LEARN KOREAN (한국어) [GRAMMAR] #1

KOREAN DAYS (일/날/하루)

Days are very confusing in Korean because there are a few different words you need to be acquainted with. You learned the names of the days of the week. You should have noticed that every day of the week ends in 일. 일 means "day" but it is never used alone (if it is used alone, it means 'work'). I'm looking at my Korean calendar now, and see a variety of words ending in "일." Don't worry about these words now, just recognize the importance of "일" within them:

총선 = general election
총선일 = the day of the general election (election day)
현충일 = Memorial day

일 is also the counter for days. You learned that you must use pure Korean numbers when counting. When you count days, however, you use Sino-Korean numbers. When putting a number before "일," it doesn't matter if you use the word or the numeral.

나는 3일 동안 공부했어 - I studied for 3 days
나는 삼 일 동안 공부했어 - I studied for 3 days

나는 3일 동안 학교에 안 갔어 - I didn't go to school for 3 days
나는 삼 일 동안 학교에 안 갔어 - I didn't go to school for 3 days

저는 5일 동안 계획이 없을 거예요 - I won't have plans for 5 days

To make things more confusing, if you are counting days from 1 – 10 there is a word that corresponds to "one day," another word that corresponds to "2 days," another word that corresponds to "3 days" etc... The most common of these words is 하루 which means "one day." 하루 is used much more than 일 일. But 2일 (이 일)/3일 (삼 일)/4일 (사 일)/5일 (오 일)/etc are used more than their corresponding words.

저는 하루 동안 여행했어요 - I traveled for 1 day
저는 사흘 동안 밥을 안 먹었어요 - I didn't eat rice for 3 days
우리는 이틀 동안 미국에 있었어요 - We were in America for two days

———————————————-

You can also place a (Sino-Korean) number before 일 to refer to a specific day in a month. It seems like it would be easy to confuse when one is talking about the day of a month (3일) and when doing something for a specific period (3일). But, in sentences, these are easily distinguishable:

나는 3일에 수업을 들었어 - I went to class on the 3rd (day of the month)
나는 3일 동안 수업을 들었어 - I went to class for three days

You can refer to a specific day and month by adding #일 after #월:

3월 2일 - March 2nd
5월 25일 - May 25th

저는 8월 15일에 도착할 거예요 - I will arrive on August 15th
저는 이 여권을 1월 2일에 받았어요 - I received my passport on January 2nd

———————————————-

날 is another word that means "day" and can be used as a stand alone word, but not counted. It is used when talking about a specific day by itself. For example:

저는 그날에 갔어요 - I went on that day
저는 그 날에 계획이 있어요 - I have plans on that day
저는 그 날에 선생님이 되었어요 - I became a teacher on that day

If you want to talk about doing something on the first/second/third day, you can use 번째 with 날. For example:

우리는 두 번째 날에 서울에 갔어요 - We went to Seoul on the second day
우리는 둘째 날에 서울에 갔어요 - We went to Seoul on the second day

우리는 세 번째 날에 안 만났어요 - We didn't meet on the third day
우리는 셋째 날에 안 만났어요 - We didn't meet on the third day

저는 네 번째 날에 계획이 없어요 - I have no plans on the fourth day
저는 넷째 날에 계획이 없어요 - I have no plans on the fourth day

첫날 is a word that specifically refers to the first day:

저는 첫날에 명동에 갔어요 - I went to 명동 on the first day
저는 첫날에 그 여자를 만났어요 - I met that girl on the first day