LEARN KOREAN (한국어) [GRAMMAR] #1

번째: FIRST, SECOND, THIRD, ETC...

번째 can be used after a number like a counter to mean first/second/third/etc. When saying "first", "첫" replaces "한".

For example:

첫 번째 - first
저의 첫 번째 친구는 착했어요 - My first friend was nice
저는 첫 번째 차를 싫어했어요 - I didn't like that first car

If you think that is confusing, explain how 'one' gets changed to 'first,' 'two' gets changed to 'second' and 'three' gets changed to 'third.'

After "first," you can use the regular Korean numbers. Just like with counters, the numbers 2 – 4 change when 번째 follows. For example:

두 번째 - second
그 두 번째 선생님은 똑똑했어요 - That second teacher was smart
저는 두 번째 남자를 골랐어요 - I chose the second man

세 번째 - third
이 여권은 저의 세 번째 여권이에요 - This is my third passport
저는 세 번째 문을 열었어요 - I opened the third door

네 번째 - fourth
저는 네 번째 사람이었어요 - I was the fourth person
이 아이는 저의 네 번째 아들이에요 - This person is my fourth son

After the number four, the words don't change when adding 번째. For example:

이 수업은 오늘 저의 열 번째 수업입니다 - This is my tenth class today
저는 백 번째 페이지를 읽었어요 - I read the 100th page

Sometimes you might see these numbers + counters used in the following way:

첫 번째 = 첫째 - first
두 번째 = 둘째 - second
세 번째 = 셋째 - third
네 번째 = 넷째 - fourth
etc....

These shortened forms can't be used in as many situations as their longer counterparts. The most common situation where these are used is when talking about your first/second/third/etc. children. For example:

우리 둘째 아들은 고등학생이에요 - Our second son is a high school student
우리 셋째 아이는 야구를 좋아해요 - Our third child likes baseball
이 아이는 우리 첫째 아들이에요 - This (child) is our first son

In these cases, it is common to just refer to the child as "one's first" or "one's second." We often do the same thing in English. For example:

우리 둘째는 고등학생이에요 - Our second (child) is a high school student
우리 셋째는 야구를 좋아해요 - Our third (child) likes baseball
이 아이는 우리 첫째예요 - This (child) is our first (child)

However, as I mentioned, it would be unnatural to use these words in sentences like this:

저는 셋째 문을 열었어요 (very understandable, but awkward)
저는 넷째 사람이었어요 (very understandable, but awkward)

Another place you will see words like 첫째 and 둘째 is when making lists about things that need to be done, and the speaker/writer is indicating "Firstly... and then secondly..." For example:

첫째, 저는 야채를 많이 먹겠습니다 - First, I will eat a lot of vegetables
둘째, 저는 매일 운동하겠습니다 - Second, I will exercise everyday

Another useful word is 마지막 which often translates to 'last.' It is often confusing for English speakers to understand the usage of 마지막 at first because the word "last" has more than one usage in English. 마지막 is used to refer to the final (last) thing at the end of sequence... as in "first meal... second meal... third meal... fourth meal... final (last) meal." It is not used to refer to a "previous" thing. Notice the difference between these two usages of "last night":

Last night (the previous night) I went to the movies
The last night (the final night) of our trip was the best

The second example would be where you could use 마지막, because you are referring to the final (last) night of a sequence of nights on a trip. In the first example, you are talking about the previous night.

Here are some examples of 마지막 in use:

이것은 저의 마지막 수업이에요 - This is my last class
저는 마지막 것을 안 봤어요 - I didn't see the last thing (I didn't see that last one)

In these examples, 마지막 is being used as a descriptive word, even though it is not an adjective in its original form (it is not an adjective because it does not end in 다, and cannot be conjugated). Words can be used this way in English as well. The word "face" is a noun. But in the sentence "I put on face paint," the word "face" describes the type of paint you used. Similarly, you could say "that is a computer room," where the word "computer" is describing the room.