Korean numerals Totally Explained

Everything about Korean Numerals totally explained

The Korean language has two regularly used sets of numerals, a Sino-Korean system and a native Korean system.

Construction

For both native and Sino-Korean numerals, the teens (11 through 19) are represented by a combination of tens and the ones places. For instance, 15 would be sib-o (십오), but not usually il-sib-o in the Sino-Korean system, and yeol-daseot (열다섯) in native Korean. Twenty through ninety are likewise represented in this place-holding manner in the Sino-Korean system, while Native Korean has its own unique set of words, as can be seen in the chart below. The grouping of large numbers in Korean follow the Chinese tradition of myriads (10000) rather than thousands (1000). The Sino-Korean system is nearly entirely based on the Chinese numerals.
   The distinction between the two numeral systems is very important. Everything that can be counted will use one of the two systems, but seldom both. Sino-Korean words are sometimes used to mark ordinal usage: yeol beon (열 번) means "ten times" while sip beon (십(十) 번(番)) means "number ten."
   When denoting the age of a person, one will usually use sal (살) for the native Korean numerals, and se (세) for Sino-Korean. For example, seu-mul da-seot sal (스물다섯 살) and i-sib-o se (이십오 세) both mean 'twenty-five-year-old'. See also East Asian age reckoning.
   The Sino-Korean numerals are used to denote the minute of time. For example, sam-sib-o bun (삼십오 분) means "__:35" or "thirty-five minutes." The native Korean numerals are used for the hours in the 12-hour system and for the hours 0:00 to 12:00 in the 24-hour system. The hours 13:00 to 24:00 in the 24-hour system are only denoted using the Sino-Korean numerals. For example, se si (세 시) means '03:00' or '3:00 a.m./p.m.' and sip-chil si (십칠 시) means '17:00'.
   For counting above 100, Sino-Korean words are used, sometimes in combination: 101 can be baek-hana or baeg-il.
   Some of the native numbers take a different form in front of measure words:

Number	Native Korean cardinals			Attributive forms of native Korean cardinals
Number	Hangul	McCune-Reischauer	Revised	Hangul	McCune-Reischauer	Revised
1	하나	hana	hana	한	han	han
2	둘	tul	dul	두	tu	du
3	셋	set	set	세	se	se
4	넷	net	net	네	ne	ne
20	스물	sŭmul	seumul	스무	sŭmu	seumu

The descriptive forms for 1, 2, 3, 4, and 20 are formed by "dropping the last letter" from the original native cardinal, so to speak. Examples:

한 번 han beon ("once")
두 개 du gae ("two things")
세 시 se si ("three o'clock")
네 명 ne myeong ("four people")
스무 마리 seumu mari ("twenty animals")

Something similar also occur in some Sino-Korean cardinals:

오뉴월 onyuwol ("May and June")

유월 yuwol ("June")

시월 siwol ("October") The cardinals for three and four have alternatives forms in front of some measure words:

석 달 seok dal ("three months")

넉 잔 neok jan ("four cups")

