In Korean, counting words, or counters, are used with numbers to count things. It is important to remember that counting things in Korean is not done in the same way as in English. To begin with, when we count something in English, the number of cups on a table for instance, a number is said directly before the item being counted, but in Korea it is the reverse. Instead of two cups, in Korean one would say cups two. In addition, a simple numeral cannot quantify a noun in this way. A counter is needed to describe what is being counted.
[edit] Using Counters
Let's look at a concrete example. Standing before you are a bunch of yelping puppies, or 강아지. In English one could simply say There are five puppies. In Korean however, it would be more correct to say something like There are five animals which are puppies, or literally There are five puppy animals. When translated into English this sounds confusing and unnecessary, but it is actually quite simple to understand what is going on.
Unlike in English, Koreans generally wouldn't say 다섯 강아지 to say five puppies, with 다섯 meaning five. Instead they would say 강아지 다섯 마리. The word 마리 is a counter that is used with animals. Consequently, our original sentence There are five puppies, in Korean becomes 강아지 다섯 마리 있어요.
It is important to use the correct counter. How you count something, depends on what is being counted. Certain counters are associated with certain kinds of things. In the above example, if the speaker had only said 다섯 마리, you would have at least known that he was talking about some animals, even if you didn't know whether they were dogs, cats or birds. However, mixing and matching counters can leave your speech sounding confused and unnatural. The counter 장, for instance, is used with sheets of paper. If you had tried to say 강아지 다섯 장, you would actually be saying something like five sheets of puppy.
While seeming alien at first, this method becomes easier to grapple with when it is remembered that in English there is a similar way of counting things. While someone could say There are two cows they might just as easily say There are two heads of cattle. Likewise, we commonly use phrases like two sheets of paper, a bunch of grapes, five volumes and so on. While not everything in English is counted in this manner, the concept is there. It may be also worth keeping in mind that other languages use these kinds of counters in nearly the same way, such as Japanese and Indonesian.
[edit] Using Pure-Korean Numbers
- See also: Counting in Korean
It is safe to say that the vast majority of counting words are used with pure-Korean numbers like 하나, 둘, 셋. However it is important to remember that many of them are abbreviated when used with a counter word. For example you would never say 강아지 하나 마리. Instead, 하나, or 1, is contracted to 한, resulting in the phrase 강아지 한 마리.
Pure Korean numbers that are abbreviated include:
- 하나 - 한 (1)
- 둘 - 두 (2)
- 셋 - 세 (3)
- 넷 - 네 (4)
- 스물 - 스무 (20)
- 스물하나 - 스물한 (21)
- 스물둘 - 스물두 (22)
- 스물셋 - 스물세 (23)
- 스물넷 - 스물네 (24)
In a very few cases Korean uses the cardinal numbers 석 (3) and 넉 (4), which are variations of 셋 and 넷 respectively.
[edit] Counters using Pure-Korean Numbers
Note:The following lists may not be complete.
- 개 a thing. This is the most generic counting word and will always be understood if you can't remember the proper word to use. However, it should never be used to count people.
- 줄 a roll, or line, of kimbap
- 병 a bottle
- 잔 a cup or glass
- 장 a sheet of paper
- 모 a 500g block of tofu
- 마리 an animal or insect
- 명 a person (non-honorific)
- 분 a person (honorific)
- 과 a lesson
- 번 the number of times you do something (i.e.: one time, two times etc)
- 시간 one hour. This is used to indicate length of time: one hour, two hours, three hours. It would not be used to mean 2 o'clock.
- 시 the hour (as in "2 o'clock")
- 포기 a head of Chinese cabbage
- 대 vehicles (cars, airplanes) and machinery
- 갑 a box or small container, like a packet of cigarettes
- 상자 a box or big container
- 권 a book
- 그루 a tree
- 켤레 a pairs of socks, shoes, stockings, or gloves
- 통 a letters, telegram, phone call, or e-mail; a watermelon; a container or bucket
- 척 a boat
- 송이 a flower; a bunch of grapes or bananas
- 채 a house
- 단 a bunch of green onions
- 벌 an item of clothing; a set of dishes; a set of documents
- 자루 something with a long handle like writing instruments, shovels, swords, and rifles as well as a pen, sword, or rifle
- 필 a roll of uncut cloth
- 푼 a penny
- 곡 a song
- 마디 a word
- 판 a pizza
- 쪽 a slice of pizza or bread; a clove of garlic
- 조각 a piece of cake
- 덩어리 a loaf of bread; a cake
- 다발 a bunch of flowers
- 끼 a meal
- 봉지 a paper/plastic bag
- 짝 one of a pair
- 달 a month
- 자 a Korean foot (Unit of measurement)
[edit] Counters using Sino-Korean Numbers
There are some counting words that are used with Sino-Korean (hanja-based) numbers like 일, 이, 삼. A good rule of thumb to remember in order to keep everything straight is if the counter is a Sino-Korean word, so should the number you use to do the counting.
- 초 a second
- 분 a minute
- 층 a floor of a building
- 인분 a serving (for one person). This word is used when ordering certain foods, like sushi or meats like Samgyeopsal.
- 회 a repetition
- 개월 a month
- 일 a day
- 도 degrees (temperature)
[edit] Counting in Multiples
In addition to the above counters, there are other counters used for multiples, like the English word dozen.
- 접 one hundred dried persimmons
- 줄 ten eggs
- 코 twenty octopuses
- 판 a flat of thirty eggs
- 손 two fish (typically mackerels or yellow croakers)
- 따스 a dozen
- 톳 one hundred sheets of lavers
[edit] See also
