Most languages have one set of numbers. Korean has two, they are unrelated, and fluent speakers switch between them several times in a single sentence without noticing. This is usually the first thing that makes a new learner feel the language is playing a trick on them.
It is not arbitrary. Each system owns a specific set of jobs, and once you know the division the choice becomes automatic.
The two sets, side by side
| # | Native Korean | Romanised | Sino-Korean | Romanised |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 하나 | hana | 일 | il |
| 2 | 둘 | dul | 이 | i |
| 3 | 셋 | set | 삼 | sam |
| 4 | 넷 | net | 사 | sa |
| 5 | 다섯 | daseot | 오 | o |
| 6 | 여섯 | yeoseot | 육 | yuk |
| 7 | 일곱 | ilgop | 칠 | chil |
| 8 | 여덟 | yeodeol | 팔 | pal |
| 9 | 아홉 | ahop | 구 | gu |
| 10 | 열 | yeol | 십 | sip |
Two useful facts about the tens. Native Korean has its own words — 스물 seumul (20), 서른 seoreun (30), 마흔 maheun (40), 쉰 swin (50) — and then stops at ninety-nine. There is no native word for a hundred. Sino-Korean simply stacks: 이십 isip is twenty, 삼십 samsip thirty, 백 baek a hundred, 천 cheon a thousand, 만 man ten thousand.
Which system goes where
| Use native Korean for | Use Sino-Korean for |
|---|---|
| Counting objects (사과 세 개 — three apples) | Money (오천 원 — 5,000 won) |
| People (네 명 — four people) | Dates and months (삼월 — March) |
| Age (스무 살 — twenty years old) | Minutes and seconds (십 분 — ten minutes) |
| Hours on the clock (두 시 — two o'clock) | Phone numbers |
| General counting up to 99 | Floors, addresses, measurements |
| Anything above 99 |
The shape-shifting four
Here is the detail that catches people who learned the list correctly. When a native number sits directly in front of a counter, four of them change form:
| Alone | Before a counter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 하나 hana | 한 han | 한 개 — one item |
| 둘 dul | 두 du | 두 명 — two people |
| 셋 set | 세 se | 세 시 — three o'clock |
| 넷 net | 네 ne | 네 잔 — four cups |
| 스물 seumul | 스무 seumu | 스무 살 — twenty years old |
So you count "하나, 둘, 셋" out loud, but you order "커피 세 잔" — three coffees, not 셋 잔. The final consonant drops. From five upward nothing changes: 다섯 개, 여섯 명, 일곱 시 are all regular.
The clock uses both at once
This is the single most useful thing on this page. Telling the time in Korean takes a native number for the hour and a Sino-Korean number for the minutes:
| Time | Korean | Romanised |
|---|---|---|
| 1:00 | 한 시 | han si |
| 2:15 | 두 시 십오 분 | du si sibo bun |
| 3:30 | 세 시 삼십 분 | se si samsip bun |
| 7:45 | 일곱 시 사십오 분 | ilgop si sasibo bun |
| 10:05 | 열 시 오 분 | yeol si o bun |
Say it out loud once and it sticks. "Se si samsip bun" — the switch happens right at the word 시. Hours are things you count, so they take the counting system; minutes are measurements, so they take the Sino system. Every Korean clock time in the language follows this split.
Counters, briefly
Like Japanese and Chinese, Korean puts a counter between the number and the noun. The common ones:
| Counter | Used for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 개 | generic objects | 사과 두 개 — two apples |
| 명 | people (plain) | 학생 세 명 — three students |
| 분 | people (polite) | 손님 네 분 — four guests |
| 마리 | animals | 고양이 한 마리 — one cat |
| 권 | books | 책 다섯 권 — five books |
| 잔 | cups and glasses | 커피 두 잔 — two coffees |
| 살 | years of age | 스무 살 — twenty years old |
Note that 분 appears twice in this article with two different jobs — minutes, and a polite counter for people. Context separates them completely, and it is a good reminder that romanisation alone is not enough to read Korean reliably.
What to do first
Learn Sino-Korean one to ten and the units 백, 천, 만 before a trip, because prices, dates and addresses will not wait. Learn native one to ten alongside it, plus the five shape-shifting forms, and you will handle ordering, ages and the clock. That is a couple of evenings of work and it covers the overwhelming majority of numbers you will hear.
Check Korean readings offline
The free English-Korean Dictionary gives you Hangul with romanisation, so you can confirm whether a context wants 세 or 삼. No connection needed.
Open the dictionary appFrequently asked questions
Why does Korean have two sets of numbers?
One set is native Korean and the other was borrowed from Chinese over centuries of contact, in much the same way English borrowed Latin and Greek number words alongside its Germanic ones. English kept its borrowings mostly for technical vocabulary — bicycle, decade, century — while Korean uses both systems in everyday speech, each in its own set of contexts.
Which Korean number system should a beginner learn first?
Learn Sino-Korean first if your priority is surviving transactions, because money, dates, phone numbers and addresses all use it and those are what you need on day one. Learn native Korean numbers one to ten early regardless, since they cover ages, hours and counting objects, and they stop at ninety-nine so there is far less to memorise.
How do you tell the time in Korean?
You use both systems in the same breath. The hour takes native numbers with the counter 시, and the minutes take Sino-Korean with 분. So 3:30 is 세 시 삼십 분 — se si sam sip bun. Mixing this up is one of the most common beginner errors and one of the easiest to fix once you have heard the pattern a few times.