Korean Number Systems
The following is taken almost verbatim from a handout my Korean teacher gave me today in class. Note that this assumes you already know how to read the jamo/자모. If you don't know them already, I suggest you head over to z-Korean and read what they have to say on the subject. Rest assured that hangul is INCREDIBLY easy to learn.
One set of numbers is "pure Korean" and is used mainly for counting. There's a slight twist to their counting, though. You know how we say "three sheets of paper" or "six bottles of soda"? Korean has similar classifiers to say what kind of things they are counting, and they're used with nearly everything. We don't say "three animals of cats" or "five things of purses", but Korean does.
[I'm not covering the classifiers in any detail here.]
The other set of numbers is called "Sino-Korean" and is borrowed from the Chinese numbers. It's used, among other things, for expressing these concepts in numbers:
- years
- months
- days
- minutes
- currency
- phone numbers
You may have noticed that hours are left out of the list. In an absolute schizoid fit, Korean uses the pure Korean words for numbers to count hours but uses the Sino-Korean numbers for minutes.
Now, let's get started!
Pure Korean
1 하나
2 둘
3 셋
4 넷
5 다섯
6 여섯
7 일곱
8 여닯
9 아홉
10 열
20 스물
30 서른
40 마른
50 쉰
60 예순
70 일흔
80 여든
90 아흔
Note that there are no pure Korean words for "0" or "100". For multiples of 100, only Sino-Korean words are used.
To put together numbers like "17" or "35" you just write the tens number followed by the ones numbers.
17 - 열일곱
35 - 서른다섯
71 - 일곱얼하나
Note: when they precede a classifier (such as the word for "o'clock" when telling time), numbers ending in digits 1-4 and the number 20 change as follows:
하나 becomes 한
둘 becomes 두
셋 becomes 세
넷 becomes 네
For example:
책상 한개 - 1 desk
책상 두개 - 2 desks
책상 세개 - 3 desks
책상 네개 - 4 desks
책상 스무개 - 20 desks
~개 - the generic counter for "things" [1 thing, 2 things, 3 things...]
---
Sino-Korean
0 영 / 공
1 일
2 이
3 삼
4 사
5 오
6 육
7 칠
8 팔
9 구
10 십
100 백
1,000 천
10,000 만
100,000 십만
1,000,000 백만
10,000,000 천만
100,000,000 억
1,000,000,000 십억
10,000,000,000 백억
100,000,000,000 천억
1,000,000,000,000 고
Putting Sino-Korean numbers together is a piece of cake. [If you're familiar with the Japanese number system, they're exactly the same.] Split up the number into its place values and tack them together.
Ex: 495
사백 구십 오 -> 사백구십오
Ex: 317
삼백 십 칠 -> 삼백십칠
Ex: 32,768
삼만 이천 칠백 육십 팔 -> 삼만이천칠백육십팔
---
Time
To tell time, you use
- the pure Korean number for the hour, followed by
- the classifier for hours (시). If there are any minutes, follow this with:
- the Sino-Korean number of minutes and
- the word for minutes (분).
~시 - hour(s)
~분 - minute(s)
5:20 - 다섯시 이십분
7:43 - 일곱시 사십삼분
2:15 - 두시 십오분
1:39 - 한시 삼십구분
Notice in the last two examples that the pure Korean hour has changed form before the 시 (from 둘 to 두 and 하나 to 한).
---
Phone Numbers
[This section wasn't included in my handout, so it's all me. Forgive me if it's confusing. And again, if you're familiar with Japanese, this will be a snap.]
When saying phone numbers, use the Sino-Korean system. Each digit is said individually [as in "three-zero-nine.."] rather than combined with a number [as in "three hundred and nine.."]. Hyphens are replaced with the character 의.
For example:
123-456-7890
일 이 삼 (의) 사 오 육 (의) 칠 팔 구 공 --> 일이삼의사오육의칠팔구공
309-531-8272
삼 공 구 (의) 오 삼 일 (의) 팔 이 칠 이 --> 삼공구의오삼일의팔이칠이
Yes, that's my phone number. And yes, you can call me if you'd like. XD
[For you Japanese speakers, 의 is the Korean equivalent of the Japanese の.]
