14.2 Sino-Korean numbers 14.2.1 Sino-Korean cardinal numbers
1 㧒 螐 2 㧊 蝊 3
㌒ 芓 4 ㌂ 艏 5
㡺 薺 6 㥷 蜄 7
䂶 謥 8 䕪 讱 9
ῂ 粝 10 㕃 葟
20 㧊㕃 21 㧊㕃㧒 30
㌒㕃 40 ㌂㕃 50
㡺㕃 60 㥷㕃 70
䂶㕃 80 䕪㕃 90
ῂ㕃 99 ῂ㕃ῂ
NOTE: Chinese characters are provided in parentheses. Unlike English, which breaks down long numbers into three-numeral units,
Korean organizes long numbers into four-numeral chunks. Nonetheless, when writing large Arabic numbers, Korean uses commas to group numerals into sets
of three, just as English does.
English: 9,| 6 0 1, | 2 3 4 ,| 5 0 0, | 7 8 9
trillion billion million thousand 9 trillion, 601 billion, 234 million, 500 thousand, 789
Korean: 9, | 6 0 1 , 2 | 3 4 , 5 0 | 0 , 7 8 9
㫆 㠋 Ⱒ
9 㫆 6,012 㠋 3,450 Ⱒ 0,789 [ῂ㫆 㥷㻲㕃㧊㠋 ㌒㻲㌂⺇㡺㕃Ⱒ 䂶⺇䕪㕃ῂ]
To keep the groupings clear, it is useful to remember particular reference points such as ‘
thousand’ 㻲 and
Ⱒ ‘ten thousand,’ and so on. 㧒 one
㕃 ten ⺇ hundred
㻲
thousand
㧒Ⱒ ten thousand
㕃Ⱒ hundred thousand
⺇Ⱒ
million
㻲Ⱒ ten million
㧒㠋 one hundred million
㕃㠋
billion
UK 1,000 million
⺇㠋 ten billion
UK 10,000 million
㻲㠋 one hundred
billion
UK 100,000 million
㧒㫆 trillion
UK one billion
1 㧒 = approx.
1,000 㻲㤦 10 㕃
=
10,000 Ⱒ㤦 100 ⺇
=
100,000 㕃Ⱒ㤦 1,000 㻲 =
1,000,000 ⺇Ⱒ㤦 10,000 Ⱒ
=
10,000,000 㻲Ⱒ㤦 100,000 㕃Ⱒ =
100,000,000 㧒㠋㤦 1,000,000 ⺇Ⱒ =
1,000,000,000 㕃㠋㤦
14.2.2 Sino-Korean ordinal numbers
Sino-Korean ordinal numbers are formed with the help of the prefix 㩲- as in 㩲 12 ‘the twelfth episode.’ However, except in formal writing, 㩲- is usually
omitted and the bare Sino-Korean number is used in combination with various counters to indicate order.
1 䗮㧊㰖㴓 page 1
2 ὒ lesson 2
3 䘎 volume 3
5 ⻞ number 5
㔲䠮, ἓ₆ 1 ❇
top score in an exam, game 㧒 䢎䎪
first class hotel 㧻₆, ⚧
2 second rank in chess, paduk
⽊ⶒ 1 䢎 treasure 1
䌲ῢ☚ 5 ┾ fifth rank in T’aekw
ǂndo 㺓Ⱃ
25 㭒⎚ twenty-fifth anniversary of the foundation
10 ╖ ╖䐋⪏
10
th
president 㟒ῂ, ✲⧒Ⱎ
9 䣢 9
th
inning in baseball, 9
th
episode in a drama 㧛䞯㔲䠮, 䕢䕆
2 㹾 the second round entrance exam, partying
㞚䕢䔎 15 䂋
15
th
floor of an apt.
ἶ❇䞯ᾦ 2 䞯⎚
second grade in high school 㦢
4 㰧 Vol. 4 music CD
䞲ῃ㧎 2 ㎎
second generation Korean
14.3 Native versus Sino-Korean numbers
In most cases, there is a strict division of labor in the use of native Korean numbers and Sino-Korean numbers. For example, native Korean numbers are
used for counting small numbers and for o’clock ㎎㔲 ‘3 o’clock’, while Sino-Korean numbers are employed for minutes, dates, months, years, money,
and so forth 16 㩞㰖 ‘8 ½ by 11 size paper,’ 24 ⁞ ’24 K gold,’ and so on.
In some cases, both types of numbers can occur with the same counter, creating sharp contrasts in meaning.
