Lesson 21 - Sino-Korean Numbers and Their Counters

Hello everyone!  

Welcome back to another grammar post. Today it will be about numbers and their counters. There are two sets of numbers in Korean, the Pure Korean ones and the Sino-Korean ones. We’re going to talk about the Sino-Korean ones today. 

This set of numbers is probably the easiest among the two, mostly because after number ten, the numbers are repeated. We’ll see what I mean in a second, first of all let’s look at the ones up until number 10. 

일 one  

이 two 

삼 three 

사 four 

오 five 

육 / 륙 six  

 As you can see, the number six has two versions. Why? It’s because it depends on what precedes it. In fact, when it is preceded by a consonant, you will use 륙. In other cases, 육 will be used. 

칠 seven  

팔 eight 

구 nine 

십 ten 

Through this set of numbers, you can actually create numbers up until a million. It's because you keep on repeating the numbers over and over again. For example, if you want to say eleven, you will have to use the number ten 십 and the number one 일 and put them together. The result would be 십일. It’s like this until the number 99.  

The numbers up until 19 are 십일 11, 십이 12, 십삼 13, 십사 14, 십오 15, 십륙 16, 십칠 17, 십팔 18, and 십구 19. But how about 20? It's simple. Just how you put the numbers after 십 to make it become 11 and so on, you will need to put the numbers before it.  

이십 twenty 

삼십 thirty 

사십 fourty 

오십 fifty 

육십 sixty 

칠십 seventy 

팔십 eighty 

구십 ninety 

As you can see the number from 2 to 9 can be easily put before the number 10 to express other numbers. Note that it’s not necessary to add 1 to the list since the number ten is already 십.  

If you want to make the numbers in between, just follow the same steps we did for the numbers up until 19. 

What about 100? How do we know what to say after 구십구 (ninety-nine)? The numbers after 99 are the following ones: 

백 a hundred 

천 a thousand 

만 ten thousand 

If you wanted to say two hundred you would say 이백; if you wanted to say five thousand 오천 and so on. The process is the same. However, if you wanted to say a number bigger than nine thousand you would have to say 십만. There are also ways to say one million and ten million and they are 백만 and 천만. 

Also, note that when you’ll come across Sino-Korean numbers on the internet (as captions of videos or counter of views and so on) and you won’t see them transcribed like I wrote. How will they be shown, then? You know how we abbreviate a thousand with K and million with MLN? Well, that’s basically what happens with this system of numbers. Let’s look at some more examples: 

9천 2백 3 십 -> 9,230 

2백만 5천 -> 2,005,000 

3천만 5천 3백 6십 -> 30,005,360 

This set of numbers isn’t used all the time (which explains why there’s another set of numbers), and they’re used in specific situations. They're used 1) when dealing with money (counting them, for example); 2) when measuring something (miles, grams and so on); 3) when calculating something related to maths; 4) when saying phone numbers; 5) when counting or talking about time fractions like minutes and seconds (hours are counted through Pure Korean numbers); 6) and finally they’re used to state the names of the month and counting them, too. 

We will go through each of them and see the various counters that are used by this set of numbers. 

The first category is related to money. What do we mean by that? It’s simple: when counting how much money in any currency you have, you use these numbers. 

이것은 5천 원이에요 

This is five thousand won 

만 원이 파운드로 얼마예요? 

How much is ten thousand won in pounds? 

The second category deals with measuring things (distance, weight and so on). Let's look at some examples: 

무게는 3에서 6 킬로그램이 나가요 

It weighs three to six kilograms 

1 파운드는 대략 454 그램과 같아요 

A pound equals about 454 grams 

강물 수위가 몇 미터 올라왔어요 

The river has risen a few meters 

여성들의 평균 키는 160 센티미터예요 

The average height of women is 160 cm 

그 소도시는 3마일 떨어져 있어요 

The town is three miles away 

You can also count floors through these numbers: 

나는 1층에 살아요 

I live on the first floor 

건물의 3층이에요 

It's on the first floor of the building 

이 승강기는 5층 이상에만 서요 

This lift only stops on the fifth floor or higher 

The third category deals with calculating things. Let's look at some examples: 

4 곱하기 3은 얼마예요? 

How much is four times three? 

나는 200을 4로 나누었고 문제를 해결했어요 

I divided 200 by four and solved the problem 

4 더하기 6은 뭐예요? 

What's four plus six? 

The fourth category is probably one you’ll hear a lot if you watch dramas. It's about phone numbers. Note that in this case the number zero can appear too and it will be 공. 

010-7560-6455 (공 일 공 - 칠 오 육 공 - 육 사 오 오) 

091 645 8871 (공 구 일 - 육 사 오 - 팔 팔 칠 일) 

The fifth (and second to the last function) is the one counting fractions of time, mostly seconds, and minutes. 

케이크를 35분에서 50분 동안 구워요 

Bake the cake for 35 to 50 minutes 

10분 뒤에 봐 

See you in 10 minutes 

작업 전체가 3초 이내에 수행돼요 

The whole thing will be done in less than three seconds 

그는 기록을 1분 5초로 단축했어요 

He cut the record to one minute and five seconds 

The last function this set of number has is to count and name the months (as well as counting years and days). Let’s look at the names of the months, first, and then at some examples: 

일월 January 

이월 February 

삼월 March 

  

사월 April 

오월 May 

유월 June 

칠월 July 

팔월 August 

구월 September 

시월 October 

십일월 November 

십이월 December 

그녀는 1967년에 태어났어요 

She was born in 1967 

부활절은 2019년 4월 21일이에요 

Easter is on April 21 of 2019 

추석은 음력 8월 15일이에요 

Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) comes on the August 15th by the lunar calendar 

VOCABS SET ON QUIZLET: 1 

KPOPOLOGY WEBSITE: Home, KPOPOLOGY Explains 

DROPBOX FILES: Main folder, Lesson 21 Practice

I will see you next time with another grammar post!

 구름