As I mentioned in earlier post, there are two different ways to count cardinal numbers in Korean; one derived from native Korean and the other from Chinese characters(Sino-Korean).
This time, I want to look at numbers from 10 to 100. There are also two different ways to count.
| Arabic | Native Korean System | Chinese Character System (Sino-Korean System) |
| 10 | 열 (yeol) | 십 (shib) |
| 11 | 열하나 (yeol-hahnah) | 십일 (shib-eel) |
| 20 | 스물 (sumool) | 이십 (eeshib) |
| 22 | 스물둘 (sumool-dool) | 이십이(eeshib-ee) |
| 30 | 서른 (suh-reun) | 삼십(sahmshib) |
| 33 | 서른셋 (suh-reun-seht) | 삼십삼(sahmshib-sahm) |
| 40 | 마흔 (mah-heun) | 사십 (sah-shib) |
| 44 | 마흔넷 (mah-heun-neht) | 사십사 (sah-shib-sah) |
| 50 | 쉰 (sheen) | 오십 (oh-shib) |
| 55 | 쉰다섯 (sheen-dah-sut) | 오십오 (oh-shib-oh) |
| 60 | 예순 (yesoon) | 육십 (yookshib) |
| 66 | 예순여섯 (yesoon-yeo-sut) | 육십육 (yookshib-yook) |
| 70 | 일흔 (eel-heun) | 칠십 (chilshib) |
| 77 | 일흔일곱 (eel-heun-eel-gob) | 칠십칠 (chilshib-chil) |
| 80 | 여든 (yeo-deun) | 팔십 (pahlshib) |
| 88 | 여든여덟 (yeo-deun-yeo-dul) | 팔십팔 (pahlshib-pahl) |
| 90 | 아흔 (ah-heun) | 구십 (gooshib) |
| 99 | 아흔아홉 (ah-heun-ah-hope) | 구십구 (gooshib-goo) |
Native Korean numbers are usually used when you count something or say someone's age or hours. And a counter is needed after the number when you use a number to count something.
□ 사과 열 개 주세요.
- sagwa yeol gae juseyo.
- Give me ten apples.
□ 그녀도 이제 마흔 살이에요.
- geunyeodo ije mah-heun sariyeo.
- She is now 40 years old.
Chinese oriented numbers (Sino-Korean numbers) are used for dates, money, minutes and seconds, addresses, and phone numbers. Also a counter is needed after the number.
□ 이 옷이 오십 달러 라구요?
- i oshi oh-shib daleo raguyo?
- Is this clothes fifty dollars?
□ 거기까지 가려면 삼십 분은 걸려요.
- geogikkaji garyeomyeon sahmshib buneun geolyeoyo.
- It takes about thirty minutes to get there.
Other posts
You can check more on how to count in Korean from my other posts.
□ from 0 to 10
□ from 10 to 99
□ from 100 and more