Basic Counting in Korean and NumerativesKorean words

*Introduction to Counting and Numeratives* Hello everyone! Did You know, that Korea has 2 different number systems? It is because one originates from Korea, we call it the *Native-korean* number system, while the other one is derived from Chinese numbers, hence the *Sino-korean* number system. Keep these expressions in mind, we will be working with them throughout this whole chapter!

*Sino-korean numbers* Let´s begin with the Sino-korean numbers from 1 to 10! If you know a bit of Chinese, you will note that these are very similar :-).

*Numbers above 20* When wanting to express numbers from 11 to 19, we simply add "십" in front of the singular number, and we receive e.q. "십삼" - 13, "십오" - 15, "십팔" - 18. To make higher numbers than 20, we need to ask ourselves - How many 10s are in this number? If we wish to say - for example - 20, we need to say "이십", where "이" is 2, and that is the number of tens in this number (30 - "삼십", 50 "오십", etc...). If we wish to express a number such as 67, we must put "칠" at the end, so our result is "육십칠". However, we would not actually write "육십칠" when referencing such a number, this is only how it is read. In Korea, arabic numerals are used - the same as in the rest of the world.

*Numbers above 100, and even higher.* Since goods usually cost at least a thousand won (1 USD or 1 euro usually equals about 1000 won), it is important to get used to dealing with larger numbers. When counting numbers of several hundred, or thousands, we use the same principle as in the last chapter - we place the number of hundreds first - e.q. "삼백이십" - 320, "칠백오십육" - 756, or with thousands - "오천사백십삼" - 5413, "구천이백팔십이"- 9282. With numbers above 10 000, we need the word "만", which stands for the 10 000. So, instead of saying e.q. "이십천" - which is wrong - we need to say "이만" - 20 000.

*Millions* Since Koreans use the word "만" for 10,000 or higher, we need to ask ourselves - how many 10,000s are in a million? So, the answer is a hundred, therefore we can express the number million by saying "백만", or literally - one hundred 10,000s. An example would be - this car costs 5,000,000 - or - "오백만".

*Other uses* We can use *Sino-korean numbers* when talking about phone numbers, for example when sharing our contact information verbally. Also, the various months of the year have their Korean derived from numbers, so e.q. January would be "1월", read as "일월", where "월" means month, we can change the number upwards so it represents February - "2월", March "3월", etc. Calculations are also done with the *Sino-korean system*. Finally, we can count minutes, or seconds, in *Sino-korean numbers*. There will be more on this topic in the chapter related to Time.

*Native-korean numbers* The other system is also incredibly useful - we can use it to talk about someone´s age, or we can count a number of objects with it, but first let´s learn about the numbers themselves!

*Numbers above 20* Differently from the *Sino-korean system*, the numbers 20, 30, or 40, are not derived from the singular numbers 2, 3, 4, etc., but each has unique name! So we need to learn these words separately, and then combine them with the singular numbers to create numbers such as 23, 45, 72, etc.

*Age* When asking about one´s age in Korean, we must be careful of the formal level we use! For example, in normal formal Korean, we express age as "나이", while in highly formal situations, we must say "연세" instead.

*Native-korean numeratives* Numeratives, or counting words, are necessary when we wish to talk about a number of objects from the same class or type. In a sentence, we need to keep the following order: object - number - numerative E.q. "연필 1 개" - would translate as one pen. Some of the most frequently used numeratives are: "개" - general objects "마리" - animals "권" - books "살" - years of age "명" - persons "병" - bottles "시간" - hours "장" - flat objects (paper, etc.) "대" - electronics/machines

*Buying products* Of course, combining our knowledge of both number systems, we can now express how many pieces of something we want, and how much should they cost. Let´s learn about the relevant vocabulary and expressions!

*Time in Korean* Since we know both numerical systems, we can learn how to express time in Korean. When telling what time it is, we use the words "시" - for hours and "분" for minutes. As we already know, we need to use *Native-korean numbers* for hours, and *Sino-korean numbers* when counting minutes. However, when saying how long something takes, we need to express hours with "시간", instead of "시".

*Morning and Afternoon, AM and PM* Koreans do not use the 24-hour time schedule, instead, they only count hours on the clock up to 12, and emphasize morning by adding "오전", while afternoon, or PM, would be "오후". So we can express times on the clock in the following manner: "오전 6시" - 6:00 AM "오후 2시" - 2:00 PM

*Before and After* Finally, we can learn how to say before - "전에", and after - "후에". We can put these expressions after a noun and express the meaning after this activity.

*Well done!* Now, after learning all the different ways of counting in Korean, you will be able to talk about prices, the number of objects, age, and expressing the time, or the duration of a certain activity! See you in the next lesson!