Korean is the official language of two neighboring states: South Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. It is unusual and original, for many Russian-speaking people it may seem a little strange because of its unusual grammar and alphabet (yes, Korean does not consist of hieroglyphs at all, as you might think). How do numbers sound in Korean? There are two number systems here, which we will now talk about.
How to count in Korean?
Korean numbers can be divided into two completely different categories: numbers of Chinese origin and native Korean numbers. Both categories are used in their specific cases, so it is not enough to know only one of them. Although, of course, for those who practice taekwondo and do not plan to study the Korean language in more depth, it is useful to know only the numbers of Korean origin.
Native Korean numeral system
To begin with, it is worth disassembling the Korean system. There are cases in whichonly numbers of Korean origin, and cases where numerals that came to Korean from Chinese are used, but we will talk about them a little later. Now let's count to ten in Korean:
- 1 하나 (hana) - one;
- 2 둘 (tul) - two;
- 3 셋 (set) - three;
- 4 넷 (nat) - four;
- 5 다섯 (ta-sot) - five;
- 6 여섯 (yo-sot) - six;
- 7 일곱 (il-kup) - seven;
- 8 여덟 (eo-dol) - eight;
- 9 아홉 (ahoop) - nine;
- 10 열 (yule) - ten.
To form numbers after ten and up to twenty, you need to take the number 10 (열) and any number up to ten:
- 열 하나 (yorana) - eleven;
- 열 다섯 (yoltasot) - fifteen.
And Korean has its own words for dozens:
- 스물 (simul) - twenty;
- 서른 (soryn) - thirty;
- 마흔 (maheung) - forty;
- 쉰 (shwin) - fifty.
It should be remembered that in original Korean numerals only numbers up to 60 are used. Numbers after 60 still exist, but are used so rarely that even Koreans themselves sometimes cannot remember the Korean name, for example, the numbers 70.
The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and the numeral 20 change slightly when counting and using different action counters next to them: the last letter is dropped from them. Watch carefully how it happens:
- 하나 (hana) changes to 한 (han);
- 둘 (tul) changes to 두 (tu);
- 셋 (set) changes to 세 (se);
- 넷 (nat) changes to 네 (ne);
- 스물 (simul) in 스무(simu).
When is the Korean system used?
Korean numbers of Korean origin are used in a number of ways and are important to remember.
- When counting actions (how many times), objects, people.
- In a conversation about time, when we call hours (only hours).
- Sometimes used for month names.
Korean numbers with Chinese origins
The Chinese number system, unlike the Korean one, has numbers greater than 60 and is used a little more often than the native Korean one. Now let's count to ten using these Korean numbers:
- 1 일 (il) - one;
- 2 이 (and) - two;
- 3 삼 (himself) - three;
- 4 사 (sa) - four;
- 5 오 (woo) - five;
- 6 육 (yuk) - six;
- 7 칠 (chil) - seven;
- 8 팔 (phal) - eight;
- 9 구 (gu) - nine;
- 10 십 (pinch) - ten.
Chinese numerals can be used to indicate any number you need: you just need to put certain numbers next to it. Pay attention to how it works:
이 (and) - two; 십 (pinch) - ten (or, in other words, ten). So 십이 is twelve and 이십 is twenty (or two tens)
There are also special Korean numbers (we will indicate them with translation), which you need to pay attention to:
- 백 (baek) - one hundred;
- 천 (tsong) - one thousand;
- 만 (man) - ten thousand;
- 백만 (baekman) - one million;
- 억 (ok) - one hundred million.
Whenis the Chinese numeral system used?
Korean numbers of Chinese origin are used in many ways, and unlike native Korean numbers, there are numbers after 60 in this account. So when are Chinese numbers used? Let's find out.
- When counting money and measuring it.
- In mathematical operations.
- When specifying phone numbers.
- In talking about time (seconds and minutes, not hours - that's what Korean numbers are for).
- In the name of the months.
- When counting months (sometimes in Korean).
Zero in Korean
There are two words for zero in Korean: 영 and 공. The first word, 영, is used in mathematics when talking about points, or in temperature: zero degrees. The second, 공, is only used in phone numbers.
Ordinal numbers
Native Korean numerals are used when counting in Korean. All that is required to form the plural in Korean is to substitute the usual ending -째:
- 둘째 (tulce) - second;
- 다섯째 (tasotche) - fifth;
- 마흔째 (maheungche) - fortieth.
There is an exception here too: the first one will sound like 첫째 (jeotchae).
How to count objects in Korean?
In Russian, nouns are countable and uncountable. In Korean, words are most often uncountable, which greatly complicates counting, especially forRussian speaking people. That is why there are special words-counters that are used to count any specific objects, people or times (how many times this or that action was performed).
- 명 (myeon) - counter for people;
- 마리 (mari) - counter for animals and birds;
- 대 (te) - for cars and planes;
- 기 (ki) - for various appliances;
- 병 (pyon) - for bottles;
- 잔 (tsang) - for glasses;
- 갑 (cap) - for packages or packs;
- 벌 (pol) - for any clothes;
- 송이 (sonny) - counter for flowers;
- 켤레 (khelle) - counter for paired items.
There is also a universal word 개 (ke), which translates as "thing". This word can almost always be used.
Korean plural
In fact, the plural is rarely used in Korean. However, there is a special suffix 들 (back), which emphasizes the plurality of something. In order to form its plural form from any noun, you just need to substitute the suffix to the word itself:
- 사람 (saram) - person;
- 사람들 (saramdeul) - people.
However, when the exact number of any objects or people is indicated, the plural suffix is usually not put: just the word is used without any plural suffix.
