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Basics of Korean numbers

There are two sets of Korean numbers: the Native Korean ones and the Sino-Korean ones (that come from Chinese). The two systems are used in everyday life depending on the situation.

Native Korean numbers range from 1 to 99 (greater Native Korean numbers are not used anymore). They are used for telling:

  • Age
  • Number of people
  • Hour of the day
  • Number of hours
  • Number of items
  • More...

Sino-Korean numbers include all numbers. They are used for telling:

  • Age (also)
  • Dates
  • Temperature
  • Measurements
  • Minutes and seconds
  • Phone numbers
  • Money
  • More...

Learning Native Korean numbers

Native Korean numbers are typically used to count small amounts of people, hours or items. They are well adapted for this because they only range from 1 to 99. Also, there is no 0.

To be able to say all of them, one needs to learn the numbers from 1 to 9, and then every multiple of 10 (10, 20, …, 90). This is because any number can be decomposed in this way: 58 = 50 (쉰) + 8 (아홉), so 58 is 쉰아홉.

Note that some Native Korean numbers have an alternative form when counting things to ease the pronounciation. For instance, 1 (하나) is shortened as 한.

How to pronounce Native Korean numbers (YouTube video by Talk to me in Korean)

You can hear all the Native Korean numbers by playing the video above. You can also find all the numbers that you need to learn in the table at the end of this page. To memorize them, use the tool accessible from the hompage of this site!

Learning Sino-Korean numbers

Sino-Korean numbers are used for what Native Korean numbers are not used for. Unlike those, Sino-Korean numbers contain all numbers greater than 99. Hence, they are used for all large quantities. They also contain 0 (note that the way to say 0 in phone numbers is different).

To be able to count up to 99, one only needs to learn the numbers from 1 to 10 (it's even easier than Native Korean numbers!). This is because any number can be decomposed in this way: 58 = 5 (오) × 10 (십) + 8 (팔), so 58 is 오십팔.

Larger numbers are built the same way using 100 (백), 1,000 (천) and 10,000 (만). From there, next powers of 10 are found by composition: 100,000 is 십만, 1,000,000 is 백만 and 10,000,000 is 천만. This way of counting with 10,000 as unit may not feel natural for many, as most languages (like English) use thousands, millions and billions as units for large numbers.

How to pronounce Sino-Korean numbers up to 100 (YouTube video by Talk to me in Korean)

You can hear the Sino-Korean numbers up to 100 by playing the video above. You can also find all the numbers that you need to learn in the table just below. To memorize them, use the tool accessible from the hompage of this site!

List of Korean numbers

Number Sino-Korean Native Korean Native Korean (count)
0 영
Phone #: 공		 - -
1 일 하나 한
2 이 둘 두
3 삼 셋 세
4 사 넷 네
5 오 다섯 -
6 육 여섯 -
7 칠 일곱 -
8 팔 여덟 -
9 구 아홉 -
10 십 열 -
20 이십 스물 스무
30 삼십 서른 -
40 사십 마흔 -
50 오십 쉰 -
60 육십 예순 -
70 칠십 일흔 -
80 팔십 여든 -
90 구십 아흔 -
100 백 - -
1,000 천 - -
10,000 만 - -
100,000 십만 - -
1,000,000 백만 - -
10,000,000 천만 - -
100,000,000 억 - -

Sources