Learn to read Korean
A short, active path into reading Korean: take a syllable block apart, decode ten real words before the full alphabet, learn the sound changes automatic romanizers get wrong, and read a small story before opening your first book.
Counting: two number sets and a counter word
- Open this when a number stops you; neither reading at the end contains one.
- Korean has two complete sets of numbers, both ordinary, both used every day.
- Native numbers count things — animals, people, hours; Sino-Korean numbers measure — money, minutes, dates.
- You cannot say “three dogs” without a counter word, and the order is noun, number, counter.
- The first four native numbers shorten in front of a counter: 하나ha-na → 한han.
You do not need this section to finish the lesson. Open it when a number or a price stops you — neither story at the end contains one. It is here because Korean counting surprises people, not because the path waits on it.
Korean has two complete sets of numbers. This is not a formality thing: both are ordinary, and which one you use depends on what you are counting. The native set counts things — animals, people, objects, hours, ages. The Sino-Korean set, borrowed from Chinese long ago, does measurements — money, minutes, dates, anything long.
The two sets
| Native — for counting things | Sino — for measuring | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 하나ha-na | 일il |
| 2 | 둘dul | 이i |
| 3 | 셋set | 삼sam |
| 4 | 넷net | 사sa |
| 5 | 다섯da-seot | 오o |
| 6 | 여섯yeo-seot | 육yuk |
| 7 | 일곱il-gop | 칠chil |
| 8 | 여덟yeo-deol | 팔pal |
| 9 | 아홉a-hop | 구gu |
| 10 | 열yeol | 십ship |
For reading fables you want the left column. The right column is here so that you recognise it when a price or a date turns up.
Counting needs a third word. You cannot say “three dogs”; you must say “dog, three, of-the-animal-kind”. That extra word is a counter, and English has a few of its own — three sheets of paper, two head of cattle.
The three counters worth knowing
| Counter | For | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 개gae | things, objects | 두 개du gae“two of them” |
| 명myeong | people | 세 명se myeong“three people” |
| 마리ma-ri | animals | 한 마리han ma-ri“one animal” |
Awkwardly, the counter for objects is spelled and said exactly like the word for dog. Context sorts it out, and Korean finds this no funnier than English finds “a bat”.
Standing alone → in front of a counter
I 나는na-neun see 본다bon-da two birds 새 두 마리를sae du ma-ri-reul.
나는 새 두 마리를 본다.
na-neun sae du ma-ri-reul bon-da
The order is noun, number, counter — and the object tag 를 lands on the counter at the end of the lump, because the whole phrase counts as one thing.