BASIC KOREAN LANGUAGE

Lesson 16 : Age

Annyeong!

Now let's talk about AGE.

Let's learn how to ask someone's age and to tell our own age in Korean Language!!Yipie^^

In some cultures, asking somebody their age when you first meet them might seem a little bit strange. However, in Korea, this is one of the most important questions that you can ask. Learning how to say 'How old are you?' in Korean is extremely important, so make sure that you learn this vital phrase!

The reason that it is so important is that Koreans use different language when talking about people of a different age. Read this to see how the way you refer to friends changes based on age. For example if you are female, and your friend is a (slightly) older male, you will refer to him as 오빠 (oppa).

Age also determines what level of politeness you should use when speaking, and it can also affect things like who pours the drinks, cuts the meat at a barbeque restaurant, or pays the bill in certain situations.

NOTE : In Korea once you are born you're already 1 year old.So if your 19 here in Philippines or in other countries in Korea you're already 20 years old.

So let's start?

How to ask someone's age?

There are 3 ways...

1.If you are speaking to somebody who is a lot older than you, or if you are in a formal setting, then you should use the word 연세(yeonse).

● Yeonsega eotteosseumnikka?

● 연세가 어떻습니까?

2.If you are speaking to somebody younger than you or of a similar age to you then you can use the words 나이 (nai) or 살 (sal).

살 (sal) translates as something closer to 'years old' rather than age. If you want to say 'years old' when talking about someone who is a lot older than you, then you should say 세 (se) instead of 살(sal).

● naiga eotteoke doeseyo?

● 나이가 어떻게 되세요?

● myeot salisaeyo?

● 몇 살이세요?

3.And last is the Informal way to ask for someone's age.

● myeot saliya?

● 몇 살이야?

Now that you know how to say 'How old are you?' in Korean, you will find it a lot easier to know which Korean words to use when speaking with somebody.

Let's now take a look at the proper way to state your age in Korean. Besides a few rare exceptions, Native Korean is almost always used when discussing age.

In Native Korean, each unit of ten has a unique name, similar to English.

10: 열 (yeol)

20: 스물 (seumul)

30: 서른 (seoreun)

40: 마흔 (maheun)

50: 쉰 (shwin)

60: 예순 (yesun)

70: 알흔 (ireun)

80: 여든 (yeodeun)

90: 아흔 (aheun)

Now let's take a look at pronunciation of the single numerals.

1: 하나 (hana)

2: 둘 (dul)

3: 셋 (set)

4: 넷 (net)

5: 다섯 (daseot)

6: 여섯 (yeoseot)

7: 일곱 (ilgop)

8: 여덟 (yeodeol)

9: 아홉 (ahop)

To state your age, simply choose the decade from the first column, attach the number of single years from the second group and attach the word "살 sal (age)" to the end.

Arraseo?

OK, now it's time to practice a few ages.

● naiga eotteoke doeseyo? (How old are you?

● seumulse salieyo (I am 23 years old.Just add (i-e-yo 이에요) after the age.

● 스물세 살이에요.

More examples...

17 years old = yeolilgop sal (열일곱 살)

36 years old  = seoreunyeoseot sal (서른여섯 살)

15 years old  = yeoldaseot (열다섯 살)

21 years old  = seumulhan sal (스물한 살)

18 years old  = yeolyeodeol sal (열여덟 살)

By the way...

✔ My name is Danica and I'm 17 years old!

✔ Jeoneun Danica ego yeolilgop sal imnida!

✔ 저는 다니까이고 열일곱 설입니다!

So that's all!

I hope you learn how to ask someone's age now and also to tell your own age ^^

See you on the next lesson!Kamsahamnida <3