Sino Korean Numbers And Native Korean Numbers

If you want to learn Korean numbers, then you’ve come to the right place. If you didn’t know, Korean actually has two counting systems. These are known as Sino-Korean Numbers and Native Korean Numbers and they are used in different situations. On this page, you will learn everything you need to know to count in Korean.

On this page, we will teach you both Sino-Korean and Native Korean numbers and the situations in which you would use the different number systems. The Korean numbers on this page are written using Korean characters. If you don’t know how to read the Korean alphabet yet, don’t worry. We have a complete Korean Alphabet lesson to help you learn how to read in Korean.

First let’s start with Sino-Korean numbers as these are the easiest to learn and used most often.

Sino-Korean Numbers

Sino-Korean numbers are used for money, dates, phone numbers, addresses, minutes and numbers above 100. Sino-Korean numbers are really easy to learn. Once you learn the first 10 numbers, you can easily count to 99 in Korean.

Numbers 1 to 10

1 to 10 in Sino-Korean Numbers are:

1 – 일 / 2 – 이 / 3 – 삼 / 4 – 사 / 5 – 오 / 6 – 육 / 7 – 칠 / 8 – 팔 / 9 – 구 / 10 – 십

Try to read each number out loud and then play the audio files below to see how to pronounce these numbers.

Numbers 1 to 100

Once you have memorized the first 10 numbers, you only need to know one more word to be able to count to 100 in Korean. This word is 백 which means 100 in Korean.

You can now say any number between 1 and 100 by simply combining the numbers you have just learned. For example, to make 11 we simply say 10 (십) followed by 1 (일) = 십일 (11). To say 12 we simply put together 10 (십) followed by 2 (이) = 십이 (12). Easy right?

This is the same up to 십구 (19). Can you guess how to say 20 in Korean? To say 20 we simply put together 이 (2) and 십 (10) to make 이십 (20). You can think of it as 2×10=20. And, this is the same for 30 (삼십), 40 (사십), 50 (오십), 60 (육십), 70 (칠십), 80 (팔십), and 90 (구십). And then to say 100 we use the word 백.

Armed with this knowledge you should be able to say any number between 1 and 100 in Korean. For example, 21 would be 이 (2)십(10)일(1) = 이십일. 35 would be 삼십오. 97 would be 구십칠.

Let’s try! Use the practice exercise below to practice saying numbers between 1 and 100. Look at the numbers and try to say it in Korean. Then click on the answer tab to see the answer.

Practice Exercise

Numbers 100 to 10,000

Now that you can count to 100 in Korean, you only need to know two more words to count to 10,000 in Korean. These are 천 (thousand) and 만 (ten thousand).

To say any number between 100 and 10,000 simply combine the numbers you have already learned. For example, to say nine thousand we simply say 구 (nine) 천 (thousand) – 구천 (9000). 

To say nine thousand nine hundred we say 구 (nine) 천 (thousand) 구 (nine) 백 (hundred) – 구천구백 (9900). 

To say nine thousand nine hundred and eighty we say 구 (nine) 천 (thousand) 구 (nine) 백 (hundred) 팔(eight) 십 (ten) – 구천구백팔십 (9980). 

To say nine thousand nine hundred and eighty seven we say 구 (nine) 천 (thousand) 구 (nine) 백 (hundred) 팔(eight) 십 (ten) 칠 (seven) – 구천구백팔십칠 (987). 

Your turn! Use the practice exercise below to practice saying numbers between 100 and 10,000. Look at the number and try to say it in Korean. Then click on the answer tab to see the answer.

Practice Exercise

Numbers 10,000 to 1 Billion

Korean numbers higher than 10,000 start to get a bit difficult for English speakers. Not because the words are difficult, but rather the number system is a little different to what they are used to.

Korean numbers between 10,000 (ten thousand) and 100,000,000 (one hundred million) are counted in increments of 10,000. So, where as in English you would say 100,000 as “one hundred thousand”, in Korean we would say “십만” which means 10(십) x 10,000(만). 

Numbers from 100,000,000 (one hundred million) and above are counted in increments of one hundred million. 100,000,000 is 억 in Korean.

As you have already learned the numbers to count from 1 to 10,000, you only need to learn six more words to be able to count to 1 billion in Korean. These are:

10,000 만 / 100,000 십만 / 1,000,000 (million) 백만 / 10,000,000 (10 million) 천만 / 100,000,000 (100 million) 일억 /  1,000,000,000 (billion) 십억. 

Try to read each word in Korean and then click on the audio below to listen how it should sound.