Lesson 3

3. KOREAN NUMBERS

Number is a noun in a sentence to express the number of an object or subject. There are two types of  numbers in Korean, Sino and Pure.

3.1   Sino

Sino numbers are numbers used in certain situations. Following are the functions of Sino Numbers :

- To calculate the amount of money

- For measurements

- For mathematics calculations

- To mention the telephone number

- To mention or calculate time (except hours)

- To talk about month

Table 6. Sino Numbers

1 일 (il)	2 이 (i)	3 삼 (sam)	4 사 (sa)	5 오 (o)
6 육 (yuk)	7 칠 (chil)	8 팔 (phal)	9 구 (gu)	10 십 (sib)
11 십일 (sib il)	21 이십일 (isibil)	100 백 (baek)	1000 천 (cheon)	10.000 만 (man)

The numbers in Table 6. are basic number groups. To mention other numbers, there are special methods for mentioning them. The trick is if the number to be mentioned is more than equal to (>) one million, then we can divide it by the highest pure number of ten thousand (만). This biggest number will be written or placed in the last digit and the smallest number will be placed in the first digit. For examples:       

Examples:

250.000        → 250.000 : 10.000 (만) = 25 (이십오) → 이십오만 (250.000)

1.000.000      → 1.000.000 : 10.000 (만) = 100 (백) → 백만 (1.000.000)

15.000.000    → 15.000.000 : 10.000 (만) = 1.500 (천오백) → 천오백만  (15.000.000)

Table 7. The Method of Referring to "Sino" Numbers.

¹ Special for 1500, number 1 in the first digit is called 일천.

Here is an example of using Sino numbers in a sentence.

3.2 Pure

Pure numbers are used in more limited situations than Sino numbers, Pure Numbers used to count the number of people / objects / activities, talk about time, and sometimes to talk about the month.

Table 8. Korean Pure Numbers

3.3 Use of Pure Numbers

The “Pure” numbers are used in various ways and also mention an age. Not only that, Pure Numbers are also used to explain the amount being calculated, so there are affix words or adverbs to explain them.

Image 9. Mention of Age

Adverbs for numbers :

개 : for fruit → 3 apples

명 : for people → 3 people

번 : duration → 3 times

The condition that must be considered to use pure numbers is that we must modify the following numbers:

1 : 하나 → 한

2 : 둘    → 두

3 : 셋    → 세

4 : 넷    → 네

20 : 스문 → 스무

Image 10. Sentence with Pure Numbers

3.4 Some/any

“Some/any" is part of an adjective used to refer to more than one number of objects. In Korean "some" can be expressed with "몇". "몇" followed by 개 (for objects) and 명 (for human subjects) as described in Image 10. Let’s look at the example of “some/any” sentence in Image 11.

Image 11. Use of “Some/any” in Korean

3.5 Use of Zero (0)

There are two words that can be used for 0 in a sentence, these are 영 and 공. The use of these two numbers at the right time is:

Image 12. Use of “영” and “공” as Zero Number

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