In lesson number 15, we introduced some sino-korean numbers: 일 [il = one] 이 [i = two] 삼 [sam = three] 사 [sa = four] 오 [o = five] 육 [yuk = six] 칠 [chil = seven] 팔 [pal = eight] 구 [gu = nine] 십 [sip = ten] 백 [baek = hundred] 천 [cheon = thousand] 만 [man = ten thousand], and etc. Now let s have a look at some native Korean numbers. There are cases where sino-korean numbers are used, cases where native Korean numbers are used, and there are also some cases where sino-korean numbers and native Korean numbers are used together. For example: 1. When you tell the time, you have to use native Korean numbers to say the hour and sino- Korean numbers to say the minute.
2. When you say your age in everyday conversations, you use native Korean numbers, but in some very formal settings like in the court of law or in a formal report, sino-korean numbers are used to express your age. 3. When you are counting years, you can use either sino-korean numbers or native Korean numbers, but the words that you use for counting the years change depending on whether you use sino-korean numbers and native Korean numbers. So how do you determine which number system to use in which situation? You don t have to try to, and you can t really generalize the usages of the two different number systems. It is best to just learn to use the different number systems along with the fitting context. Now, let us go over the native Korean numbers and practice saying how old we are. Native Korean numbers 1 하나 [ha-na] 2 둘 [dul] 3 셋 [set] 4 넷 [net] 5 다섯 [da-seot] 6 여섯 [yeo-seot] 7 일곱 [il-gop] 8 여덟 [yeo-deol] 9 아홉 [a-hop] 10 열 [yeol]
From 11 to 19 is simple. You just put the number 10 and add another number after it. Ex) 열 (10) + 하나 (1) = 열하나 [yeol-ha-na] (11) 열 (10) + 아홉 (9) = 열아홉 [yeol-a-hop] (19) 20 스물 [seu-mul] The same rule as above for 11 through 19 applies to 21-29, 31-39, 41-49, and etc. 30 서른 [seo-reun] 40 마흔 [ma-heun] 50 쉰 [swin] 60 예순 [ye-sun] 70 일흔 [i-reun] 80 여든 [yeo-deun] 90 아흔 [a-heun] Now, here is an interesting piece of information. From numbers 1 through 99, the usage of native Korean numbers is generally very distinctively different from the usage of sino-korean numbers, but for bigger units like 100, 1,000, 10,000 and etc., the words for these bigger numbers in the native Korean numbers are no longer used and only sino-korean numbers are used.
So, 100 in the sino-korean number is 백 [baek], and even when you need to use the native Korean number, you use the same word. And when you want to say 101, 102, and etc., you need to combine the systems together. 101 = 백 [baek / 100] (sino-korean) + 하나 [ha-na / 1] (native Korean) 205 = 이 [i / 2] (sino-korean) + 백 [baek / 100] (sino-korean) + 다섯 [daseot / 5] (native Korean) Let s have a look at how to talk about the age. There are two ways of saying the age, but here, let s look at the more ordinary and everyday fashion. You say a native Korean number and add 살 [sal] after it. But the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 20 change forms before a noun. 1 하나 [ha-na] --> 한 [han] 살 2 둘 [dul] --> 두 [du] 살 3 셋 [set] --> 세 [se] 살 4 넷 [net] --> 네 [ne] 살... 20 스물 [seu-mul] --> 스무 [seu-mu] 살 21 스물 [seu-mul] --> 스물한 [seu-mul-han] 살...
The following are from age 1 through 100 in native Korean numbers, followed by the age counter 살 [sal]. 한살 (1), 두살, 세살, 네살, 다섯살, 여섯살, 일곱살, 여덟살, 아홉살, 열살 (10), 열한살 (11), 열두살, 열세살, 열네살, 열다섯살, 열여섯살, 열일곱살, 열여덟살, 열아홉살, 스무살 (20), 스물한살 (21), 스물두살, 스물세살, 스물네살, 스물다섯살, 스물여섯살, 스물일곱살, 스물여덟살, 스물아홉살, 서른살 (30), 서른한살 (31), 서른두살, 서른세살, 서른네살, 서른다섯살, 서른여섯살, 서른일곱살, 서른여덟살, 서른아홉살, 마흔살 (40), 마흔한살 (41), 마흔두살, 마흔세살, 마흔네살, 마흔다섯살, 마흔여섯살, 마흔일곱살, 마흔여덟살, 마흔아홉살, 쉰살 (50), 쉰한살 (51), 쉰두살, 쉰세살, 쉰네살, 쉰다섯살, 쉰여섯살, 쉰일곱살, 쉽여덟살, 쉰아홉살, 예순살 (60), 예순한살 (61), 예순두살, 예순세살, 예순네살, 예순다섯살, 예순여섯살, 예순일곱살, 예순여덟살, 예순아홉살, 일흔살 (70), 일흔한살 (71), 일흔두살, 일흔세살, 일흔네살, 일흔다섯살, 일흔여섯살, 일흔일곱살, 일흔여덟살, 일흔아홉살, 여든살 (80), 여든한살 (81), 여든두살, 여든세살, 여든네살, 여든다섯살, 여든여섯살, 여든일곱살, 여든여덟살, 여든아홉살, 아흔살 (90), 아흔한살 (91), 아흔두살, 아흔세살, 아흔네살, 아흔다섯살, 아흔여섯살, 아흔일곱살, 아흔여덟살, 아흔아홉살, 백살 (100) Found your age? Now, say the age and add 이에요 [i-e-yo] after that. 한살이에요. I am one year old. 열살이에요. I am ten years old. 스무살이에요. I am twenty years old. 서른살이에요. I am thirty years old.