Numerals

Number	Sino-Korean cardinals				Native Korean cardinals
Number	Hanja	Hangul	McCune-Reischauer	Revised	Hangul	McCune-Reischauer	Revised
0 (number)	零/〇	영 (N: 령)/공	yŏng (N: ryŏng)/kong	yeong/gong	-	-	-
1	一	일	il	il	하나	hana	hana
2	二	이	i	i	둘	tul	dul
3	三	삼	sam	sam	셋	set	set
4	四	사	sa	sa	넷	net	net
5	五	오	o	o	다섯	tasŏt	daseot
6	六	육 (N: 륙)	yuk (N: ryuk)	yuk	여섯	yŏsŏt	yeoseot
7	七	칠	ch'il	chil	일곱	ilgop	ilgop
8	八	팔	p'al	pal	여덟	yŏdŏl	yeodeol
9	九	구	ku	gu	아홉	ahop	ahop
10	十	십	sip	sip	열	yŏl	yeol
11	十一	십일	sibil	sibil	열 하나	yŏrhana	yeolhana
12	十二	십이	sibi	sibi	열 둘	yŏltul	yeoldul
13	十三	십삼	sipsam	sipsam	열 셋	yŏlset	yeolset
14	十四	십사	sipsa	sipsa	열 넷	yŏllet	yeollet
15	十五	십오	sibo	sibo	열 다섯	yŏltasŏt	yeoldaseot
16	十六	십육 (N: 십륙)	simnyuk (N: simryuk)	simnyuk	열 여섯	yŏllyŏsŏt	yeollyeoseot
17	十七	십칠	sipch'il	sipchil	열 일곱	yŏrilgop	yeorilgop
18	十八	십팔	sipp'al	sip-pal	열 여덟	yŏllyŏdŏl	yeollyeodeol
19	十九	십구	sipku	sipgu	열 아홉	yŏrahop	yeorahop
20	二十	이십	isip	isip	스물	sŭmul	seumul
30	三十	삼십	samsip	samsip	서른	sŏrŭn	seoreun
40	四十	사십	sasip	sasip	마흔	mahŭn	maheun
50	五十	오십	osip	osip	쉰	shwin	swin
60	六十	육십 (N: 륙십)	yuksip (N: ryuksip)	yuksip	예순	yesun	yesun
70	七十	칠십	ch'ilsip	chilsip	일흔	irhŭn	ilheun
80	八十	팔십	p'alsip	palsip	여든	yŏdŭn	yeodeun
90	九十	구십	kusip	gusip	아흔	ahŭn	aheun
100	百	백	paek	baek	온	on	on
1,000	千	천	ch'ŏn	cheon	즈믄	chŭmŭn	jeumeun
10⁴	萬	만	man	man	드먼	tŭmŏn	deumeon
10⁸	億	억	ŏk	eok	잘	chal	jal
10¹²	兆	조	cho	jo	-	-	-
10¹⁶	京	경	kyŏng	gyeong	골	kol	gol
10²⁰	垓	해	hae	hae	-	-	-
10²⁴	秭	자	cha	ja	-	-	-
10²⁸	穰	양	yang	yang	-	-	-
10³²	溝	구	ku	gu	-	-	-
10³⁶	澗	간	kan	gan	-	-	-
10⁴⁰	正	정	chŏng	jeong	-	-	-
10⁴⁴	載	재	chae	jae	-	-	-
10⁴⁸	極	극	kŭk	geuk	-	-	-
10⁵² or 10⁵⁶	恒河沙	항하사	hanghasa	hanghasa	-	-	-
10⁵⁶ or 10⁶⁴	阿僧祇	아승기	asŭnggi	aseunggi	-	-	-
10⁶⁰ or 10⁷²	那由他	나유타	nayut'a	nayuta	-	-	-
10⁶⁴ or 10⁸⁰	不可思議	불가사의	pulgasaŭi	bulgasaui	-	-	-
10⁶⁸ or 10⁸⁸	無量大數	무량대수	muryangdaesu	muryangdaesu	-	-	-

Pronunciation

The initial consonants of measure words and numbers following the native cardinals 여덟 ("eight", only when the ㅂ isn't pronounced) and 열 ("ten") become tensed consonants when possible. Thus for example:

열 셋 yeolset (thirteen) is pronounced like [열쎗] yeolsset

여덟 권 yeodeolgwon (eight (books)) is pronounced like [여덜꿘] yeodeolkkwon Several numerals have long vowels, namely 둘 (two), 셋 (three) and 넷 (four), but these become short when combined with other numerals / nouns (such as in twelve, thirteen, fourteen and so on).
The usual liaison and consonant-tensing rules apply, so for example, 예순 여섯 (sixty-six) is pronounced like [예순녀섣] (yesunnyeoseot) and 칠십 chilsip (seventy) is pronounced like [칠씹] chilssip.

Constant Suffixes used in Sino-Korean ordinal numerals

번(番),호(號),차(次), and 회(回)are costantly used with Sino-Korean or Arabic ordinal numerals. For example, 이호선(二號線) is Line Number Two in metropolitan subway system. 37번국도(37番國道) is Highway Number 37. They can not be used interchangeably. 906호(號) is 'Apt #906' in mailing address. 906 without 호 isn't used in spoken Korean to imply apartment number or office suite #. Special prefix 제(第) is usually used in combination with suffixes to designate a specific event in sequential things such as the Olympics.

Special Alternatives used in Booking

In commerce or financial sector, some hanja for each sino-Korean numbers are replaced by alternative ones to prevent ambiguity or retouching.

one	일	一	壹
two	이	二	貳
three	삼	三	參
seven	칠	七	柒
ten	십	十	拾
hundred	백	百	佰
thousand	천	千	仟

Further Information

Get more info on 'Korean Numerals'.

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