Native versus Sino-Korean numbers
Acceptable Unacceptablestrange-sounding ⚦ 㹾⪲ ṧ㔲┺.
Let’s go in two cars. ㎎ ╃㧊 ┺ ⼧㧊 ⌂┺.
All three chickens got sick. ⚦ ṫ㞚㰖Ṗ ┺ 㡞㊮┺.
The two puppies are both cute. ⍺ 䄺䞒Ṗ ┺ 䆪⋮㡞㣪.
All four coffees are Kona. ⚦ 㹾⯒ ㌖┺.
I bought two cars. ㎎ ╃㦚 䋺㤊┺.
I am raising three chickens. ⚦ ṫ㞚㰖Ṗ ⥆㠊㢪┺.
Two puppies came running. ⍺ 䄺䞒⯒ ㌖┺.
I bought four coffees. Exceptionally, the following cases are natural even with bigger numbers.
㡊㞚✺ 㞞 ⩓┺. I don’t envy those with many sons. I am satisfied with my daughter.
㡊┺㎅ 㰧㧊䞯ᾦṖ⋮⧒Ṗ ⳾㡖┺. Fifteen familiesschoolscountries got together.
• ⚦ Ṳ㦮 ㌂ὒ is used mostly in formal speech or writing.
䞲 㧪㦮 㹾 one cup of tea
㡊 ῢ㦮 㺛 ten books
5 Ṳ ῃṖ㦮 㑮㌗ prime ministers of 5 countries
14.3.2 Units of measurement
Sino-Korean numbers are used for the metric system as well as for some American units of measurement. Native numbers are employed only for a few
traditional Korean units of measurement. All Arabic numerals are to be read as Sino-Korean numbers, unless otherwise specified.
Temperature ₆㡾㡾☚
㎃㝾 Centigrade vs. 䢪㝾 Fahrenheit ㎃㝾 0 ☚⓪ 䢪㝾 32 ☚㧊┺. 0 degrees Centigrade is 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
㾲㩖 ₆㡾 㡗㌗ 2 ☚ low temperature, two degrees above zero 䡚㨂 ₆㡾 15 ☚ current temperature, 15 degrees
㼊Ṧ 㡾☚⓪ 㡗䞮 5 ☚㧊┺. Perceived temperature with windchill is 5 below zero.
Lengthdistance ₎㧊ỆⰂ
Metric units: 䌂⪲⹎䎆, ⹎䎆, ㎒䕆⹎䎆, ⹖Ⰲ⹎䎆 165 ㎒䕆 䋺㦮 ⋾㧦 a man of 165 cm in height
500 ⹎䎆 ╂Ⰲ₆ 500 m race 㩲䞲㏣☚ 100 䌂⪲ speed limit 100 km
ṫ㑮⨟ 400 ⹖Ⰲ precipitation, 400 mm ゚Ṗ 100 ⹖Ⰲ⹎䎆㧊㌗ ⌊⪎㔋┞┺. It rained more than 100 mm.
1 䌂⪲⓪ 0.6 Ⱎ㧒㧊┺. 1 km = 0.6 mile American unit: 㧎䂮 used for waist, chest, hip sizes
䠞Ⰲ 29 㧎䂮 29-inch waist, Ṗ㔊⚮⩞㠟▿㧊⚮⩞ 35 㧎䂮 35-inch chesthip Modern Korean units:
For female clothes : 44 XS, 55 S, 66 M, 77 L For mostly male clothes: 90 XS, 95 S, 100 M, 105 L
Traditional units: 㧦 㟓 30.3 cm: 㢍Ṧ 㧒 㧦 200 cm wide cloth,
㡂㎅ 㧦㰲Ⰲ 㧻⫇ 180 cm wide dresser ㅮ ‘hand’s width’: ₎㧊Ṗ ⚦ ㅮ 㩫☚ ♲┺. The length is about two hands’ width.
䂮 only for idioms: 䞲 䂮㦮 㟧⽊☚ 㠜┺. There’s not an inch of concession. NOTE: The sizes for female clothing 44, 55, etc. are read as [㌂㌂], [㡺㡺], etc., but the
ones for male clothing 90, 95, etc. are usually read as [ῂ㕃], [ῂ㕃㡺], etc.
Area Ⳋ㩗
Metric units: m
2
䘟⹎䎆 or 㩲⹎䎆 Traditional units: 䘟 is commonly used. 1[䞲]䘟 = 35.57 sq. ft.
