Day 8: Numbers — both systems
Korean has two complete sets of numbers, and you need both. This is not a curiosity — it decides whether you can buy a coffee.
하나 둘 셋 (native) and 일 이 삼 (Sino-Korean, from Chinese) are not formal and informal versions of each other. Each one is compulsory in different places, and one very common phrase uses both at once:
세 시 삼십 분 — three thirty. Native for the hour, Sino for the minutes.
Section 3 is the rule that decides. Learn that before you memorise anything else.
1. Sino-Korean numbers — 일 이 삼
Borrowed from Chinese, and regular all the way up.
| 1 | 일 | 6 | 육 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 이 | 7 | 칠 | |
| 3 | 삼 | 8 | 팔 | |
| 4 | 사 | 9 | 구 | |
| 5 | 오 | 10 | 십 |
Building past ten — pure arithmetic
| 11 | 십일 | ten-one |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | 이십 | two-ten |
| 35 | 삼십오 | three-ten-five |
| 99 | 구십구 | |
| 100 | 백 | |
| 1,000 | 천 | |
| 10,000 | ★ 만 |
★ This is the most regular number system you will ever learn. No teens, no irregular tens, no backwards numbers (as German has). 48 = 사십팔 and there is nothing else to know.
⚠️ You do not say 일백 or 일천 for 100 and 1,000 — just 백, 천. But you do say 일만 for 10,000 in careful speech, and 만 in casual speech.
2. ⚠️★ Korean groups by ten thousand
### English breaks numbers every 3 digits. Korean breaks them every 4.
| English thinks | Korean says | |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | ten thousand | ★ 만 (one unit) |
| 100,000 | a hundred thousand | 십만 (ten 만) |
| 1,000,000 | a million | ★ 백만 (a hundred 만) |
| 10,000,000 | ten million | 천만 |
| 100,000,000 | a hundred million | 억 |
★ This is genuinely hard, and it is hard for Koreans learning English too — the two languages chop numbers in different places.
The trick: stop translating and re-anchor on 만. Learn 만 = 10,000 as a unit in its own right, the way you know "dozen" without converting. Then 백만 is just "a hundred of those" and you never touch the word million.
⚠️ This matters daily because of money. A cheap lunch is 팔천 원 (8,000 won), a meal out is 만 오천 원 (15,000), a monthly rent is 백만 원 (1,000,000). You will hear 만 in every price.
3. ★★ Which system, when
### Sino 일이삼 — money, dates, minutes, phone numbers, anything counted above 99### Native 하나둘셋 — age, hours on the clock, and counting objects
| Use Sino for | Use Native for | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| money | 오천 원 | ★ age | 스물다섯 살 |
| year, month, date | 이천이십육 년 | ★ hours | 세 시 |
| minutes | 삼십 분 | counting things | 커피 두 잔 |
| phone numbers | 공일공… | people | 세 명 |
| addresses, floors | 삼 층 | times, repetitions | 두 번 |
| school year | 일 학년 |
★ The clock is the one that uses both:
세 시 삼십 분 — 세 (native) 시 · 삼십 (Sino) 분 일곱 시 십오 분 — seven fifteen
⚠️ Do not say 삼 시 or 세십 분. The hour is always native, the minute always Sino, in the same breath. Say 세 시 삼십 분 out loud ten times now — it is the phrase that makes the split permanent.
4. Native Korean numbers — and they change shape
| 1 | 하나 | 6 | 여섯 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 둘 | 7 | 일곱 | |
| 3 | 셋 | 8 | 여덟 | |
| 4 | 넷 | 9 | 아홉 | |
| 5 | 다섯 | 10 | 열 |
Tens: 20 스물 · 30 서른 · 40 마흔 · 50 쉰 · 60 예순 · 70 일흔 · 80 여든 · 90 아흔 Combining: 11 열하나 · 25 스물다섯 · 42 마흔둘
⚠️ Native numbers stop at 99. From 100 up, everyone uses Sino — even for things that would normally take native.
★ And five of them change before a counter
This is not optional. The bare form is wrong in front of a counter.
| Alone | Before a counter | |
|---|---|---|
| 하나 | ★ 한 | 한 개, 한 명, 한 시 |
| 둘 | ★ 두 | 두 개, 두 잔 |
| 셋 | ★ 세 | 세 시, 세 명 |
| 넷 | ★ 네 | 네 살, 네 개 |
| 스물 | ★ 스무 | 스무 살 |
하나, 둘, 셋 when counting out loud. 한 개, 두 개, 세 개 when counting things.⚠️ 스무 살, never 스물 살 — and 25 is 스물다섯 살, because only the bare 스물 changes.
5. ★ Counters — you cannot count without one
Korean does not say "two coffees". It says "coffee, two cups" — you must name the kind of thing you are counting.
### Noun + Number + Counter — and that order is not English's.
| Counter | For | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 개 | ★ general things — the fallback | 사과 세 개 (three apples) |
| 명 | people | 학생 두 명 |
| 분 | people, polite | 손님 세 분 |
| 잔 | cups, glasses | 커피 두 잔 |
| 병 | bottles | 맥주 한 병 |
| 마리 | animals | 개 두 마리 |
| 권 | books | 책 한 권 |
| 장 | flat sheets — paper, tickets | 표 두 장 |
| 대 | machines, cars | 차 한 대 |
| 번 | times, occasions | 세 번 |
| 살 | years of age | 스무 살 |
| 시 / 분 | hours (native) / minutes (Sino) | 세 시 십 분 |
★ When you do not know the counter, use 개. It is wrong for people and animals and fine for almost everything else, and nobody will misunderstand you.
