Tool
Korean numbers 숫자 읽기
Short answer: Korean has two sets of numbers. Native Korean (하나, 둘, 셋) counts things, people, age and hours up to 99; Sino-Korean (일, 이, 삼) is used for money, minutes, dates, phone numbers and everything from 100 up.
In use
1 to 10
| Native | Before a counter | Sino-Korean | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 하나 | 한 | 일 |
| 2 | 둘 | 두 | 이 |
| 3 | 셋 | 세 | 삼 |
| 4 | 넷 | 네 | 사 |
| 5 | 다섯 | 다섯 | 오 |
| 6 | 여섯 | 여섯 | 육 |
| 7 | 일곱 | 일곱 | 칠 |
| 8 | 여덟 | 여덟 | 팔 |
| 9 | 아홉 | 아홉 | 구 |
| 10 | 열 | 열 | 십 |
Big numbers
Korean groups digits in fours, not threes. 만 is 10,000 and 억 is 100,000,000 — so 50,000 is 오만 (five 만) and 1,000,000 is 백만 (a hundred 만). You don’t say 일 (one) before 십, 백, 천 or 만: 100 is 백, 10,000 is 만. But 100,000,000 is 일억.
Questions
Why does Korean have two number systems?
Native Korean numbers (하나, 둘, 셋) are used for counting things and people, age and hours, up to 99. Sino-Korean numbers (일, 이, 삼) are used for money, minutes, dates, phone numbers, floors and anything 100 or more.
How do you say 10,000 in Korean?
만. Korean counts large numbers in units of 10,000 (만) and 100,000,000 (억): 50,000 is 오만, 1,000,000 is 백만.
How do you tell the time in Korean?
Hours use native numbers and minutes use Sino-Korean ones: 3:30 is 세 시 삼십 분.
Why is June 유월 and October 시월?
Two months change their spelling to be easier to say: 육월 → 유월 and 십월 → 시월.