30[㌓㕃㍲⯎]䘟㰲Ⰲ 㞚䕢䔎 a 1,000 sq. ft. apt ╖㰖 200 䘟 7,100 sq. ft. of land
Ị䘟 72[䂶㕃㧊㧒䦪⚦]䘟 2,500 sq. ft. interior
Volume 㼊㩗䞒
Metric units: Ⰲ䎆, ⹖ⰂⰂ䎆, 㝾㝾 cc 㤆㥶 1 Ⰲ䎆⓪ 100 㝾㝾┺. One liter of milk is 100 cc.
500 㝾㝾㰲Ⰲ 㡺⩢㰖 㯂㓺 a 500 cc carton of orange juice Traditional units not commonly used: Ⱖ = 4 gallons, ♮
㕖 䞲 Ⱖ = 㡊 ♮
Weight 㭧⨟ⶊỢ
Metric units: 䌂⪲⁎⧾, ⁎⧾ 1 䌂⪲⁎⧾㦖 㟓 2 䕢㤊✲㩫☚ ♲┺. 1kg = about 2 lbs.
ⴎⶊỢṖ 5 䌂⪲⋮ ⓮㠞┺. I gained 5 kg Traditional unit: ⁒ = 600 grams, ὖ = 3.75 kg
㏢ἶ₆ 䞲 ⁒ 600 grams of beef, ♒㰖ἶ₆ ⁒ 300 grams of pork ἶ㿪 䞲 ὖ 3.75 kg of red pepper Ⱎ⓮ ⚦ ὖ 7.5 kgs of garlic
As of July 2007, a new and revised measurement system has been implemented, prohibiting the use of traditional units such as 䘟, ⁒, ὖ, ☞, as well as some
American units such as 㧎䂮.
Prohibited units Mandated metric alternatives
㞚䕢䔎 1 䘟 3.3 m
2
apartment ㏢ἶ₆ 䞲 ⁒
600 g beef Ṧ㧦 䞲 ὖ
3.75 kg potato ⁞ 䞲 ☞
3.76 g gold 1
㧎䂮 2.54 cm
For example:
20 䘟㰲Ⰲ 㞚䕢䔎 66 㩲⹎䎆㰲Ⰲ 㞚䕢䔎 710 sq. ft. apt.
20 㧎䂮㰲Ⰲ 䕆ぢ㧊 50.8
㎒䕆㰲Ⰲ 䕆ぢ㧊 20 inch TV
⚦ ☞㰲Ⰲ ⁞㰖 7.84 ⁎⧾㰲Ⰲ ⁞㰖
7.84 gram gold ring
14.3.3 Time, date, and age
Both native and Sino-Korean numerals can be used for time, dates, and ages. A particularly notorious case involves telling time, which requires a native number
for o’clock but a Sino-Korean number for minutes. Rather than trying to memorize the rule, it makes sense to simply remember an example – 7 㔲 20
[㧒 㔲 㧊㕃 ]. The following table summarizes the use of Sino-Korean and native Korean numbers with respect to their various functions. All Arabic
numerals are to be read as Sino-Korean numbers, unless otherwise specified.
Timedateage Numerals Examples
Hours Native:
䞲 㔲Ṛ, 㡂▵ 㔲Ṛ
NOTE: Sino-Korean numerals are used for 24 㔲Ṛ, 48 㔲Ṛ, etc.
O’clock Native:
㡺䤚 䞲 㔲 1:00 PM 㡺㩚 㡊䞲 㔲 11:00 AM
MinutesSeconds Sino: 34 52 㽞
Century Sino:
21 ㎎₆ Year
Sino: 2006 ⎚ the year 2006 or 2006 years
Month Sino:
Native: 6 [㥶]㤪 June 11 㤪
November 6 Ṳ㤪 6 months 11 Ṳ㤪 11 months
㡂㎅ ╂ 6 months 㡊䞲 ╂ 11 months
Day Sino:
Native: 6 㧒 6
th
day or 6 days 31 㧒 31
st
day or 31 days 䞮⬾ 1 day
㧊䔖 2 days ㌂䦮 3 days
⋮䦮 4 days ╍㌞ 5 days
㡕㌞ 6 days 㧊⩞ 7 days 㡂✲⩞ 8 days 㞚䦦⩞ 9 days
㡊䦮 10 days ⽊⯚ 15 days or 15
th
day
NOTE: 㡕㌞ , 㧊⩞, 㡂✲⩞, and 㞚䦦⩞ are used mostly by senior adults.
