5.3 Numbers, Time, and the Calendar — Epoché
What you will be able to do Say both sets of numerals aloud from one to ten, and know which counters each set goes with. Count in the Sino-Korean system past a hundred, a thousand and ten thousand, which is where Korean stops matching English. Name the seven days, the twelve months and the parts of the day: 오늘은 목요일이다. and 그는 새벽에 왔다. Read a price, a floor number, an age and a time without stopping to work out which system is wanted. Use the eight commonest counters correctly: 맥주 두 잔 주세요. and 이거 3개 주세요. Prerequisites : 5.2, and the grammar of 3.11 Grammar and 3.12, which explained how the two systems work and when each is used. This lesson supplies the words themselves, which those two lessons assumed. Lessons 3.11 and 3.12 gave the rules and used the numerals without listing them. Here they are. There is more to memorise in this lesson than in any other in the phase, and it is worth doing properly, because numbers are the one part of a language that cannot be worked out from context: a price misheard is a price misheard. The consolation is that the list is finite, the two systems are regular, and the days and months need almost no memorising at all. Word list The native numerals Used for things, people, ages, hours of the clock and occasions. Beyond twenty they are rare and beyond a hundred they hardly exist. Alone Before a counter Value 하나 한 one 둘 두 two 셋 세 three 넷 네 four 다섯 다섯 five 여섯 여섯 six 일곱 일곱 seven 여덟 여덟 eight 아홉 아홉 nine 열 열 ten 열둘 열두 twelve 스물 스무 twenty Only the first four and twenty change before a counter, as lesson 3.11 said, and the changed forms are the ones you will meet almost always. Teens are made by putting the word for ten in front of the unit, so eleven through nineteen are free once you have one to ten. The Sino-Korean numerals Used for minutes, months, days of the month, years, money, floors, telephone numbers and arithmetic. Numeral Value Note for English speakers 영 zero Used in arithmetic. In a telephone number a different syllable is used, which is the one a Korean says when reading digits aloud. 일 one The same syllable as the word for work and for a day of the month, which is the first Sino-Korean collision of the course. 이 two Also the demonstrative meaning "this" and the subject ending. Position separates all three. 삼 three 사 four Avoided in some contexts because it is a homophone of the word for death, so a building may number its floors around it. 오 five 육 six 칠 seven 팔 eight 구 nine 십 ten Tens are the unit plus this syllable, so twenty is two-ten, exactly as in Chinese and Japanese. 백 hundred 천 thousand 만 ten thousand This is where Korean stops matching English. Large numbers are grouped in fours, not threes, so a hundred thousand is ten of these. Counters Word Counts Which system 개 objects of any kind native 명 people native 잔 glasses and cups native 병 bottles native 권 books and volumes native 살 years of age native 시 hours of the clock native 분 minutes Sino-Korean 초 seconds Sino-Korean 층 floors of a building Sino-Korean 원 the Korean currency Sino-Korean 년 years Sino-Korean The clock and the parts of the day Word Meaning Notes 반 ko ban half Note for English speakers Used after the hour for "half past", so Korean says "two o'clock half" where English says "half past two". 오전 ko ojeon a.m., the morning Note for English speakers Stands before the time, as English "a.m." does not. 오후 ko ohu p.m., the afternoon Note for English speakers The same. Both are Sino-Korean and both are used in writing as well as speech. 밤 ko bam night Note for English speakers The dark hours. The evening word of lesson 3.12 covers the earlier part. 새벽 ko saebyeok dawn, the small hours Note for English speakers Anything from about one in the morning until sunrise. English has no single word covering both two a.m. and first light. The week, the month and the year The seven days are one shared element with seven distinguishing ones, so learning the shared element learns most of the work. Word Meaning Notes 요일 ko yoil day of the week The distinguishing element the shared element 월요일 ko woryoil Monday The distinguishing element the moon 화요일 ko hwayoil Tuesday The distinguishing element fire 수요일 ko suyoil Wednesday The distinguishing element water 목요일 ko mogyoil Thursday The distinguishing element wood 금요일 ko Geumyoil Friday The distinguishing element metal 토요일 ko toyoil Saturday The distinguishing element earth 일요일 ko iryoil Sunday The distinguishing element the sun Word Meaning Notes 월 ko wol month of the year Note for English speakers A Sino-Korean number in front gives the name of the month, so there are no month names to learn. 주 ko ju a week Note for English speakers Sino-Korean. With the word for end it gives the weekend. 주말 ko jumal the weekend Note for English speakers Literally "week end", built from the two Sino-Korean elements. 올해 ko olhae this year Note for English speakers Native Korean, unlike the words for last year and next year, which are Sino-Korean. 작년 ko jangnyeon last year Note for English speakers Said with a nasal in the middle, by the rule of lesson 1.4. 내년 ko naenyeon next year Note for English speakers The same element for "next" as in the word for tomorrow. Real sentences Korean English 커피 한 잔? [16] Do you want a cup of coffee? 맥주 두 잔 주세요. [17] Two beers, please. 사과 주스 두 잔 주세요. [18] Two glasses of apple juice, please. 와인 한 병 더 주세요. [19] One more bottle of wine, please. 이거 3개 주세요. [20] I'd like three of these. 나는 사과가 몇 개 있어요. [21] I have a few apples. 한 번 더. [26] Once again. 몇 살이세요? [22] How old are you? 27살 입니다. [23] I'm 27 years old. 나는 6층에 산다. [24] I live on the 6th floor. 컴퓨터는 몇 층에 있어요? [25] What floor is the computer on? 한 상자에 얼마예요? [29] How much is it per box? 이게 얼마예요? [31] How much is this? 버스 요금은 얼마예요? [30] How much is the bus fare? 1, 3, 5는 홀수이다. [15] One, three, and five are odd numbers. Korean English 몇 시예요? [7] What time is it? 몇 시에 문을 열어요? [8] What time do you open? 몇 시에 떠나요? [9] What time are you leaving? 1분만 도와주시겠어요? [27] Can you help me for just a min