Learn Korean (TTMIK)

Lesson 20

In lesson number 15, we introduced some sino-Korean numbers:

일 [il = one]

이 [i = two]

삼 [sam = three]

사 [sa = four]

오 [o = five]

육 [yuk = six]

칠 [chil = seven]

팔 [pal = eight]

구 [gu = nine]

십 [sip = ten]

백 [baek = hundred]

천 [cheon = thousand]

만 [man = ten thousand], and etc.

Now let’s have a look at some native Korean numbers. There are cases where sino-Korean numbers are used, cases where native Korean numbers are used, and there are also some cases where sino-Korean numbers and native Korean numbers are used together.

For example:

1. When you tell the time, you have to use native Korean numbers to say the hour and sino-Korean numbers to say the minute.

2. When you say your age in everyday conversations, you use native Korean numbers, but in some very formal settings like in the court of law or in a formal report, sino-Korean numbers are used to express your age.

3. When you are counting years, you can use either sino-Korean numbers or native Korean numbers, but the words that you use for counting the years change depending on whether you use sino-Korean numbers and native Korean numbers.

So how do you determine which number system to use in which situation? You don’t have to try to, and you can’t really generalize the usages of the two different number systems. It is best to just learn to use the different number systems along with the fitting context.

Now, let us go over the native Korean numbers and practice saying how old we are.

Native Korean numbers

1 하나 [ha-na]

2 둘 [dul]

3 셋 [set]

4 넷 [net]

5 다섯 [da-seot]

6 여섯 [yeo-seot]

7 일곱 [il-gop]

8 여덟 [yeo-deol]

9 아홉 [a-hop]

10 열 [yeol]

From 11 to 19 is simple. You just put the number 10 and add another number after it.

Ex)

열(yeol) (10) + 하나 (hana)(1) = 열하나 [yeol-ha-na] (11)

열(yeol) (10) + 아홉(a-hop) (9) = 열아홉 [yeol-a-hop] (19)

20 스물 [seu-mul]

The same rule as above for 11 through 19 applies to 21-29, 31-39, 41-49, and etc.

30 서른 [seo-reun]

40 마흔 [ma-heun]

50 쉰 [swin]

60 예순 [ye-sun]

70 일흔 [i-reun]

80 여든 [yeo-deun]

90 아흔 [a-heun]

Now, here is an interesting piece of information.

From numbers 1 through 99, the usage of native Korean numbers is generally very distinctively different from the usage of sino-Korean numbers, but for bigger units like 100, 1,000, 10,000 and etc., the words for these bigger numbers in the native Korean numbers are no longer used and only sino-Korean numbers are used.

So, 100 in the sino-Korean number is 백 [baek], and even when you need to use the native Korean number, you use the same word.

And when you want to say 101, 102, and etc., you need to combine the systems together.

101 = 백 [baek / 100] (sino-Korean) + 하나 [ha-na / 1] (native Korean)

205 = 이 [i / 2] (sino-Korean) + 백 [baek / 100] (sino-Korean) + 다섯 [daseot / 5] (native Korean)

Let’s have a look at how to talk about the age.

There are two ways of saying the age, but here, let’s look at the more ordinary and everyday fashion.

You say a native Korean number and add 살 [sal] after it.

But the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 20 change forms before a noun.

1 하나 [ha-na] --> 한 [han] 살

2 둘 [dul] --> 두 [du] 살

3 셋 [set] --> 세 [se] 살

4 넷 [net] --> 네 [ne] 살

...

20 스물 [seu-mul] --> 스무 [seu-mu] 살

21 스물 [seu-mul] --> 스물한 [seu-mul-han] 살

...

examples:

한 살이에요[han sal i-eyo]. I am one year old.

열 살이에요[yeol sal i-eyo]. I am ten years old.

스무 살이에요[seu-mu sal i-eyo]. I am twenty years old.

서른 살이에요[seo-lun i-eyo]. I am thirty years old.