Korean Numbers: Native vs Sino-Korean
Korean has two number systems and knowing when to use each one is a key beginner milestone. Here is a practical breakdown to get you started.
One of the first things learners discover about Korean is that it has two completely separate number systems: native Korean numbers and Sino-Korean numbers (borrowed from Chinese). Both are used in everyday life, but in different contexts.
Sino-Korean numbers (์ผ, ์ด, ์ผโฆ)
These are used for:
- Dates and months (3์ = March)
- Money
- Phone numbers
- Minutes in time
- Counting above 99
| Number | Sino-Korean |
|---|---|
| 1 | ์ผ (il) |
| 2 | ์ด (i) |
| 3 | ์ผ (sam) |
| 4 | ์ฌ (sa) |
| 5 | ์ค (o) |
| 6 | ์ก (yuk) |
| 7 | ์น (chil) |
| 8 | ํ (pal) |
| 9 | ๊ตฌ (gu) |
| 10 | ์ญ (sip) |
Building larger numbers works like Japanese: 21 is ์ด์ญ์ผ (two-ten-one), 100 is ๋ฐฑ (baek).
Native Korean numbers (ํ๋, ๋, ์ โฆ)
These are used for:
- Hours in time (์ธ ์ = 3 oโclock)
- Counting objects with counters (์ฑ ํ ๊ถ = one book)
- Age in informal speech
| Number | Native Korean |
|---|---|
| 1 | ํ๋ (hana) |
| 2 | ๋ (dul) |
| 3 | ์ (set) |
| 4 | ๋ท (net) |
| 5 | ๋ค์ฏ (daseot) |
| 6 | ์ฌ์ฏ (yeoseot) |
| 7 | ์ผ๊ณฑ (ilgop) |
| 8 | ์ฌ๋ (yeodeol) |
| 9 | ์ํ (ahop) |
| 10 | ์ด (yeol) |
A practical starting point
For beginners, a simple rule: use Sino-Korean for dates and prices, native Korean for telling the hour and counting things. You will develop intuition for the rest through exposure. The two systems feel distinct enough that mixing them up is normal at first, and Korean speakers are very patient with learners who are still figuring it out.