Korean Numbers 1 to 10 and 1 to 100: Native and Sino-Korean

Korean numbers 1 to 10: both systems

The one-line rule: native Korean numbers count things and hours; Sino-Korean numbers do everything else (dates, money, phone numbers, minutes, maths, anything over 99). The full table of which goes with what is further down.

The four that change shape. When a native number is followed by a counter word (which is almost always), 1, 2, 3 and 4 drop their final consonant: hana becomes han, dul becomes du, set becomes se, net becomes ne. So "three people" is se myeong or se saram, not "set saram". Twenty (seumul) also shortens to seumu before a counter. This happens in every counting sentence, so learn the short forms as the normal forms.

Pronunciation of Korean numbers

Korean has no stress accent; keep the syllables even. The sounds that matter:

• 하나 (hana): the h is light. Before a counter it is just han, rhyming with "gone" but shorter.
• 둘 (dul): the vowel is "oo" and the final l is a light tap of the tongue. Before a counter, du (doo).
• 셋 (set) and 넷 (net): the final t is unreleased, a stop with no puff of air. Before a counter, se and ne, both with the vowel of "bed".
• 다섯 (daseot) and 여섯 (yeoseot): the ㅓ vowel (eo) is the "u" of "cut" with the mouth a little more open, not "oh". The final t is unreleased.
• 여덟 (yeodeol): written with two final consonants (ㄹㅂ), but pronounced with only the l: "yuh-duhl".
• 일 (il): "eel" with a short vowel.
• 이 (i): "ee".
• 육 (yuk): "yook" with an unreleased k. After certain sounds it is pronounced ryuk or nyuk; you will hear "yung-nyuk" for 육육 (66) and "sim-nyuk" for 십육 (16).
• 십 (sip): the s before i sounds like "sh", so it is "sheep", and the final p is unreleased. This is the one that makes learners self-conscious; Koreans do not notice.
• 팔 (pal): the p is aspirated, with a puff of air.

Which system to use: the complete table

Two things to notice. Time uses both: hours are native, minutes are Sino, so 3:30 is 세 시 삼십 분 (se si samsip bun). And native numbers effectively stop at 99; for a hundred or more of anything, everyone switches to Sino-Korean.

Native Korean numbers 11 to 99

The native system builds 11 to 19 by adding the units to 열 (ten), and then has its own words for each ten.

Then tens plus units: 21 is 스물하나 (seumul-hana), 34 is 서른넷 (seoreun-net), 57 is 쉰일곱 (swin-ilgop), 99 is 아흔아홉 (aheun-ahop). Age uses this all the way: 서른두 살 (seoreun-du sal) is 32 years old, with the du short form because 살 is a counter.

Honest note: many younger Koreans are shaky on the native tens above 50 and will use Sino-Korean for ages over sixty or seventy in casual speech ("육십 살" is heard). You should learn the native forms because they are correct and expected in formal use, but do not panic if a Korean friend cannot remember 아흔.

Sino-Korean numbers 11 to 100

This is the easy system: exactly like Japanese and Chinese, it reads like a calculator. Tens digit + 십 + units digit.

No new words from 11 to 99. Ten is 십, twenty is "two-ten" (이십), twenty-one is "two-ten-one" (이십일). Note that 100 is 백 (baek) on its own, not "il-baek".

Hundreds, thousands and the ten-thousand system

Sino-Korean continues in the same pattern, but, like Japanese and Chinese, it groups big numbers in ten thousands, not thousands.

So a million is 백만 (baengman), a hundred ten-thousands. Korean prices make this unavoidable: a 1,500,000 won phone is 백오십만 원 (baek-osip-man won), "a hundred and fifty ten-thousands won". A monthly rent of 800,000 won is 팔십만 원 (palsimman won). The trick is to count digits from the right in groups of four: 1,500,000 is 150|0000, one hundred fifty man.

Counters: the words that go after native numbers

You almost never say a native number alone. It comes with a counter for the kind of thing you are counting, and this is where the short forms han, du, se, ne apply.

If you do not know the counter, 개 (gae) covers most objects, and 명 (myeong) covers people. Those two plus the short forms will get you through any café or shop.