---
Currency
[Also not included in the handout.]
For currency, we use Sino-Korean numbers. Korean currency is the ₩ [원 / won], and ₩1,000 is roughly equal to $1.
₩20,000 - 이만원 [~$20]
₩960,000 - 구십육만원 [~$960]
₩4,680,000 - 사백육십팔만원 [~$4,680]
---
Dates
[Again, not in the handout.]
Dates use Sino-Korean numbers as well, and are relatively straightforward.
The format is [year]년 [month]월 [day]일.
For example:
November 10, 2007 --> 2007년 11월 10일 --> 이천칠년 십일월 십일
June 8, 1988 --> 1988년 6월 8일 --> 천구백팔십팔년 유월 팔일
February 28, 1863 --> 1863년 2월 28일 --> 천팔백육십삼년 이월 이십팔일
The months of the year are very straightforward in Korean. You just take the number of the month [June, for example, would be 6], then follow it by the classifier 월.
January - 일월
February - 이월
March - 삼월
April - 사월
May - 오월
June - 유월
July - 칠월
August - 팔월
September - 구월
October - 십월
November - 십일월
December - 십이월
Note:
- In the second example, 육 changes to 유 when followed by the classifier 월.
- 천 does not need to be preceded by 일 in the last two examples because it already means 1,000 by itself
- Years are read as whole numbers rather than split into two parts [e.g. "one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight" rather than "nineteen eighty-eight"], which is why the two 0's in 2007 can be ignored.
So, let's practice!
o1. First, comment with these numbers in pure Korean:
- 45
- 66
o2. Now these numbers in Sino-Korean:
- 45
- 333
- 950,004
o3. Tell me the current time. [Don't worry about AM or PM unless you want to use military time.]
o4. Now give me a phone number. [Doesn't have to be yours, or even a real phone number.]
o5. Give me the following currency:
- ₩58,000
- ₩8,950,000
o6. Tell me your birthday.
If you need help typing them out, just tell me and I can explain how to do it, as well as the keyboard layout. ^^
ETA: Fixed. I was relatively braindead and rushed when I first typed it up, so hopefully it makes more sense now.
One set of numbers is "pure Korean" and is used mainly for counting. There's a slight twist to their counting, though. You know how we say "three sheets of paper" or "six bottles of soda"? Korean has similar classifiers to say what kind of things they are counting, and they're used with nearly everything. We don't say "three animals of cats" or "five things of purses", but Korean does.
[I'm not covering the classifiers in any detail here.]
The other set of numbers is called "Sino-Korean" and is borrowed from the Chinese numbers. It's used, among other things, for expressing these concepts in numbers:
- years
- months
- days
- minutes
- currency
- phone numbers
You may have noticed that hours are left out of the list. In an absolute schizoid fit, Korean uses the pure Korean words for numbers to count hours but uses the Sino-Korean numbers for minutes.
Now, let's get started!
Pure Korean
1 하나
2 둘
3 셋
4 넷
5 다섯
6 여섯
7 일곱
8 여닯
9 아홉
10 열
20 스물
30 서른
40 마른
50 쉰
60 예순
70 일흔
80 여든
90 아흔
Note that there are no pure Korean words for "0" or "100". For multiples of 100, only Sino-Korean words are used.
To put together numbers like "17" or "35" you just write the tens number followed by the ones numbers.
17 - 열일곱
35 - 서른다섯
71 - 일곱얼하나
Note: when they precede a classifier (such as the word for "o'clock" when telling time), numbers ending in digits 1-4 and the number 20 change as follows:
하나 becomes 한
둘 becomes 두
셋 becomes 세
넷 becomes 네
For example:
책상 한개 - 1 desk
책상 두개 - 2 desks
책상 세개 - 3 desks
책상 네개 - 4 desks
책상 스무개 - 20 desks
~개 - the generic counter for "things" [1 thing, 2 things, 3 things...]
