Learn Korean (TTMIK)

Lesson 15

In this lesson, we are going to talk about NUMBERS! 

We wish we could say that there is a very easy way to learn the Korean numbers once and 

never forget them, but the truth is, there isn’t. As far as the numbers are concerned, you will 

have to keep practicing using them until they stick. So in this lesson we will introduce the sinoKorean numbers up to 1000. 

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. And the situations and the contexts in which each system is used are different, but don’t 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]

5 오 [o] 6 륙 [ryuk] or 육 [yuk]

7 칠 [chil] 8 팔 [pal] 

9 구 [gu] 10 십 [sip] 

And the rest is easy. 

In Korean, if you want to say 11, you just say TEN + ONE. 

If you want to say 33, you just say THREE + TEN + THREE. 

If you want to say 99, you say NINE + TEN + NINE. 

100 백 [baek] 1,000 천 [cheon] 

Can you guess how to say 312 in Korean? 

Yes, you are right. 

THREE + HUNDRED + TEN + TWO 

삼 + 백 + 십 + 이 

 [sam-baek-sip-i]

Some more examples

1,234 = 1,000 (천) + 2 (이) + 100 (백) + 3 (삼) + 10 (십) + 4 (사) 

512 = 5 (오) + 100 (백) + 10 (십) + 2 (이) 

Note that for 1,000, 100, and 10, you don’t have to say one (일) + thousand (천), 일백, or 일십.