In this lesson, you will learn about 숫자 [sut-jja] (numbers)! We wish we could say that there is a very easy way to learn Korean numbers once and never forget them, but the truth is, there is not. As far as numbers are concerned, you will have to keep practicing using them until they stick. There are two systems of numbers in Korean: native Korean numbers and sino-Korean numbers. In this lesson, we will introduce sino-Korean numbers up to 1,000. We will get into native Korean numbers in another lesson.
Sino-Korean numbers
We will use the term “sino-Korean” when a Korean word is based on the Chinese language. Since Korea has received a lot of influence from China, many words in the Korean language have their roots in the Chinese language. So over the course of time, Korean people started using both the sino-Korean number system and the native Korean number system. The situations and contexts in which each system is used are different, but do not worry. You will get used to the two systems and how to differentiate between these two by practicing with us!
1 일 [il]2 이 [i]3 삼 [sam]4 사 [sa]
You may have heard of the Korean superstition about the number four being unlucky. The word for “four” in Korean, 사, has the same sound as the sino-Korean word for “death”. This is the reason why there is an “F” button in an elevator in Korea instead of a “4” button!
5 오 [o]6 륙 [ryuk] or 육 [yuk]
The Korean word for the number six can change spelling depending on whether it is at thebeginning or in the middle of a word. When saying 육 on its own, it is just 육. If you say “fivesix”, or 오륙, the ㄹ is added. Somewhere throughout the course of history, Korean peopledecided that 오륙 was more natural to say than 오육.
7 칠 [chil]8 팔 [pal]9 구 [gu]10 십 [sip]
From numbers 11 and through to 99, the rest is easy! Just think of it as a simple math equation using the numbers 일 through 십 (If you do not like math or are not good at math, do not freak out! It truly is very simple!)For example:11 = 십 [sip] (10) + 일 [il] (one)25 = 이 [i] (two) + 십 [sip] (10) + 오 [o] (five)33 = 삼 [sam] (three) + 십 [sip] (10) + 삼 [sam] (three)99 = 구 [gu] (nine) + 십 [sip] (10) + 구 [gu] (nine)
100 백 [baek]1,000 천 [cheon]
Can you guess how to say 312 in Korean?Yes, you are right.THREE + HUNDRED + TEN + TWO삼 + 백 + 십 + 이[sam-baek-si-bi]
Ex)1,234 = 1,000 (천) + 2 (이) + 100 (백) + 3 (삼) + 10 (십) + 4 (사)512 = 5 (오) + 100 (백) + 10 (십) + 2 (이)
How to say ZEROZero is either 영 or 공. When counting to 10 in Korean, you can say 영일이삼사오륙칠팔구십 or 공일이삼사오륙칠팔구십 for 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
We introduced some sino-Korean numbers: