What 겐 means
It has no single meaning alone.
The National Institute of Korean Language defines -겐 as a shortened form of -게는, so only the full sentence fixes the sense.
Sent alone, treat 겐 as a text fragment, not a universal mood signal.
Where does 겐 come from?
Its lineage is Hangul's writing system.
Hangul was created under King Sejong in 1443 and explained in 1446 to write Korean speech clearly and easily.
As of 2026, no source gives a separate first attestation for 겐; it is one composed block built from ㄱ ㅔ ㄴ.
Neutral as a syllable; -겐 is grammar, not a reaction.
A lone 겐 is not a reliable mood signal.
Part of the collection
Who writes 겐
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How to type or find 겐
- Also called
- gen · -겐
- Search it as
- 겐
- Shows up in
- Anything that takes text · its shape is whatever your font draws
Windows (Word)
Windows
HTML
겐CSS
\AC90Korean IME
Switch to Korean input and type ㄱ, ㅔ, then ㄴ; the IME composes the block.
Codes and encoding1 code points
HTML decimal
겐
HTML hex
겐
CSS content
content: "\AC90";
Each escape is closed by the next backslash; a trailing space is needed before a literal hex digit.
URL encoded
%EA%B2%90
1
On screen
1
Code points
1
JS .length
3
UTF-8 bytes
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.