Week Sino:
4 㭒㧒
X
night
X
days Sino: 7 8 㧒 䞮㢖㧊 㡂䟟 7 night-8 day trip to Hawaii
X
years old Native:
Sino: ㍲⯎ ㌊ 30 years old
㓆 䞲 ㌊ 51 years old 20 ㎎ ⹎Ⱒ ὖ⧢Ṗ No admission under 20.
60 ㎎ 䢮ṧ sixtieth birthday 70 ㎎ ἶ䧂 seventieth birthday
Born
in X
year Sino:
1990 ⎚㌳ [㻲ῂ⺇ῂ㕃⎚㌳] 90 ⎚㌳ [ῂ㕃⎚㌳ or ῂὋ⎚㌳]
㡆⎚㌳ children born within a year of each other Stages of life
every 10 years Sino:
10 ╖ [㕃╖㧒Ὃ] teenage 20 ╖ [㧊㕃╖㧊Ὃ] twenties
ΝΟΤΕ
1
: Two different calendars are used –㟧⩻ solar calendar for most dates and
㦢⩻ lunar calendar for certain special days such as 㿪㍳ and ῂ㩫 Chinese New Year’s Day.
ΝΟΤΕ
2
: The day you are born, you are one year old in terms of Korean age. To indicate
American age, which is used for all legal purposes, Ⱒ- is used Ⱒ 20 ㎎㌊. An American age of 20 corresponds to a Korean age of either 21 or 22.
14.3.4 Arithmetic and fractions
Sino-Korean numbers are used for arithmetical calculation, fractions 㑮, decimals ㏢㑮, and multiplication tables ῂῂ┾. But native numbers are used
for numerical comparison in general.
• Arithmetical calculation: Sino-Korean numbers
2 ▪䞮₆ + 2 ⓪ 4 4 ヒ₆ – 2 ⓪ 2
2 䞮₆ x 2 ⓪ 4 4 ⋮₆ ÷ 2 ⓪ 2
NOTE: Informal calculation of small quantities can be done with native numbers: ┺㎅㠦㍲ ㎡㦚 ヒⳊ ⚮㧊┺. If you subtract 3 from 5, it is 2.
•
Fractions 㑮 and decimals ㏢㑮: Sino-Korean numbers
½ 2 㦮 1 or 2 㰖 1 [uncommonold-fashioned]
2 ¼ 2 㢖 4 㦮 㧒
1 ½ 1 ὒ 2 㦮 1
0.314
㡗㩦 ㌒㧒㌂ 2.0
㧊㩦 㡗 •
Multiplication tables ῂῂ┾ ῂ㧒㦖 ῂ
9 x 1 = 9 ῂ㧊⓪ 㕃䕪
9 x 2 = 18 ῂ㌒㦖 㧊㕃䂶
9 x 3 = 27 ῂῂ⓪ 䕪㕃㧒 9 x 9 = 81
• Numerical comparison: Native numbers
⚦⺆ two times as much
⚦⺆ two and a half times as much
㡊⺆ ten times as much
NOTE: Fractional or larger numbers used for comparison especially multiples of 10, starting from 20 are Sino-Korean: 4.2 ⺆, ㌒㕃⺆, ⺇⺆, etc.
14.3.5 Money and currency
Sino-Korean numerals are used. 㡆⽟㧊 㡺Ⱒ 㧊┺.
The annual salary is 50,000. 㤪 㦖 ㌂⺇Ⱒ 㤦 㩫☚ ♲┺.
The monthly salary is about
4,000,000. 㕃Ⱒ 㤦㰲Ⰲ 㑮䚲 ⚦ 㧻
two cashier’s checks of
100,000 each 6 25 㩚 = 㥷 ╂⩂ 㧊㕃㡺㎒䔎 6.25
NOTE: The traditional monetary unit 䛒 is found in idioms like 䞲 䛒☚ 㠜┺ ‘I am penniless.’
14.3.6 Numbers relating to transportation
Sino-Korean numerals are used. 㰖䞮㻶 6 䢎㍶
Subway line 6 㰖䞮㻶 1 ῂṚ
Subway route 1 26 ⻞ ⻚㓺
Number 26 bus 28-1 [㧊㕃䕪 ┺㔲 㧒] ⻞ ⻚㓺
288[㧊⺇䕪㕃䕪 ⻞ or 㧊䕪䕪] ⻚㓺