Lesson12
Korean lessons: Lesson 12
Numbers (II)
Native Korean NumbersAnother set of numbers are of native Korean numbers. They are indigenous in Korean, possibly stemmed through a different route from that of the Chinese-based set. Although they used to have a complete system of native numbers that can go up to three digits (or more), they now only use the numbers up to two digits (99). The formation of numbers is quite similar to that of English numbers in the sense that you have a set of numbers for single digits (1-10) and another set for tens (10-90).
Numbers and formation
Single digits
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| Native numbers | 하나 | 둘 | 셋 | 넷 | 다섯 | 여섯 | 일곱 | 여덟 | 아홉 | 열 |
| 10 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 | 100 | |
| Native numbers | 열 | 스물 | 서른 | 마흔 | 쉰 | 예순 | 일흔 | 여든 | 아흔 | 백 |
15 = 10+5 열 다섯
21 = 20+1 스물 하나
87 = 80+7 여든 일곱
Using with counters and measure words
Such formation as "five birds," however, is not directly applicable in Korean. When you speak of a thing with its amount, the proper formation should be the following:
**Noun + number + counter**
noun | + | number | + | counter |
새 (bird) | 다섯 (five) | 마리 (counter for animals) |
There is yet another issue of when to use Chinese numbers and when to use native Korean numbers. This will be discussed in the next lesson.
Slight changes when used before counters
Also, when before counters, numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 20, change their shape slightly, for the ease of pronunciation.
numbers | changes | examples | |
하나 | → | 한 | 새 한 마리"a bird" (마리: counter for animals) |
둘 | → | 두 | 학생 두 명"two students" (명: counter for people) |
셋 | → | 세 | 사과 세 개"three apples" (개: counter for countable objects) |
넷 | → | 네 | 책 네 권"four volumes of books" (권: counter for books) |
스물 | → | 스무 | 나이 스무 살"age of twenty" (살: counter for age) |
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