Korean · Beginner (A1) · Chapter 2 of 12
Numbers and prices
숫자와 가격Sutjawa gagyeok
Count with Sino-Korean numbers, ask and understand prices in won, ask for a discount and say phone numbers in Korean.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Count with Sino-Korean numbers, including 만 (10,000)
- Ask how much something is and understand the price
- Point to things with 이거, 그거 and 저거
- Say a phone number digit by digit
Listen
Yoon Haeun is shopping for socks and a phone case at a stall in Gukje Market in Busan. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Haeun
안녕하세요? 이거 얼마예요?
Annyeonghaseyo? Igeo eolmayeyo?
Hello. How much is this?
Seller
그거 삼천 원이에요.
Geugeo samcheon wonieyo.
That's 3,000 won.
Haeun
싸요. 저거는 얼마예요?
Ssayo. Jeogeoneun eolmayeyo?
That's cheap. And how much is that one over there?
Seller
저거는 만 오천 원이에요.
Jeogeoneun man ocheon wonieyo.
That one is 15,000 won.
Haeun
만 오천 원? 좀 비싸요. 깎아 주세요.
Man ocheon won? Jom bissayo. Kkakka juseyo.
15,000 won? That's a bit expensive. Could you give me a discount?
Seller
네, 만 이천 원이에요.
Ne, man icheon wonieyo.
All right, 12,000 won.
Haeun
현금 여기 있어요. 전화번호 좀 주세요.
Hyeongeum yeogi isseoyo. Jeonhwabeonho jom juseyo.
Here's the cash. Could I have the shop's phone number, please?
Seller
네, 공일공, 이삼사오, 육칠팔구예요.
Ne, gongilgong, isamsao, yukchilpalguyeyo.
Sure, it's 010-2345-6789.
Haeun
감사합니다. 안녕히 계세요.
Gamsahamnida. Annyeonghi gyeseyo.
Thank you. Goodbye.
Seller
네, 안녕히 가세요.
Ne, annyeonghi gaseyo.
Goodbye.
Understand
Sino-Korean numbers
Korean has two sets of numbers. This chapter teaches the Sino-Korean set, which came from Chinese. You use it for money, phone numbers and prices. The other set, native Korean numbers, comes in chapter 3.
Bigger numbers are built like a sum: (sibil) is “ten one”, 11; (isip) is “two ten”, 20; (isibo) is 25. (baek) is 100 and (cheon) is 1,000. Don't put (il, one) before them: 100 is just (baek), 1,000 is just (cheon), and (samcheon) is 3,000.
| Number | Korean | Number | Korean |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | (il) | 6 | (yuk) |
| 2 | (i) | 7 | (chil) |
| 3 | (sam) | 8 | (pal) |
| 4 | (sa) | 9 | (gu) |
| 5 | (o) | 10 | (sip) |
| 100 | (baek) | 1,000 | (cheon) |
만: counting in ten thousands
Korean has its own word for 10,000: (man). Prices over 10,000 won are counted in , not in thousands. So 15,000 is (man ocheon), “ten thousand, five thousand”, and 30,000 is (samman), “three ten-thousands”. Like (cheon), (man) needs no (il) in front.
The currency is the won, (won). Ask (igeo eolmayeyo?), how much is this?, and the answer is the price + (wonieyo). Remember the rule from chapter 1: (won) ends in a consonant, so it takes 이에요; (eolma), how much, ends in a vowel, so it's (eolmayeyo?).
| Price | Korean |
|---|---|
| ₩3,000 | (samcheon won) |
| ₩10,000 | (man won) |
| ₩12,000 | (man icheon won) |
| ₩15,000 | (man ocheon won) |
| ₩50,000 | (oman won) |
This, that, and “it's cheap”
(igeo) is “this”, near you. (geugeo) is “that”, near the person you're talking to. (jeogeo) is “that over there”, far from you both. That's why the seller answers Haeun's (igeo) with (geugeo).
Korean adjectives work like verbs, so they don't need (yeyo): (bissayo) alone means “it's expensive” and (ssayo) means “it's cheap”. (jom), a bit, softens what you say, and also makes a request politer.
Phone numbers are read digit by digit, with (gong) for zero. Mobile numbers start with (gongilgong), 010.
- 이거 얼마예요?Igeo eolmayeyo?How much is this?
- 저거는 좀 비싸요.Jeogeoneun jom bissayo.That one over there is a bit expensive.
- 공일공, 사오육칠, 팔구공일Gongilgong, saoyukchil, palgugongil010-4567-8901
More in the grammar: Numbers, counters, time and dates · 이다 and 아니다: to be
New words
- 이거igeothis, this one · (geugeo), that one near the person you're talking to; (jeogeo), that one over there
- 얼마예요?Eolmayeyo?How much is it?
- 원wonwon (Korean money)
- 천cheonthousand
- 싸요ssayoit's cheap
- 만manten thousand
- 좀joma bit; please (softener)
- 비싸요bissayoit's expensive
- 깎아 주세요kkakka juseyoplease give me a discount · Fine at market stalls, not in department stores or chain shops.
- 현금hyeongeumcash
- 여기 있어요yeogi isseoyohere you are; here it is
- 전화번호jeonhwabeonhophone number
- 공gongzero (in phone numbers)
- 카드kadeucard · Almost everywhere takes cards; small market stalls sometimes prefer cash.
Practise
1.The phone case costs ₩15,000. How do you say the price?
2.Match the numbers.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
3.Put the words in order to say the price of the thing over there.
Tap the words below in the right order.That one over there is 15,000 won.
4.You point at a bag far from you and from the seller. Which word do you use?
5.How do Koreans usually say the zeros in 010?
6.Put the words in order: the seller tells you the price of the thing you're holding.
Tap the words below in the right order.That's 3,000 won.
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
이거 얼마예요?
Igeo eolmayeyo?
How much is this?
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.