공강 (gonggang) — A gap between classes.
Lesson 40 in our Korean Slang series, adapted from Korean Your Teacher Doesn’t Teach You by Injin Hwang.
What 공강 means
Describe a timetable slot when you have no class, especially between two scheduled classes. 공강 is campus language for an unscheduled gap in a student timetable. Someone may use it to study, eat, or rest before the next class.
A short conversation
A: 지금 수업 없어?
B: 두 시간 공강이야.
A: No class now?
B: I've got a two-hour gap.
Use it with care
Common campus vocabulary. A gap between classes is not automatically a whole day off. The expression is most natural with friends or in an informal setting unless the context suggests otherwise.
A neutral or polite alternative: 지금은 수업 사이에 두 시간 비어 있어요.
There is a two-hour gap between my classes.
Try it yourself
Is 공강 the same as having no classes at all today?
Answer: No. It usually refers to a gap between classes. Read the Korean conversation aloud and try changing one detail to fit your own day.
Based on the author’s slang collection, with additional learning notes. AI-generated illustration created for this lesson. Browse the Korean Slang series.
Keep exploring Korean expressions in the Korean slang book on Amazon.
