# 수영 vs 헤엄



## langDino

Hi
I came across two korean sentences while learning 
1) 물고기가 헤엄을 쳐요
2) 사람들이 수영을 해요.

I would like to know the difference between "수영" and "헤엄" since both are nouns and both mean "swim".

Thanks in advance


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## Gijoe

수영 is for human 헤엄 fish


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## langDino

Thanks a lot.


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## ms.ssun

수영 is when you do it as sports
헤엄 is what you do to survive in water


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## langDino

ms.ssun said:


> 수영 is when you do it as sports
> 헤엄 is what you do to survive in water



Thanks for your comment.

From the first comment I thought 수영 is for humans and 헤엄 is for animals. 
개가 헤엄을 쳐요 - Dog is swimming.

I'm little confused after this comment. So IF a human who doesn't know swimming falls into a swimming pool and tries to come out, should I use 헤엄 ??


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## kenjoluma

수영 has a certain rule or technique to do it. You learn how to do 수영.
헤엄 has none.


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## Warp3

ms.ssun said:


> 수영 is when you do it as sports
> 헤엄 is what you do to survive in water





kenjoluma said:


> 수영 has a certain rule or technique to do it. You learn how to do 수영.
> 헤엄 has none.



Thanks for clarifying.  I went to Daum.net's K-E dictionary for some example sentences and was surprised to find 헤엄 used with people in many of them (which conflicted with Gijoe's post above).


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## langDino

Thanks guyz. It is a lot clearer now.


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## wildsunflower

> 수영 is for human 헤엄 fish


I am afraid this is wrong. 수영 and 헤엄 are both applicable to the human, but 헤엄 is usually applied to non-human creatures. As kenjoluma said, 수영 is bound to certain rules, but 헤엄 is not. So, 수영 can be a sport, but 헤엄 is not. (But, if you train your dogs for a contest (like a dog fight), it may be called 수영. If this is ever possible.) I would think 헤엄 is the activities you do in water to float, and 수영 is a certain kind of 헤엄. Obviously, both 수영 and 헤엄 require certain techniques not to be drowned in water. Above all, the obvious difference between these two words is that 수영 is 한자, and 헤엄 is a pure Korean word. (Please correct me, if I am wrong.) I assume the original meaning of 수영 in Chinese is close to 헤엄. In Korean, 한자 is used for formal expressions, in general.


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## Sunbee

I bet kenjoluma pointed it adequately.
And 헤엄 can be used for human.

For example ;
나는 어릴 때 하루 종일 물에서 헤엄치며 놀았다. <-This has no rule.
어제 나는 급류에 휩쓸렸다가 간신히 헤엄쳐 나왔다. <-He didn't seem to move like a sport.


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## Gijoe

I owe you an apology guys.
I gave you the answer without much thoughts.


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## wildsunflower

I don't think you need to apologize for this. You had an intention to help. Not all our wishes turn out as we want.


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## Sunbee

Gijoe, I agree with wildsunflower.


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## langDino

+1 We appreciate your intention to help


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