⚠️ Use 분, not 명, for customers, guests and anyone older. A restaurant will ask 몇 분이세요? (how many of you?) — the answer is 두 명이요 or 두 명입니다.
6. Numbers in the wild
Money — 원
| 얼마예요? | How much is it? |
|---|---|
| 오천 원이에요. | It's 5,000 won |
| 만 오천 원이에요. | It's 15,000 won |
| 너무 비싸요. | Too expensive |
| 깎아 주세요. | Please give me a discount |
Phone numbers — Sino, digit by digit
010-2345-6789 → 공일공 이삼사오 육칠팔구
★ Zero is 공 in phone numbers (and 영 in maths). And 육 often becomes 뉵 after a consonant sound — do not be thrown by it.
Ordering
커피 두 잔 주세요. — Two coffees, please.맥주 세 병 주세요. — Three beers, please.몇 개예요? — How many? · 몇 명이에요? — How many people?
7. Dialogue
직원: 어서 오세요! 몇 분이세요?Alex: 두 명이요.직원: 네, 이쪽으로 오세요. 뭐 드릴까요?Alex: 커피 두 잔 주세요. 그리고 케이크 한 개요.직원: 네. 만 이천 원이에요.Alex: 네? 다시 말해 주세요.직원: 만 이천 원이요. 12,000원.Alex: 아, 네. 여기요.직원: 감사합니다. 몇 시에 닫아요? 아, 저희는 아홉 시에 닫아요.Alex: 아홉 시요? 알겠어요. 감사합니다!
★ Both systems, four times, in ten lines. 두 명 · 두 잔 · 한 개 · 아홉 시 are all native; 만 이천 원 is Sino. And Alex uses 다시 말해 주세요 the moment the price goes past — which is exactly right, because prices are where you will lose the thread.
8. Exercises
A. Sino — write it in Hangul.
- 3 2. 7 3. 15 4. 48 5. 100 6. 2026
B. ⚠️ Group by 만.
- 10,000 2. 50,000 3. 1,000,000 4. 15,000
C. Native — write it in Hangul.
- 1 2. 4 3. 8 4. 12 5. 20 6. 25
D. ★ Sino or native?
- 5,000 won 2. 3 o'clock 3. 30 minutes 4. 25 years old
- 2 people 6. the year 2026 7. 4 apples 8. 3rd floor
E. ★ Change the number before the counter.
- 하나 + 개 2. 둘 + 잔 3. 셋 + 명 4. 넷 + 살 5. 스물 + 살
F. Order it.
- Two coffees, please. 2. Three beers, please. 3. One cake, please.
- Two people. 5. How much is it?
G. ⚠️ Fix the mistake.
- 커피 이 잔 주세요.
- 스물 살이에요.
- 삼 시 삼십 분이에요.
- 두 개 커피 주세요.
- 손님 두 명 오셨어요. (politely)
Answers
A. 1. 삼 2. 칠 3. 십오 4. 사십팔 5. 백 6. 이천이십육 B. 1. 만 2. 오만 3. ★ 백만 4. 만 오천 C. 1. 하나 2. 넷 3. 여덟 4. 열둘 5. 스물 6. 스물다섯 D. 1. Sino 2. native 3. Sino 4. native 5. native 6. Sino 7. native 8. Sino E. 1. 한 개 2. 두 잔 3. 세 명 4. 네 살 5. 스무 살 F. 1. 커피 두 잔 주세요. 2. 맥주 세 병 주세요. 3. 케이크 한 개 주세요. 4. 두 명이요. 5. 얼마예요? G. 1. 두 잔 (counting things = native) 2. 스무 살 3. 세 시 삼십 분 (hour = native) 4. 커피 두 개 — noun first 5. 두 분 (guests take 분)
9. Today's 10 sentences (flashcards)
- 얼마예요? — How much is it?
- 만 오천 원이에요. — It's 15,000 won
- 너무 비싸요. — That's too expensive
- 커피 두 잔 주세요. — Two coffees, please
- 맥주 한 병 주세요. — One beer, please
- 몇 분이세요? — How many people? (what staff ask)
- 두 명이요. — Two people
- 스물다섯 살이에요. — I'm 25
- 세 시 삼십 분이에요. — It's 3:30
- 다시 말해 주세요. — Please say that again
10. 📲 Upload to LangNote
Upload section 3 (which system when), section 5 (the counters) and section 9 → study language Korean.
| Mission | What to do with it today |
|---|---|
| 🎧 Podcast | Count 1–20 in both systems, out loud, with it. Boring and the only thing that works |
| ✍️ Dictation | Today's key mission. Prices are where your ear will fail — 만 vs 백만 |
| 🗣 Shadowing | 세 시 삼십 분, ten times. Then 한 개 두 개 세 개 네 개 |
| 📖 Vocab | Counters as whole phrases — 커피 두 잔, 두 명, 스무 살 |
| ❓ Quiz | Sino vs native, and the five changing numbers |
★ Count real things out loud tonight. Objects on your desk with 개, people in a photo with 명, cups in your kitchen with 잔. Twenty items, three minutes — and it drills the counter, the number change and the word order at once.
Tomorrow: time and dates, where both systems meet every single day.
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