Native number
Sino-Korean number
quantity order
䞲 䗮㧊㰖㴓 one page 㧒 䗮㧊㰖㴓
page 1 ⚦ ὒ
two lessons 㧊 ὒ
lesson 2 ㎎ 䘎
three volumes ㌒ 䘎
volume 3 ┺㎅ ⻞
five times 㡺 ⻞
number 5 Very rarely, either number can be used for the same concept, but this is
correlated with a contrast in speech style. Native
number Sino-Korean
number colloquial
writtenformal ㌂㰚 ⚦ 㧻
㌂㰚 2 ⰺ two photos
㓺ⶊ ㌊ 20 ㎎ 20 years old
㞚✺ 䞮⋮ ➎ ㎡ 1 ⋾ 3 ⎖
one son, three daughters ㎎㱎 㞚✺ 3
⋾ third son
┺㎅ 㔳ῂ 5 㧎Ṗ㫇
a family of five The rest of this section focuses on how the functions of the two sets of numbers
are divided up.
14.3.1 Counting
Native numerals are used for counting smaller units. For larger quantities, Sino- Korean numerals are used, often in combination with native numbers. There is a
tendency for Sino-Korean numbers to be used for multiples of 10, starting from 20, even when there is a native Korean counterpart.
1 㫛㧊 䞲 㧻 one sheet of paper
10 㡊 㧻
20 㓺ⶊ 㧻 or 㧊㕃 㧻
21 㓺ⶒ 䞲 㧻
125 ⺇ 㓺ⶒ ┺㎅ 㧻 or ⺇ 㧊㕃 㡺 㧻
1,502 㻲 㡺⺇ ⚦ 㧻 or 㻲 㡺⺇ 㧊 㧻
1 䞯㌳ 䞲 ⳛ one student
10 㡊 ⳛ
70 㧒䦪 ⳛ or 䂶㕃 ⳛ
99 㞚䦪 㞚䢟 ⳛ or ῂ㕃ῂ ⳛ
52,309 㡺Ⱒ 㧊㻲 ㌒⺇ 㞚䢟 ⳛ or 㡺Ⱒ 㧊㻲 ㌒⺇ ῂ ⳛ
Counters or Classifiers
Numbers usually occur with counters such as 㧻 for thinflat objects like sheets of paper, ⳛ for people, ⰞⰂ for animals, and so on, all of which indicate the
type of element being counted. When counting large numbers, thingspersons are usually counted by twos, as in ⚮ ⎍ 㡂㎅ 㡂▵ 㡊 㡊⚮ 㡊⎍ 㡊㡂㎅
㡊㡂▵ 㓺ⶒ… using only even numbers. The following counters are frequently used.
Counters for inanimate things ṧ⽊⬾ a packcarton of cigarettes: ╊⺆ 䞲 ṧ⽊⬾
Ṳ 3-D objects in general , ‘default classifier’ when nothing else fits: ニ 䞲 Ṳ one piece of bread, 㝆⩞₆䐋 ⚦ Ṳ two garbage cans
ῢ bound material: 㧷㰖 䞲 ῢ one magazine, Ⱒ䢪㺛 㡊 ῢ ten cartoon books ⁎⬾ tree: ㏢⋮ⶊ 䞲 ⁎⬾ one pine tree
╖ machines and large appliances: 㹾㎎䌗₆⚦ ╖ two carswashing machines ╖, Ṳ゚ tiny slender objects: ╊⺆ 䞲 ╖ one cigarette, ㎇⌻ ⚦ Ṳ゚ two matches
ⰺ sheets of paper [formalwritten]: 㧊⩻㍲ 1 ⰺ one copy of a résumé ⻢ clothes, silverware: 㩫㧻 䞲 ⻢ one formal suit, 㑮㩖 ⚦ ⻢ two spoon
chopstick sets periodicals such as magazines, multi-page documents: 㤪Ṛ㰖 䞲
one monthly magazine, 㔶㼃㍲ 䞲 one application document ㏷㧊┺ stembouquet: 㧻⹎ ⚦ ㏷㧊┺ two stemsbouquets of roses
㧦⬾ long slender objects: 㡆䞚 䞲 㧦⬾ one pencil 㧻 thin, flat objects: ☚䢪㰖 㡊 㧻 10 sheets of drawing paper
㩦 pieces of art: ⁎Ⱂ 䞲 㩦 one picture 㺚 buildings: 㰧 䞲 㺚, Ịⶒ 㞚䢟 㺚 nine buildings
㻯 ships: ⺆ 䞲 㻯 one boat, 㧶㑮䞾 ㎎ 㻯 three submarines 㻿 pack of herbal remedy: 䞲㟓 㓺ⶊ 㻿 = 䞲 㩲 20 packs of Chinese medicine
䅺⩞ pair of shoes, socks, gloves: 㤊☯䢪 䞲 䅺⩞ one pair of sneakers,
㟧Ⱖ ㎎ 䅺⩞ three pairs of socks 䐋 letters in an envelope: 䘎㰖 ㎎ 䐋 three letters
NOTE: Unlike most other counters, ⰺ can be used with Sino-Korean numbers – ㌂㰚 2 ⰺ, 㧊⩻㍲ 1 ⰺ.