Resources for further reading:
Sino-Korean Numbers
Did you know that the Korean number system uses two different sets of numbers? The Sino-Korean number system is is used for talking about sums of money, telephone numbers, etc. This one is straightforward to build up large numbers—you only need to know one to ten. Twenty is just “two-ten,” thirty is “three-ten.” To help you remember them faster, try to use these words as much as possible in your daily life—even if it’s just in your head!
Practice Your Pronunciation With Rocket Record
Native Korean Numbers
The other number system is called native Korean numbers and is used for combining a number with an object-specific counter. These are the numbers you would use when counting a specific number of people, objects, or things.
You can also use the number stacking system that you learned above to count up to 19 in native Korean. So “eleven” is 열 (yeol) "ten" and 하나 (hana) "one": 열하나 (yeolhana) "eleven." “Nineteen” is 열 (yeol) "ten" together with the number 아홉 (ahop) "nine": 열아홉 (yeorahop) "nineteen."
That’s it for this lesson, well done!
Here are a few recommended Korean lessons to try next!
- Falling in love? Let's talk love in Korean.
- Describing where you're from. Let's talk about nationalities in Korean.
- At a Korean restaurant? Try ordering in Korean!
안녕히 가세요! (Annyeonghi gaseyo!) "Goodbye!"
Sujung Lee: Rocket Korean