LEARN + KOREAN / Note 12 TOPIK I

One, Please (하나 주세요)

일, 이, 삼 covered Sino-Korean numbers, the set for money, dates, and phone numbers. Ordering something uses a completely different set: native Korean numbers, the ones Korean had before it ever borrowed from Chinese. You’ll spot them because they don’t chain together the same predictable way Sino-Korean does. They’re irregular, they’re older, and they’re what you reach for at a counter.

A Different Way to Count

Korean	English
하나 hana	one
둘 dul	two
셋 set	three
넷 net	four
다섯 daseot	five
여섯 yeoseot	six
일곱 ilgop	seven
여덟 yeodeol	eight
아홉 ahop	nine
열 yeol	ten

In Real Life

Native numbers cover counting objects, telling someone’s age, and the hour on a clock (한 시, 두 시…). Sino-Korean covers money, dates, and phone numbers. There’s real overlap and no shortcut around learning which is which, but as a rule of thumb: if you could hold it up and count it on your fingers, it’s probably native Korean.

The first four numbers change shape when they’re directly attached to a counter word: 하나 becomes 한, 둘 becomes 두, 셋 becomes 세, 넷 becomes 네. That’s why you’ll see 한 잔 (one cup) instead of 하나 잔.

Please Give Me One

플랫화이트 하나 주세요.

peullaeteuhwaiteu hana juseyo.

Please give me one flat white.

물 한 잔 주세요.

mul han jan juseyo.

Please give me a glass of water.

I’m Buying, It’s Cheap, It’s Expensive

가방 사요.

gabang sayo.

I'm buying a bag.

라면 싸요.

ramyeon ssayo.

The ramen is cheap.

케이크 비싸요.

keikeu bissayo.

The cake is expensive.

In Real Life

싸다 (cheap) and 비싸다 (expensive) aren’t opposites built from the same root the way you might expect. 비싸다 isn’t “not cheap,” it’s its own word. Korean just happens to have two short, unrelated adjectives sitting at opposite ends of price, the same way English has “cheap” and “expensive” rather than “expensive” and “un-expensive.”

How Many?

개 isn’t the only counter. Korean picks a different one depending on what’s being counted: 명 for people, 마리 for animals, 병 for bottles, 권 for books, 장 for flat things like paper or tickets. The question and answer both follow the same shape as everything above, just with 몇 (how many) standing in for the number.

사과가 몇 개예요?

sagwaga myeot gaeyeyo?

How many apples are there?

사과가 두 개예요.

sagwaga du gaeyeyo.

There are two apples.

학생이 몇 명 있어요?

haksaengi myeot myeong isseoyo?

How many students are there?

고양이가 세 마리 있어요.

goyangiga se mari isseoyo.

There are three cats.

In Real Life

개 is the fallback counter. If you blank on whether a book takes 권 or a bottle takes 병, reaching for 개 instead is a mistake native speakers make sense of instantly, and one plenty of Koreans make themselves in casual speech. Getting the counter wrong is far less disruptive than getting the number wrong.

Vocabulary

Korean	English
개 gae	counter for general objects
잔 jan	counter for cups, glasses
명 myeong	counter for people (neutral)
분 bun	counter for people (polite)
마리 mari	counter for animals
병 byeong	counter for bottles
권 gwon	counter for books
장 jang	counter for flat objects (paper, tickets)
빵 ppang	bread
과자 gwaja	snack
한강공원 hangang-gongwon	Hangang Park
메뉴 menyu	menu
추천 chucheon	recommendation
포장 pojang	takeout, to-go packaging
리필 ripil	refill