In Korean there are two spoken ways to describe numbers:
- Hangul – Native Korean numbers
- Hanja – Sino (Chinese)-Korean
Hanja is the Korean name for Chinese characters borrowed from Chinese and incorporated into the Korean language with Korean pronunciation.Although a phonetic Korean alphabet, now known as Hangul, had been created by a team of scholars commissioned in the 1440s by King Sejong the Great, it did not come into widespread use until the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Sino-Korean numbers are numbers that are based on the Chinese language so if you speak Chinese, you will find that spoken Sino-Korean numbers are quite similar.
Cardinal Numbers
1-10
| 1 | One | 하나 (Ha-Na) |
| 2 | Two | 둘 (dool) |
| 3 | Three | 셋 (seht) |
| 4 | Four | 넷 (neht) |
| 5 | Five | 다섯 (da-Sut) |
| 6 | Six | 여섯 (yuh-Suht) |
| 7 | Seven | 일곱 (il-gohp) |
| 8 | Eight | 여덟 (yuh-dul) |
| 9 | Nine | 아홉 (ah-hope) |
| 10 | Ten | 열 (yul) |
11 – 20
| 11 | 열하나 (yul-hana) |
| 12 | 열둘 (yul-dool) |
| 13 | 열셋 (yul-seht) |
| 14 | 열넷 (yul-neht) |
| 15 | 열다섯 (yul-da-shut) |
| 16 | 열여섯 (yul-yuh-suht) |
| 17 | 열일곱 (yul-il-gohp) |
| 18 | 열여덟 (yul-yuh-dul) |
| 19 | 열아홉 (yul-ah-hope) |
| 20 | 스물 (seu-mul) |
30 – 10,000
| 30 | 서른 (suh-ruhn) |
| 40 | 마흔 (mah-heun) |
| 50 | 쉰 (shin) |
| 60 | 예순 (yeah-soon) |
| 70 | 일흔 (ill-heun) |
| 80 | 여든 (yuh-dun) |
| 90 | 아흔 (ah-hun) |
| 100 | 백 (baek) |
| 1,000 | 천 (chun) |
| 10,000 | 만 (mahn) |
Ordinal Numbers
1 – 10
| 1 | First | 일 (il) |
| 2 | Second | 이 (ee) |
| 3 | Third | 삼 (sahm) |
| 4 | Fourth | 사 (sah) |
| 5 | Fifth | 오 (oh) |
| 6 | Sixth | 육 (yooc) |
| 7 | Seventh | 칠 (chil) |
| 8 | Eighth | 팔 (pahl) |
| 9 | Ninth | 구 (gooh) |
| 10 | Tenth | 십 (ship) |
| 11 | Eleventh | 십일 (ship-il) |
| 20 | Twentieth | 이십 (ee-ship) |
| 31 | Thirty-first | 삼십일 (sahm-ship-il) |
| 43 | Forty-third | 사십삼 (sah-ship-sahm) |
| 54 | Fifty-fourth | 오십사 (oh-ship-sah) |
| 65 | Sixty-fifth | 육십오 (yooc-ship-oh) |
| 76 | Seventy-sixth | 칠십육 (chil-ship-yooc) |
| 87 | Eighty-seventh | 팔십칠 (pahl-ship-chil) |
| 98 | Ninety-eighth | 구십팔 (gooh-ship-pahl) |
It seems daunting at first to try and memorize them all so break it down into small chunks and do a little bit each day!
