Why Korean Has No Plural -s: 오징어 게임 (Ojingeo Geim), Not Games

🦑 A Netflix Title That Refused the “S”

Netflix’s official English title is Squid Game. Singular. The show runs through six childhood games across its seasons, yet the title points to just one. Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has said the name comes from a playground game he played as a kid — you draw a squid shape on the ground and try to cross to the other side. That game becomes the show’s final round.

📌 Part of the Korean Grammar — Make Sense of It, Not Just Memorize series — start there if you’re new.

So the first reason the title is singular is straightforward: it’s literally named after one game. But there’s a quieter second reason — one that English speakers almost always miss.

The Korean title is 오징어 게임 o-jing-eo ge-im. Korean nouns don’t carry a mandatory plural marker the way English nouns do. The translators didn’t forget the “S.” Korean never gave them one to work with.

This grammar gap is one of the first things English speakers bump into when starting Korean. The marker English keeps expecting is 들 deul — and Korean almost never uses it.

🔁 Why This Question Never Goes Away

On HiNative alone, “When do I use 들 deul?” shows up in at least half a dozen separate threads. Reddit’s r/Korean sees the same question cycle back regularly. This isn’t a one-time confusion. It comes from a structural mismatch between the two languages.

English usually forces you to pick a number with count nouns. “Friend” or “friends” — you must choose. Korean doesn’t force that choice, and most of the time, doesn’t make one at all. That’s why the same K-drama line can show up as singular on one streaming platform and plural on another. The Korean often leaves the number open. English just demands a number that Korean left open.

🎯 What 들 Really Does — Group Marker, Not Plural S

The most common beginner mistake is thinking 들 deul simply means “plural.” It doesn’t — not exactly. It’s closer to a signal that says “I’m framing this noun as a specific group.” Usually a group of people.

Three rules cover most of what you’ll encounter:

• Rule 1. Inanimate things usually do not take 들 in everyday Korean. You can say 사과들 sa-gwa-deul for “apples,” but Korean speakers almost always just say 사과 sa-gwa and let context handle the count.
• Rule 2. People and living things can take 들 — especially when group identity matters. A teacher addressing an entire class, or fans acting as one body.
• Rule 3. Context replaces the marker. 친구 다섯 명 chin-gu da-seot myeong already means “five friends.” Korean uses counters to do the counting work that English does with -s. Adding 들 on top feels redundant.

English actually does this sometimes, too. “Fish” doesn’t take an -s for the plural. Neither does “sheep.” Korean nouns behave that way most of the time — you already know this shape. Korean just applies it far more widely.

📝 Three Sentences That Show the Pattern

💡 What This Means for Your Next Korean Sentence

If you’ve already started with Korean particles like 은/는 eun/neun, 들 works the same way: optional, with context doing the heavy lifting. Korean prefers letting listeners fill in details that English forces speakers to declare — the same instinct behind why 우리 u-ri means both “we” and “my”.

Next time a Netflix title looks strangely singular — Squid Game, not Squid Games — you’ll know what’s underneath. Not a translation mistake. Just how Korean nouns work.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Can adding 들 ever sound wrong?

With people, 들 deul is almost always safe — it might just sound slightly formal or deliberate. With objects, it’s grammatically correct but sounds stiff. Saying 사과들 sa-gwa-deul for “apples” won’t confuse anyone, but Korean speakers almost always just say 사과 sa-gwa. The National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원 gung-nip-gu-geo-won) notes that 들 on inanimate nouns is “not grammatically wrong but less natural.”

Why do K-drama subtitles show different numbers across platforms?

Because the Korean line didn’t specify a number. 친구 chin-gu alone can mean “friend” or “friends” — the number stays open. Each platform’s translator watches the scene and picks one. Both are valid. The Korean audience never felt any ambiguity — English just requires a choice that Korean leaves open.

Does K-pop fandom language always need 들?

아미들 a-mi-deul — meaning “ARMYs” — is 들 deul at its most natural: framing a fandom as one concrete group. But 아미 a-mi without 들 works just as well, especially when talking about the fandom as an abstract concept. Both forms appear in Korean online spaces. Adding 들 just makes the group feel more tangible.