1 · Numbers, counters and time
Sino-Korean numbers: 일, 이, 삼
the numbers that came with Chinese vocabulary
The regular set of numbers, used for dates, money, minutes, floors, phone numbers and anything above about a hundred.
The Sino-Korean numbers are the more regular of Korea's two sets. There are ten digits — 일, 이, 삼, 사, 오, 육, 칠, 팔, 구, 십 — and a few units: 백 (100), 천 (1,000) and 만 (10,000). Every other number is built from these like a little sum read from left to right: 십일 is ten and one, 11; 이십 is two tens, 20; 이십삼 is two tens and three, 23; 삼백오십 is 350.
Before 십, 백, 천 and 만 the word for one is simply left out: 10 is 십, 100 is 백, 1,000 is 천, 10,000 is 만. 일 appears only where a one stands on its own at the end, as in 십일 (11) or 백일 (101). An English speaker who says "one hundred" out of habit and adds 일 sounds as if reading a cheque aloud.
The unit that matters most is 만. English groups large numbers in threes — thousand, million — but Korean groups them in fours. So 100,000 is not "a hundred thousand" but "ten ten-thousands", 십만, and a million is 백만. Zero has two names: 영 in maths, temperatures and scores, and 공 when digits are read out one by one, as in a phone number or a room number.
These numbers are used for dates, money, minutes and seconds, floors, phone numbers, page and bus numbers, maths, and for counting anything above about ninety-nine. The native numbers of the next topic cover hours, ages and counting everyday things. Which set a counter word takes is part of the counter and is learned with it: 삼 층 (third floor) but 세 개 (three things). Floors are numbered the American way: 일 층 is the ground floor, so 삼 층 is what British English calls the second floor.
The form
| 1 to 10 | 일, 이, 삼, 사, 오, 육, 칠, 팔, 구, 십 |
| 11, 20, 35 | 십일, 이십, 삼십오 |
| 100, 1,000, 10,000 | 백, 천, 만 |
| 100,000 is ten ten-thousands | 십만 |
| 1,000,000 | 백만 |
| zero | 영, 공 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
Tens and hundreds are built by multiplying, the rest by adding: two tens and five is 25.
버스가 이십오 분 후에 와요.The bus comes in twenty-five minutes.
No word for one is said before 십, 백, 천 or 만.
이 책은 만 원이에요.This book is 10,000 won.
Large numbers are counted in ten-thousands: a million is a hundred 만.
이 노트북은 백만 원이 넘어요.This laptop costs more than a million won.
Zero is 영 in maths and temperatures, and 공 when digits are read one by one.
오늘은 기온이 영 도예요.It is zero degrees today.
Floors, minutes, money and dates are counted with Sino-Korean numbers.
화장실은 삼 층에 있어요.The toilets are on the third floor.
A closer look
Why Korean has two sets of numbers
Korean vocabulary has two layers. One is native Korean; the other came in over many centuries together with Chinese writing, and today makes up a large part of the vocabulary of school, work and the news. The numbers exist in both layers, and over time each settled into its own jobs rather than one replacing the other.
The split is not random. The Sino-Korean numbers are the ones of measuring and naming — a date, a sum of money, a floor, a page — and they go on for ever, because the units can be combined without limit. The native numbers are the ones of counting things you can hold and of the clock face, and they stop at 99. Learning which counter takes which set is easier once you see that pattern.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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the number ends in six and something stands before it, as in 16 or 26
the six is said with an n in front: 십육 sounds [심뉵], and 26, 36 and so on follow the same pattern.
저는 십육 번 버스를 타요.I take the number 16 bus.
Inside one word, a syllable beginning with a y-sound after a consonant often takes an extra n. The spelling stays the same, and the romanisation under the word shows what is said.
How to spot it
- 십
- 백
- 천
- 만
- 영
- 공
Example sentences
저는 삼 층에 살아요.I live on the third floor.
이 커피는 사천오백 원이에요.This coffee is 4,500 won.
수업은 오십 분이에요.The class is fifty minutes long.
우리 학교에는 학생이 천이백 명쯤 있어요.There are about 1,200 students at our school.
제 전화번호는 공일공, 이삼사오, 육칠팔구예요.My phone number is 010-2345-6789.
이 버스는 칠백이십 번이에요.This bus is the number 720.
8 more example sentences
엘리베이터를 타고 십이 층으로 올라가세요.Take the lift up to the twelfth floor.
이 영화는 백이십 분이에요.This film is 120 minutes long.
오늘 최고 기온은 삼십이 도예요.Today's high is thirty-two degrees.
시험에서 구십오 점을 받았어요.I scored ninety-five in the test.
이 도시에는 사람이 삼만 명쯤 살아요.About thirty thousand people live in this town.
책 팔십칠 쪽을 보세요.Look at page 87 of the book.
제 방은 오백삼 호예요.My room is number 503.
공항까지 사십 분 걸려요.It takes forty minutes to the airport.
Worth knowing (1)
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Four and the lift
The Sino-Korean 사 (four) sounds the same as the Sino-Korean syllable meaning death, and some people avoid it the way some Western buildings avoid the number 13. In a few older buildings the lift therefore shows the letter F instead of 4. The number itself is used everywhere without a second thought.
이 건물에는 사 층 버튼이 없어요.This building has no button for the fourth floor.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English counts a hundred thousand as a hundred thousands, so a learner reaches for 백 and 천. Korean has no such combination: it counts in ten-thousands, and 100,000 is ten of them, 십만. Move the comma four places from the right instead of three, and the Korean number falls out: 10|0000.
Count big numbers in blocks of four digits: 10,000 is man, and everything above it is so many man.
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.