Telling Time and Numbers in Korean

Telling Time and Numbers in Korean

Telling Time and Numbers in Korean

 

Telling Time and Numbers in Korean

There are two sets of numbers in Korean. There are Sino-Korean numbers, derived from Chinese, and Native Korean numbers.

Sino-Korean Numbers

Numbers higher than 10,000 can be difficult because Sino-Korean numbers work with multiples of 10,000. In English we use multiples of 1,000. With some practice you will have it down in no time.

Sino-KoreanNumber
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
100
1,000
10,000
십만100,000
백만1,000,000
천만10,000,000

 

Sino-Korean Numbers Practice

Sino-KoreanNumberFormula
십일1110 + 1
십육1610 + 6
이십202 * 10
팔십육868 * 10 + 6
백사104100 + 4
백칠십구179100 + 7 * 10 + 9
삼백오십사3543 * 100 + 5 * 10 + 4
구백십칠9179 * 100 + 10 + 7
천백십구1,1191,000 + 100 + 10 + 9
이천삼십육2,0362 * 1,000 + 3 * 10 + 6
오천이백육십오5,2655 * 1,000 + 2 * 100 + 6 * 10 + 5
팔천오백이8,5028 * 1,000 + 5 * 100 + 2
만칠천17,00010,000 + 7 * 1,000
오만육천오백56,5005 * 10,000 + 6 * 1,000 + 5 * 100
이십만200,00020 * 10,000
오백만5,000,000500 * 10,000

 

Native Korean Numbers

Native KoreanNumber
하나1
2
3
4
다섯5
여섯6
일곱7
여덟8
아홉9
10
스물20
서른30
마흔40
50
예순60
일흔70
여든80
아흔90

 

Native Korean Numbers Practice

Native Korean numbers are not used at 100 or above, instead Sino-Korean numbers are used. Outside of counting age, you rarely use Native Korean numbers above 30.

Native KoreanNumberFormula
열하나1110 + 1
스물일곱2720 + 7
서른여섯3630 + 6
마흔둘4240 + 2
쉰아홉5950 + 9
예순셋6360 + 3
일흔넷7470 +4
여든다섯8580 + 5
아흔여덟9890 + 8

 

 Zero in Korean

There are two ways to say zero in Korean:

1. 공

공 is used when saying telephone numbers. 010-1230-1230, 공일공-일이삼공-일이삼공

2. 영

영 is used for:
♦   Points in a sporting event. Ex. The score is 0 to 3 (영 대 삼).
♦   Math
♦  Temperature of 0 degrees

Counters in Korean

Korean has a very long list of counters. Many are used with Native Korean numbers and some are used with Sino-Korean numbers. Again, outside of counting age, you rarely use Native Korean numbers above 30.

 

Counters for Native Korean Numbers

CounterEnglish
thing
person
person(honorific)
years old
시간hour(duration)
o’clock(telling time)
month(duration)
glass, cup
bottle
마리animal
automobiles, machines
boat, ship
books
paper
자루long objects, writing utensil, knife
송이flower, bunch(bananas)
켤레pairs(socks, shoes)
set/pair of clothes
buildings
grain of rice
large fruit/vegetable(watermelon, napa cabbage
그루tree
두름bundle

 

Counters for Sino-Korean Numbers

CounterEnglish
won, ₩, KRW
길로그램,길로kilogram
그램gram
길로미터kilometer
미터meter
센티미터, 센티centimeter
times
years old(honorific)
개월month(duration)
month(date)
week
day
minute
second
floor(1st floor, 2nd floor)
degrees

 

Counters and Numbers in Korean Sentences

5 Irregular Native Korean Numbers

Native Korean numbers can be adjectives or nouns. There are five Native Korean numbers that change when used as adjectives.
Ex. 하나 changes to 한 when used with a counter. 한 개 = one thing

Native Number하나스물
Adjective Form스무
Number123420

 

The 4 Sentence Structures for Numbers in Korean

 

1. NounNumberCounter

Noun-Number-Counter is the structure used most often in speech.

Examples:

사람 = four people
나는 사람 을 만났어요. = I met four people.

자동차 = two cars
나는 자동차 를 샀어요. = I bought two cars.

 

2. NumberCounter-의-Noun

Number-Counter-의-Noun is the structure you see more often in printed materials.

Examples:

의 사람 = four people
나는 의 사람을 만났어요. = I met four people.

 자동차 = two cars
나는    자동차를 샀어요. = I bought two cars.

 

3. NumberNoun

The Number-Noun structure doesn’t use a counter so a countable noun must be used with this structure.

Examples:

 사람 = four people
나는  사람 만났어요. = I met four people.

 자동차 = two cars
나는  자동차를 샀어요. = I bought two cars.

 

4. NounNumber

The Noun-Number structure doesn’t use a counter so a countable noun must be used with this structure.
Also, the number in this structure is considered a noun so 하나, 둘, 셋, 넷, and 스물 do not change when using this structure.

Examples:

사람   = four people
나는 사람  만났어요. = I met four people.

자동차  = two cars
나는 자동차  샀어요. = I bought two cars.

 

[mailmunch-form id=”343465″]

 

How to Tell Time in Korean

Telling Time in Korean Vocabulary

KoreanEnglish
o’clock
minute
second
half(30 minutes)
오전before noon
오후afternoon
night
새벽dawn
아침morning time after sunrise, breakfast
점심midday, lunch
저녁evening, dinner
정오noon
자정midnight

 

The Structure for Telling Time in Korean

TimeOfDayIndicator – NativeNumber 시 –  Sino-KoreanNumber 분 –  Sino-KoreanNumber 초

TimeNumeral/UnitWritten
5:50:275시 50분 27초오 시 오십 분 이십칠 초
2:152시 15분두 시 십오 분
9:309시 반아홉 시 반
6:386시 38분여섯 시 삼십팔 분
8:47 am오전 8시 47분오전 여덟 시 사십칠 분
8:47 am아침 8시 47분아침 여덟 시 사십칠 분
1:20 pm오후 1시 20분오후 한 시 이십 분
1:20 pm점심 1시 20분점심 한 시 이십 분
10:56 pm밤 10시 56분밤 열 시 오십육 분
10:56 pm저녁 10시 56분저녁 열 시 오십육 분
3:34 am새벽 3시 34분새벽 세 시 삼십사 분

Take note that during the dark AM hours the word 새벽 is used not 아침.

 

“What time is it?” in Korean

QuestionAnswer
Polite지금 몇 시에요?오전 여덟 시 사십칠 분이에요.
지금 몇 시 몇 분이에요?오전 여덟 시 사십칠 분이에요.
Informal지금 몇시야?오전 여덟 시 사십칠 분이야.
지금 몇시 몇 분이야?오전 여덟 시 사십칠 분이야.
EnglishWhat time is it now?It’s 8:47 am.

 

The Time Particle ~에 in Korean

~에 gets attached to time nouns in Korean to mean “at” “in” or “on.” After attaching ~에 to the time noun, it can then be used in a sentence.

Examples:

KoreanEnglish
나는 7시 30분 먹었어요.I ate at 7:30.
우리 아침 8시 만났어요.We met at 8am. 
누나는 오후 6시 45분 영화 봤어요.My sister watched a movie at 6:45pm.

 

Telling Time and Numbers in Korean Exercise

Telling Time and Numbers in Korean Exercise Preview

Fill out the form below to get the answer key.

[mailmunch-form id=”343465″]


Comments

Leave a Reply