LEARN + KOREAN / Note 25 TOPIK I

Once a Week (-에 한 번)

Frequency has its own simple formula: [time period] + 에 + [native number] + 번. 하루에 한 번 is “once a day,” 일주일에 두 번 is “twice a week.” The whole phrase usually opens the sentence, ahead of everything else.

하루에 한 번 운동해요.

harue han beon undonghaeyo.

I exercise once a day.

일주일에 두 번 테니스를 쳐요.

iljuire du beon teniseureul chyeoyo.

I play tennis twice a week.

In Real Life

번 already showed up in 일, 이, 삼 naming a number, 삼백사십 번, “number 340,” using Sino-Korean. Here it means “times” instead, and switches back to native numbers: 한 번, 두 번, 세 번. Same word, same spelling, a completely different number system depending on which job it’s doing.

한 달에 한 번 영화를 봐요.

han dare han beon yeonghwareul bwayo.

I watch a movie once a month.

일년에 한 번 제주도에 가요.

illyeone han beon jejudoe gayo.

I go to Jeju once a year.

일주일에 세 번 수영해요.

iljuire se beon suyeonghaeyo.

I swim three times a week.

일주일에 한 번 친구를 만나요.

iljuire han beon chingureul mannayo.

I meet a friend once a week.

In Real Life

Leading with the frequency phrase isn’t mandatory, Korean word order is flexible, but it’s overwhelmingly the natural default. Burying 한 번 in the middle of the sentence isn’t wrong, it just reads like you’re adding an afterthought instead of stating the pattern up front.

Vocabulary

Korean	English
테니스 teniseu	tennis
치다 chida	to hit, to play (a racquet sport)
매일 maeil	every day
매주 maeju	every week
매달 maedal	every month
매년 maenyeon	every year
축구 chukgu	soccer
요가 yoga	yoga
헬스 helseu	gym workout, weight training
달리기 dalligi	running
맨날 maennal	every single day (casual for 매일)
가끔 gakkeum	sometimes
자주 jaju	often
어쩌다가 eojjeodaga	once in a while, on rare occasion
습관 seupgwan	habit
규칙적 gyuchikjeok	regular, regularly
빈도 bindo	frequency
연속으로 yeonsogeuro	in a row, consecutively
건너뛰다 geonneottwida	to skip
꾸준히 kkujunhi	consistently