LinguaWhich system, and when
The whole unit is one decision made over and over: Sino-Korean or native. Sino-Korean (일 이 삼) for money, phone numbers, minutes, months, dates, floors and anything read off a digit. Native (하나 둘 셋) for counting things and people with a counter, for hours on the clock and for age. When the two meet, as in a time, the hour is native and the minute Sino-Korean: 두 시 삼십 분.
The forms that change
Four native numbers shrink before a counter (한 두 세 네) and so does twenty (스무). Two months change their shape (유월, 시월). Round Sino-Korean numbers drop 일 (백, 천, 만). Everything else is regular, which is why the mistakes learners make are always in these seven places.
| You are saying | System | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a price | Sino-Korean | 칠천 원 |
| an hour | native | 일곱 시 |
| minutes | Sino-Korean | 십오 분 |
| things with a counter | native | 사과 세 개 |
| a date | Sino-Korean | 시월 구 일 |
| an age | native | 서른 살 |
지금 열한 시 사십 분이에요It is 11:40 now.
커피 세 잔에 만 이천 원이에요Three coffees are twelve thousand won.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 일 | one (Sino-Korean) | 일월은 추워요 January is cold. |
| 삼 | three (Sino-Korean) | 삼 월 삼 일이에요 It is March 3rd. |
| 백 | hundred | 이백 원이에요 It is two hundred won. |
| 천 | thousand | 삼천 원이에요 It is three thousand won. |
| 하나 | one (native) | 하나, 둘, 셋! One, two, three! |
| 개 | counter for objects | 우유 두 개 주세요 Two milks, please. |
| 명 | counter for people | 몇 명이에요? How many people? |
| 시 | o'clock, hour | 몇 시예요? What time is it? |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 2
- translate the sentence: 1
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which is *seven o'clock*?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.