Korean Numbers 1 to 10: Native and Sino, to 100 and Beyond

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Korean has two sets of numbers, and you need both. The native set goes 하나 (hana), 둘 (dul), 셋 (set). The Sino-Korean set, based on Chinese numerals, goes 일 (il), 이 (i), 삼 (sam). Native numbers count things, people, hours and years of age. Sino numbers cover money, minutes, dates, floors and phone numbers.

Here are both sets from 1 to 10, followed by the everyday cases for each, the tens up to 100, and the jump to bigger numbers. All of it is in Hangul with romanization. If you cannot read Hangul yet, our guide to the alphabet is the place to start.

Korean numbers 1 to 10: native and Sino side by side

Zero is 영 (yeong), and 공 (gong) when you read out a phone number digit by digit. The romanization in this post is Revised Romanization, the system Hangul Path uses.

Sino and native Korean numbers: when to use which

A rough rule: native numbers count, and Sino numbers measure and label. The rule has gaps, so it is better to learn the common cases.

Use native numbers for

Use Sino numbers for

Telling the time uses both at once. 오후 두 시 이십 분 (ohu du si isip bun, 2:20 p.m.) has a native two for the hour and a Sino twenty for the minutes. That is ordinary Korean, not a mistake. The real mistake is a Sino number where a native one belongs: 삼 시 for three o’clock, or 삼 잔 for three cups. For half past, add 반: 세 시 반이에요 (se si banieyo, it’s half past three).

The counter 번 shows why the choice matters. 열 번 (yeol beon) means ten times, and 십 번 (sip beon) means number ten. Age has a Sino form too: alongside 스물다섯 살 you will see 이십오 세 (isibo se), with a different counter.

Five native numbers change before a counter

A counter is the small word that says what you are counting, like 잔 for cups or 명 for people. The thing comes first, then the number, then the counter. Right before a counter, the native numbers for 1 to 4 and 20 shorten:

The short forms carry into bigger numbers: 열두 시 (yeoldu si, twelve o’clock), 스물한 살 (seumulhan sal, 21 years old). Numbers from 5 to 10 keep their full form. One trap: 네 before a counter means four, and on its own it means yes.

Asking how many and how much

Two question words cover most situations. 몇 (myeot) asks how many, and it takes the same counter as the answer: 지금 몇 시예요? (jigeum myeot siyeyo, what time is it now?), 가족은 몇 명이에요? (gajogeun myeot myeongieyo, how many people are in your family?), 몇 살이에요? (myeot sarieyo, how old are you?). The age question suits children and friends your own age. With older people or strangers, Hangul Path teaches the more polite 나이가 어떻게 되세요? (naiga eotteoke doeseyo).

얼마 (eolma) asks the price, and the answer uses Sino numbers: 이거 얼마예요? (igeo eolmayeyo, how much is this?), then 천 원이에요 (cheon wonieyo, it’s 1,000 won).

Korean numbers 1 to 100

The numbers from 11 to 19 are the word for ten followed by the digit. The spelling is regular in both sets, but the sound is not, so the romanization here follows what you actually hear:

Sino tens are simple arithmetic: 20 is “two ten” and 30 is “three ten”. Native tens are separate words, so those have to be learned.

To reach any number up to 99, say the tens and then the ones. So 25 is 스물다섯 (seumuldaseot) or 이십오 (isibo), and 99 is 아흔아홉 (aheunahop) or 구십구 (gusipgu).

The native set stops at 99, because its old words for 100 and 1,000 are no longer used. From 100 on, use Sino: 백 (baek) is 100 and 천 (cheon) is 1,000. There is no “one” in front of them, so 1,000 won is 천 원, not 일천 원.

Big numbers: Korean counts in ten thousands

Hundreds and thousands work like the tens. 삼백 is 300 and 오천 is 5,000. The change comes after that. English groups big numbers in threes, and Korean groups them in fours, so 10,000 gets its own word, 만 (man), and everything above it is counted in 만:

To read a long number, mark off four digits from the right. For 5,000,000 that gives 500 and 0000, so it is 500 man, 오백만.

You will need this for prices and rent. A taxi fare might be 만 이천 원 (man icheon won, 12,000 won). A flat might come with this sentence: 보증금은 오백만 원이고, 월세는 오십만 원이에요 (bojeunggeumeun obaengman wonigo, wolseneun osimman wonieyo, the deposit is five million won, and the rent is 500,000 won a month).

Korean number pronunciation: where the sound changes

Korean keeps a number’s spelling even when its sounds run together, and romanization follows the sound. These are the ones that catch learners out:

Three smaller points. In 여덟 (yeodeol, eight), the final letter is silent. After 칠 and 팔, the s in 십 comes out tense, like a sharper ss, though the romanization chilsip and palsip does not show it. The native teens shift too, which is why 열넷 is yeollet and 열아홉 is yeorahop in the table above.

A good first step is to learn 1 to 10 in both sets until you can say either without thinking. Then add the counters you need most: 잔, 개, 명, 시. Prices and dates follow from there.

Where Hangul Path comes in

Hangul Path teaches each set where you first need it. Unit 4, At the cafe, brings in native numbers with 잔 and 개. Unit 5, Numbers and prices, adds Sino numbers. Unit 11, Time and days, puts the two together, and Unit 15, Family and people, adds people and ages.

Practice has six timed number drills, each opening once you finish the unit that teaches its numbers: Counting things, Prices, Phone numbers, Telling the time, Dates, and Ages and floors. The questions are generated by rule, so you do not run out. In Prices you hear an amount and type the digits. In Counting things you see a written count and choose how to say it, which is where 세 잔 beats 삼 잔. The audio is text-to-speech.

Be aware that numbers sit in the paid part. The whole Hangul stage and Units 1 and 2 are free, and reviewing what you have learned is never locked. Premium opens Unit 3 onwards, including all four units above and the number drills. Hangul Path is on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Android.