Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 2 - Korean for Beginners #1 (Lessons 31 to 60) ᚛ Lesson 40 - Tell the time in Korean

Tell the time in Korean

In this course: 시 / 분

Telling the time in Korean is not a difficult task, but it is necessary to navigate between the language's two number systems. That means:

• hours use pure Korean numbers
• minutes and seconds use Sino-Korean numbers

Counting hours in Korean

To count hours, we use pure Korean numbers, placing them before the word 시.

For example:

• 5:00 is said 5시, that is 다섯 시.
• 7:00 is said 7시, that is 일곱 시.

Note that pure Korean numbers that end in 1, 2, 3, or 4 lose their final character in order to make pronunciation flow more smoothly:

• 1 - 하나 becomes 한
• 2 - 둘 becomes 두
• 3 - 셋 becomes 세
• 4 - 넷 becomes 네

This rule not only applies for hours, but also for any time a pure Korean number is used to number something, which we will see in more detail in the next chapter.

Some examples:

If you want to specify the exact hour, you can use the term 정각.

9시 정각
→ 9 o’clock sharp. / Exactly 9 o’clock.

Count minutes in Korean

To count minutes, we use Sino-Korean numbers, placing them in front of the word 분.

For example:

• 45min is said 45분, that is 사십오 분.
• 22min is said 22분, that is 이십이 분.

Write the time in Korean

In Korean, the time is told in the following format:
[pure Korean number]시 [Sino-Korean number]분

To say "thirty", we can say 반.

To ask the time and respond, the following phrases are possible.

몇 시예요?
→ What time is it?

3시예요.
→ It is 3:00.

1시 20분이에요.
→ It is 1:20.

The 12-hour system and specifying the time of day.

Exercises

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