Korean Number Converter 숫자 읽기
Korean has two sets of numbers and uses them for different things. Type a number and see both, with a note on which one you need for money, time, age or counting.
Which system when
| Use | System | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Money | Sino-Korean + 원 | 4,500원 → 사천오백 원 (sa-cheon-o-baek won) |
| Dates, years, months | Sino-Korean | 3월 15일 → 삼월 십오일 |
| Minutes and seconds | Sino-Korean | 30분 → 삼십 분 |
| Hours on the clock | Native Korean + 시 | 3시 → 세 시 (se si) |
| Counting things, people, animals | Native Korean + counter | 커피 두 잔 (two coffees), 세 명 (three people) |
| Age in conversation | Native Korean + 살 | 스물다섯 살 (25) |
| Age on forms, phone numbers, floors, bus numbers | Sino-Korean | 25세, 010-1234-5678, 7층, 273번 버스 |
The clock is the famous trap: 3:30 is 세 시 삼십 분, native for the hour and Sino for the minutes, in the same breath. Every learner says 삼 시 at least once. Everyone will understand you. Nobody will correct you, which is why you should get it right yourself.
Why Korean counts in ten-thousands
English groups digits in threes: thousand, million, billion. Korean groups them in fours: 만 (10,000), 억 (100,000,000), 조 (a trillion). So 1,000,000 is not "a thousand thousands" but 백만, a hundred ten-thousands. When you look at a Korean price tag, read it from the 만: 350,000원 is 삼십오만 원, "thirty-five man won". Once that clicks, rent and salary conversations get much easier.
Questions people ask
Why does Korean have two number systems?
Native Korean numbers are the original counting words. Sino-Korean numbers arrived with Chinese characters and took over anything written or mathematical. Native numbers stop at 99, so big numbers are always Sino-Korean.
How do you say 10,000 in Korean?
만 (man). Not 십천. Korean has no word for "ten thousand" built from thousand; 만 is its own unit and the base for everything larger.
Do the native numbers change before a counter?
Yes, four of them shorten: 하나→한, 둘→두, 셋→세, 넷→네 when a counter follows. One coffee is 커피 한 잔, not 하나 잔. Twenty also shortens: 스물→스무 (스무 살, twenty years old).
What is 영 vs 공 for zero?
영 is zero in maths and amounts. 공 is zero when reading digits one by one, like phone numbers: 010 is 공일공.
Juseyo teaches survival Korean by place: the café, the pharmacy, the phone shop.