기에는 흰색 옷을 넣어요.
(Minjun: Okay. Let’s put the white clothes in this washing machine.)

서연: 네. 그리고 저 세탁기에는 색깔 옷을 넣어요.
(Seoyeon: Okay. And let’s put the colored clothes in that washing machine.)

민준: 알았어요. 자, 다 넣었어요.
(Minjun: Got it. Okay, I put them all in.)

서연: 저도 다 넣었어요.
(Seoyeon: I put them all in, too.)

민준: 이제 세제를 넣어요.
(Minjun: Now let’s add the detergent.)

서연: 네, 세제를 넣어요.
(Seoyeon: Yes, let’s add the detergent.)

민준: 섬유유연제도 넣어요. 좋은 냄새가 나요.
(Minjun: Let’s add fabric softener too. It makes it smell good.)

서연: 좋아요!
(Seoyeon: Great!)

민준: 이제 시작 버튼을 눌러요. 하나, 둘, 셋!
(Minjun: Now let’s press the start button. One, two, three!)

서연: 저도 눌러요. 하나, 둘, 셋!
(Seoyeon: I’ll press it too. One, two, three!)

민준: 와, 세탁기가 일해요.
(Minjun: Wow, the washing machine is working.)

서연: 네. 이제 기다려요.
(Seoyeon: Yes. Now we wait.)

민준: 얼마나 기다려요?
(Minjun: How long do we wait?)

서연: 음… 삼십 분. 삼십 분 기다려요.
(Seoyeon: Umm… thirty minutes. We wait for thirty minutes.)

민준: 삼십 분. 길어요. 우리 뭐 해요?
(Minjun: Thirty minutes. That’s long. What should we do?)

서연: 저기 의자가 있어요. 앉아서 이야기해요.
(Seoyeon: There’s a chair over there. Let’s sit and talk.)

민준: 좋아요.
(Minjun: Okay.)

서연: 혼자 오면 심심해요.
(Seoyeon: It’s boring when you come alone.)

민준: 맞아요. 혼자 오면 정말 심심해요.
(Minjun: That’s right. It’s really boring when you come alone.)

서연: 그런데 민준 씨하고 같이 오니까 재미있어요.
(Seoyeon: But since I came with you, Minjun, it’s fun.)

민준: 저도요. 서연 씨하고 같이 하니까 정말 재미있어요.
(Minjun: Me too. Since I’m doing it with you, Seoyeon, it’s really fun.)

서연: 빨래도 재미있어요.
(Seoyeon: Even doing laundry is fun.)

민준: 네. 같이 하니까요. 어? 끝났어요! 소리가 나요.
(Minjun: Yes. Because we’re doing it together. Oh? It’s finished! There’s a sound.)

서연: 정말요? 와, 정말 끝났어요.
(Seoyeon: Really? Wow, it’s really finished.)

민준: 우리 빨래를 꺼내요.
(Minjun: Let’s take out our laundry.)

서연: 네! 와, 아주 깨끗해요.
(Seoyeon: Okay! Wow, it’s very clean.)

민준: 정말 깨끗해요. 그리고 좋은 냄새가 나요.
(Minjun: It’s really clean. And it smells good.)

서연: 맞아요. 정말 좋은 냄새가 나요.
(Seoyeon: That’s right. It smells really good.)

민준: 이제 건조기에 넣어요.
(Minjun: Now let’s put it in the dryer.)

서연: 네, 저기 건조기가 있어요. 건조기에 넣어요.
(Seoyeon: Okay, there’s a dryer over there. Let’s put it in the dryer.)

민준: 좋아요. 건조기는 시간이 더 오래 걸려요.
(Minjun: Okay. The dryer takes more time.)

서연: 괜찮아요. 우리 그때까지 카페에 가요.
(Seoyeon: That’s okay. Let’s go to a café until then.)

민준: 좋은 생각이에요! 우리 시원한 주스 마셔요.
(Minjun: That’s a great idea! Let’s drink some cold juice.)

서연: 좋아요! 가요!
(Seoyeon: Okay! Let’s go!)

📝 Essential Vocabulary

Here are some key words and phrases you’ll hear in the dialogue. Practice them to better understand the conversation.

🔍 Grammar Focus

Let’s look at two important grammar patterns used frequently in this conversation.

1. Expressing Purpose: Verb Stem + -(으)러 가다/오다

This pattern is used to say you are going or coming somewhere “in order to” do something. If the verb stem ends in a vowel or ㄹ, you add -러. If it ends in a consonant (except ㄹ), you add -으러.

In the dialogue, Minjun explains why he is at the laundromat:

• 빨래하러 왔어요. (I came in order to do laundry.)
  • Here, the verb is 빨래하다 (to do laundry). The stem 하 ends in a vowel, so you add -러 and then the verb 왔어요 (came).

2. Adding “Too” or “Also”: Noun + -도

The particle -도 is attached directly to a noun (or pronoun) to mean “too” or “also.” It’s a simple way to show agreement or that something is included.

You can see it used many times when Minjun and Seoyeon discover their shared situation:

• 서연 씨도 세탁기가 고장 났어요? (Is your washing machine broken, too?)
• 우리 집 세탁기도 고장 났어요. (My washing machine at home is broken also.)
• 저도요. (Me too.)
• 섬유유연제도 넣어요. (Let’s add fabric softener, too.)

🌍 Cultural Tip

🃏 Flip & Learn

Review the key vocabulary from the dialogue with these flashcards.

💡 Key Takeaways

Here are the most important points to remember from this lesson:

• To explain why you came somewhere, use the pattern Verb Stem + -러 왔어요 (e.g., 빨래하러 왔어요 - I came to do laundry).
• Sorting laundry in Korean is simple: 흰색 옷 (white clothes) and 색깔 옷 (colored clothes).
• Essential laundromat vocabulary includes 세탁기 (washing machine), 건조기 (dryer), 세제 (detergent), and 섬유유연제 (fabric softener).
• To agree with someone or add to what they said, attach the particle -도 to a noun to mean “also” or “too,” as in 저도요 (Me too).

🎯 Practice Quiz

Test your understanding of the vocabulary and grammar from this lesson.

✍️ Fill in the Blanks

Let’s test your spelling and memory! Fill in the missing words below. Use correct spelling.