Counter words in Korean
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Noun → Number → Counter word
e.g. 사람 다섯 명 | five persons
In Korean, counter words (or classifiers) are used to count nouns and are often required when using numbers with nouns. For example, the word "명" (myeong) is used to count people, so if you want to say "three people," you would say "세 명" (se myeong). Different counter words are used for different types of nouns, such as
- 개 - for counting objects
- 곳 - for counting locations
- 권 - for counting books, magazines
- 대 - for counting vehicles
- 마리 - for counting animals
- 명 (분) - for counting people (분 is polite equivalent)
- 벌 - for counting clothes
- 병 for counting bottles
- 잔 - for counting cups or glasses of drink
- 장 - for counting pages, sheets
- 켤레 - for counting pairs of objects
- 통 - for counting long, cylindrical objects
- 채 - for counting buildings
These are just a few examples, and there are other counter words that can be used in different contexts.
See examples,
(click on translation and grammar buttons)
판매원이 컴퓨터 두 대를 팝니다.
Korean
판매원
컴퓨터
둘
팔다
English
salesperson
computer
two
to sell
A salesperson is selling two computers.
판매원이 컴퓨터 두 대를 파+ㅂ니다.
친구가 애완동물 가게에서 강아지 한 마리를 삽니다.
Korean
친구
애완동물
가게
강아지
하나
사다
English
friend
pet
store
puppy
one
to buy
A friend is buying a puppy (one puppy) from a pet store.
친구가 애완동물 가게에서 강아지 한 마리를 사+ㅂ니다.
사장님이 커피 세 잔을 드십니다.
Korean
사장님
커피
셋
드시다
English
directory of a company
coffee
three
to eat, to drink
(polite equivalent of 먹다, 마시다)
The boss is drinking three cups of coffee.
사장님이 커피 세 잔을 드시+ㅂ니다.
저는 내일 이력서 한 장을 출력하겠습니다.
Korean
저
내일
이력서
하나
출력하다
English
I
tomorrow
resume
one
to print
I will print out a copy (one copy) of my resume tomorrow.
저는 내일 이력서 한 장을 출력하+겠+습니다.
오늘은 제가 선생님 세 분을 만납니다.
Korean
오늘
저
선생님
셋
만나다
English
today
I
teacher
four
to meet
Today I am meeting three teachers.
오늘은 저+가 선생님 세 분을 만나+ㅂ니다.
엄마가 양말 열 켤레를 삽니다.
Korean
엄마
양말
열
사다
English
mom
socks
ten
to buy
My mom is buying 10 ten pairs of socks.
엄마가 양말 열 켤레를 사+ㅂ니다.
Quick reference (click to open)
Vowels: a, e, i, o, u
Consonants: b, c, d, f, g, h, j
Syllable: Bra-zil (2 syllables), Ar-gen-ti-na (4), In-di-a (3), Viet-nam (2), thin-king (2), beau-ti-ful (3), good (1)
Batchim: is a final consonant in a syllable. → Bra-zil (batchim: 'l'), Ar-gen-ti-na (batchims: 'r' and 'n'), In-di-a ('n'), Viet-nam ('t', 'm')
Romanization: is a conversion of text (not pronunciation ! ) from different writing system (Korean, Arabic, Russian, etc.) to the Roman (Latin) alphabet.
IPA: is an alphabetic system of phonetic (pronunciation) notation.
Noun: road, user, sister, table, sky
Pronoun: I, my, we, you, they, her
Verb: to go, to study, to think, to feel
Adjective: cold, kind, hungry, curious, expensive
Adverb: quickly, nicely, never, exactly, urgently
Preposition: from, to, on, in, with, till
Conjuction: and, because, if, but, while
Declarative sentence: I learn Korean.
Interrogative sentence: Do you learn Korean?
Imperative sentence: You must learn Korean!
Exclamative sentence: Wow, you learn Korean!
Verb / Adj. stem in Korean: part of a verb or adj. which is left after removing the last syllable -다 ( e.g. 가다 → 가, 예쁘다 → 예쁘, 듣다 → 듣 ).