We’re finally reviewing numbers in Korean! This is going to kick off a group of lessons that all have to do with numbers in some way (counting, telling time, calendar months, etc). Let’s get started!
In Korean, there are two number systems. The first one is based off the Chinese number system. We call these the Sino-Korean numbers.
And these numbers are:
The second number system is the native Korean number system. Here are the native Korean numbers in 한글:
Why are there two number systems? Well, like many other east Asian countries, Korean was heavily influenced by China back in the day. Before creating their own native system, Koreans used the Chinese writing system. This went on until the 1400s, when the revered King Sejong invented what would become 한글, the Korean alphabet we know today.
However, the influence from Chinese characters still lives on today.
Chinese characters that are translated to Korean vocabulary (such as the Sino-Korean numbers) are called hanja, or 한자.
For example, the Chinese character 火 (huǒ), meaning fire, is a hanja, and is represented in 한글 as 화.
So now you know how to count from 1-10 in both Sino-Korean and native Korean! In the next couple of lessons, we’ll learn how to count past ten, as well as use these numbers to do things like tell the time. We’ll also cover when to use these number systems in daily conversation.
Want to test your memory of the numbers above? Try the Numbers (native) and Numbers (Sino) flashcard sets!
See you in the next lesson!