Numbers in real life

Age

• 몇 살이에요? (myeot sal-ieyo?) How old are you? Polite: 연세가 어떻게 되세요? (yeonse-ga eotteoke doeseyo?)
• 스물다섯 살이에요. (seumul-daseot sal-ieyo.) I'm 25. Native number plus 살.
• 서른 살이에요. (seoreun sal-ieyo.) I'm 30.
• Note: Korea officially switched to international age in 2023, so this is your actual age, not the older "Korean age" that added one or two years.

Time

• 몇 시예요? (myeot si-yeyo?) What time is it?
• 세 시예요. (se si-yeyo.) It's three o'clock. Native.
• 세 시 반이에요. (se si ban-ieyo.) It's half past three. 반 = half.
• 세 시 십오 분이에요. (se si sibo bun-ieyo.) It's 3:15. Native hour, Sino minutes.
• 오후 여섯 시 (ohu yeoseot si), 6 pm. 오전 (ojeon) = am, 오후 (ohu) = pm.

Money

• 얼마예요? (eolma-yeyo?) How much is it?
• 오천 원이에요. (ocheon won-ieyo.) It's 5,000 won.
• 만 이천 원 (man icheon won), 12,000 won.
• 삼만 오천 원 (samman ocheon won), 35,000 won.
• Prices are Sino-Korean, read in full, with 원 at the end.

Dates

• 이천이십육 년 (icheon-isim-yung nyeon), the year 2026.
• 구월 (guwol), September; 시월 (siwol), October (note: not sibwol); 유월 (yuwol), June (not yugwol).
• 십칠 일 (sipchil il), the 17th.
• 2026년 9월 17일: icheon-isim-yung-nyeon guwol sipchil-il.

Phone numbers

Digit by digit, Sino-Korean, with 에 (e) between the groups: 010-1234-5678 is 공일공 에 일이삼사 에 오육칠팔. Zero in phone numbers is 공 (gong).

Counting things at a café

• 아메리카노 두 잔 주세요. (amerikano du jan juseyo.) Two Americanos, please.
• 이거 세 개 주세요. (igeo se gae juseyo.) Three of these, please.
• 두 명이에요. (du myeong-ieyo.) Two people. (Entering a restaurant.)

Common mistakes with Korean numbers

• Using Sino-Korean for the hour. It is 세 시 (se si), never 삼 시. Minutes are Sino: 삼십 분.
• Saying hana, dul, set before a counter. Han, du, se, ne. "Set gae" marks you as a beginner instantly.
• Using native numbers for money. 오천 원, never "daseot cheon won".
• Saying il-baek, il-cheon, il-man. Just baek, cheon, man.
• Grouping big numbers in thousands. A million is baengman (a hundred man). Count in fours.
• Forgetting the sound changes in 16, 26, 36... 십육 is pronounced simnyuk, 육십육 is yuksimnyuk. Say it as written and Koreans will understand; say it the natural way and you will sound right.
• Saying sibwol for October and yugwol for June. They are irregular: siwol and yuwol.
• Pronouncing 십 as "sip" with a hard s. The s before i is "sh": sheep. Everyone gets over this.
• Mixing up 이 (2) and 이 (this). Same sound; context. 이거 이 개 = "two of this".

How to get fast at Korean numbers

Understanding a Korean price and paying for it before the cashier repeats herself are two different skills.

1. Count out loud, both systems, one to ten, ten times a day for a week. Hana dul set net daseot yeoseot ilgop yeodeol ahop yeol. Il i sam sa o yuk chil pal gu sip.
2. Drill the short forms with counters. Han gae, du gae, se gae, ne gae, daseot gae. Han myeong, du myeong, se myeong. Out loud.
3. Read every price you see as Korean. 4,500 = sacheon obaek. 12,000 = man icheon. 150,000 = simo-man.
4. Tell the time out loud every hour. Native hour, Sino minutes: yeol si isip bun.
5. Say your own numbers. Age with sal, phone number with gong and e, birth year in Sino.
6. Then do it with something that answers back. SPAIKING's AI speaking partner will quote you prices in won, ask your age and the time, take your café order for du jan, and correct "set gae" and "sam si" as you say them. Numbers under pressure are the only kind that stick.