Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 2 - Korean for Beginners #1 (Lessons 31 to 60) ᚛ Lesson 36 - Sino-Korean numbers up to 9999

Sino-Korean numbers up to 9999

Sino-Korean numbers are used to count money, tell time (in minutes), or for telephone numbers. They are different from the Korean numbers that we studied in the previous course.

Count to 9999 in Korean

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

Multiples of 10 are formed from the number 10 (십).

20 is 2x10, so we combine 이, 2, and 십, 10, to form 이십.
50 is 5x10, so we combine 오, 5, and 십, 10, to form 오십.

20 (2 x 10)	이십
30 (3 x 10)	삼십
40 (4 x 10)	사십
50 (5 x 10)	오십
60 (6 x 10)	육십
70 (7 x 10)	칠십
80 (8 x 10)	팔십
90 (9 x 10)	구십

In the same way that the Korean numbers 1 to 99 are formed, all that is needed is to connect the corresponding tens number with the corresponding single digit. Here are some examples:

11 (10 + 1)	십일
28 (2 x 10 + 8)	이십팔
49 (4 x 10 + 9)	사십구
67 (6 x 10 + 7)	육십칠
72 (7 x 10 + 2)	칠십이
84 (8 x 10 + 4)	팔십사
97 (9 x 10 + 7)	구십칠

To go all the way to 9999, we will need two new words.

100	백
1000	천

Hundreds and thousands are formed in the exact same way as tens.

300 is 3x100, so we connect 삼, 3, and 백, 100, together to form 삼백.
7000 is 7x1000, so we join 칠, 7, and 천, 1000, together to form 칠천.

Here are many examples that you can use to familiarize yourself with Sino-Korean numbers.

101	백일
123	백이십삼
258	이백오십팔
547	오백사십칠
1010	천십
2991	이천구백구십일
4115	사천백십오
9576	구천오백칠십육