---
Sino-Korean
0 영 / 공
1 일
2 이
3 삼
4 사
5 오
6 육
7 칠
8 팔
9 구
10 십
100 백
1,000 천
10,000 만
100,000 십만
1,000,000 백만
10,000,000 천만
100,000,000 억
1,000,000,000 십억
10,000,000,000 백억
100,000,000,000 천억
1,000,000,000,000 고
Putting Sino-Korean numbers together is a piece of cake. [If you're familiar with the Japanese number system, they're exactly the same.] Split up the number into its place values and tack them together.
Ex: 495
사백 구십 오 -> 사백구십오
Ex: 317
삼백 십 칠 -> 삼백십칠
Ex: 32,768
삼만 이천 칠백 육십 팔 -> 삼만이천칠백육십팔
---
Time
To tell time, you use
- the pure Korean number for the hour, followed by
- the classifier for hours (시). If there are any minutes, follow this with:
- the Sino-Korean number of minutes and
- the word for minutes (분).
~시 - hour(s)
~분 - minute(s)
5:20 - 다섯시 이십분
7:43 - 일곱시 사십삼분
2:15 - 두시 십오분
1:39 - 한시 삼십구분
Notice in the last two examples that the pure Korean hour has changed form before the 시 (from 둘 to 두 and 하나 to 한).
---
Phone Numbers
[This section wasn't included in my handout, so it's all me. Forgive me if it's confusing. And again, if you're familiar with Japanese, this will be a snap.]
When saying phone numbers, use the Sino-Korean system. Each digit is said individually [as in "three-zero-nine.."] rather than combined with a number [as in "three hundred and nine.."]. Hyphens are replaced with the character 의.
For example:
123-456-7890
일 이 삼 (의) 사 오 육 (의) 칠 팔 구 공 --> 일이삼의사오육의칠팔구공
309-531-8272
삼 공 구 (의) 오 삼 일 (의) 팔 이 칠 이 --> 삼공구의오삼일의팔이칠이
Yes, that's my phone number. And yes, you can call me if you'd like. XD
[For you Japanese speakers, 의 is the Korean equivalent of the Japanese の.]
---
Currency
[Also not included in the handout.]
For currency, we use Sino-Korean numbers. Korean currency is the ₩ [원 / won], and ₩1,000 is roughly equal to $1.
₩20,000 - 이만원 [~$20]
₩960,000 - 구십육만원 [~$960]
₩4,680,000 - 사백육십팔만원 [~$4,680]
---
Dates
[Again, not in the handout.]
Dates use Sino-Korean numbers as well, and are relatively straightforward.
The format is [year]년 [month]월 [day]일.
For example:
November 10, 2007 --> 2007년 11월 10일 --> 이천칠년 십일월 십일
June 8, 1988 --> 1988년 6월 8일 --> 천구백팔십팔년 유월 팔일
February 28, 1863 --> 1863년 2월 28일 --> 천팔백육십삼년 이월 이십팔일
The months of the year are very straightforward in Korean. You just take the number of the month [June, for example, would be 6], then follow it by the classifier 월.
January - 일월
February - 이월
March - 삼월
April - 사월
May - 오월
June - 유월
July - 칠월
August - 팔월
September - 구월
October - 십월
November - 십일월
December - 십이월
Note:
- In the second example, 육 changes to 유 when followed by the classifier 월.
- 천 does not need to be preceded by 일 in the last two examples because it already means 1,000 by itself
- Years are read as whole numbers rather than split into two parts [e.g. "one thousand nine hundred eighty-eight" rather than "nineteen eighty-eight"], which is why the two 0's in 2007 can be ignored.
So, let's practice!
o1. First, comment with these numbers in pure Korean:
- 45
- 66
o2. Now these numbers in Sino-Korean:
- 45
- 333
- 950,004
o3. Tell me the current time. [Don't worry about AM or PM unless you want to use military time.]
o4. Now give me a phone number. [Doesn't have to be yours, or even a real phone number.]
o5. Give me the following currency:
- ₩58,000
- ₩8,950,000
o6. Tell me your birthday.
If you need help typing them out, just tell me and I can explain how to do it, as well as the keyboard layout. ^^
ETA: Fixed. I was relatively braindead and rushed when I first typed it up, so hopefully it makes more sense now.