1000 in Korean: 천 (cheon), Thousands and Prices

Key Facts

• 1000 in Korean is 천 (cheon). It is Sino-Korean, from the character 千.
• 2,000 is 이천 and 5,000 is 오천. Digit first, then 천.
• 천 has no 일 in front of it in everyday speech. 일천 is formal or legal.
• The next jump is 만 (10,000), because Korean groups large numbers in fours, not threes.

How Do You Say 1000 in Korean?

1000 in Korean is 천 (cheon). The syllable has the aspirated consonant ㅊ, which is said with a strong puff of air, then the vowel ㅓ and the final ㄴ. English speakers often say "chun" or "chon". The vowel ㅓ is an open, relaxed "uh" with the lips unrounded, and the standard pronunciation (표준 발음법) of the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) lists it as a separate vowel from ㅗ.

1. 1,000 is 천, not 일천. Korean drops 일 before 천 in speech and in prices. This is the same rule as 백 for 100, covered in 100 in Korean.
2. Thousands put a digit before 천. 2 × 1,000 is 이천, 3 × 1,000 is 삼천.
3. 1,000 is the bridge to money. The 1,000 won note is the smallest bill in daily use, so 천 원 is among the first amounts you will say.

How Do Thousands Work?

Thousands work like hundreds: write the Sino-Korean digit, then 천. The digit 1 is dropped, so 1,000 is 천 and not 일천. Learners who know hundreds can copy the pattern directly.

Listen to each thousand in turn.

Because the pattern repeats, nine numbers cost you one rule. Combining thousands with hundreds, tens and ones is where practice matters.

How Do You Read Numbers Like 2,500 and 9,900?

Numbers like 2,500 are read from the left, one place at a time: thousands, hundreds, tens, ones. Skip any place with a zero. Drop 1 in front of 천, 백 and 십, but keep the last digit 1 as 일.

Listen to the longer ones, which work as a stress test.

Two cautions. First, 1,001 is 천일, and 천일 is also the word for "1,000 days". Second, speech has no spaces, but when a number is written out in Hangul the standard spelling rules (한글 맞춤법 제44항) put a space at every 만 unit, so 12,345 is written 만 이천삼백사십오.

How Do You Read Prices in Thousands?

Prices in Korean are read as a number, a space and the currency word 원 (won). Prices at 1,000 won and above use 천 and the thousands pattern. The linked page on the 원 counter explains the unit, and Korean won: bills, coins and prices lists the notes.

Korean money has four bills and four coins in daily use. The bills are 1,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 50,000 won. The coins are 10, 50, 100 and 500 won. The first three bills are read 천 원, 오천 원 and 만 원, and the first two coins you meet most are 백 원 and 오백 원.

The prices above are examples of how to read figures, not current prices, which change.

Some cafe menus write a price as 4.5 and mean 4,500 won, with the three zeros left off. Convenience-store tags write the full figure. If a menu shows 5.5, read it as 오천오백 원 (5,500 won). This habit is common but not universal, so look at the other prices on the same menu before you assume it.

Typical sentences at a counter:

• 이 커피는 사천오백 원이에요. (This coffee is 4,500 won.)
• 김밥은 삼천 원이에요. (The gimbap is 3,000 won.)
• 전부 구천구백 원입니다. (The total is 9,900 won.)

The same 천 appears outside money. 천 명 is 1,000 people, 천 개 is 1,000 items and 천 년 is 1,000 years. Counters such as 개 and 명 take native numbers up to 99, but 1,000 is above the native range, so they use Sino-Korean 천: 천 명, not a native word.

After 천 comes 만 (man), which means 10,000. Korean does not build 10,000 from 천 the way English builds "ten thousand"; it uses a new unit word. English counts in groups of three zeros (thousand, million, billion). Korean counts in groups of four zeros: 만 (10,000), 억 (100,000,000), 조 (1,000,000,000,000).

This explains a common stumble. A figure written 10,000 has a comma after the 10, but Korean says 만 and not "ten thousand". The comma tells you where English divides the number. It does not tell you where Korean divides it. The best habit is to count zeros in sets of four from the right, and name each set with 만, 억 or 조.

Native Korean once had a word for 1,000: 즈믄. It is archaic and does not appear in modern counting. Native numbers (하나, 둘, 셋) run only up to 99 in everyday use, so any number from 100 upward, including 1,000, uses Sino-Korean words. The reader who sees 천 in a phrase like 천 원, 천 명 or 천 년 is reading the standard form.

The same rule explains why 천 appears even with counters that normally take native numbers. The age counter 살 takes native numbers for ordinary ages, as in 스무 살 (20 years old), but a number above 99 has no native form to use. Compare the pattern for 100 on the previous page, 100 in Korean, and the native list at native Korean numbers 1-100.

천 appears in years, distances and counts of people, not only in money. Years are read as a Sino-Korean number followed by 년 (year). The year 2026 is 이천이십육 년, built as 이천 (2,000) + 이십 (20) + 육 (6). The year 1999 is 천구백구십구 년: 천 + 구백 + 구십 + 구.

Korean always reads a year as one whole number: 1999 is 천구백구십구, never split into two halves like English "nineteen ninety-nine". A distance of 1,000 metres is also 1 kilometre, which is 일 킬로미터. Both forms are correct, and the choice depends on the sign or the speaker.

일천 is correct but formal. It is written on cheques, in contracts and in legal documents, where the extra 일 prevents anyone from adding a digit. In speech, prices, menus and conversation, say 천. A shop clerk who hears 일천 원 will understand, but the phrase sounds like a reading from a document.

The last row matters: phone numbers and ID numbers read each digit, so 1000 in a phone number is read 일공공공, not 천. (In phone numbers zero is usually said 공; 영 is also heard.)

Learners make five common mistakes with thousands, and each has a quick fix.

1. Saying 일천 for a price. Say 천 원. The 일 is only for formal writing.
2. Reading 10,000 as "ten thousand". Korean says 만. There is no 십천.
3. Skipping the zero place. In 1,001 you say 천일, and in 1,010 you say 천십. Never add a word for a zero place.
4. Confusing 천 and 만 on a menu. A price of 천 is 1,000 won, and 만 is 10,000. Missing one zero changes a lunch into a dinner.
5. Mixing native numbers into prices. A price is Sino-Korean: 삼천 원, not 셋 천 원.

Pronunciation habits help here. Say 천 원 as one word [처눤], keep the ㅊ puffed, and listen for the same shape in shop announcements.

Practice: Say These in Korean

Cover the right column, say each number, then check and listen.

Use this routine when a price looks long. First, count the digits and find the thousands digit. Second, say that digit plus 천 and skip the digit if it is 1. Third, say the hundreds the same way, then 원. For 7,300 the steps give 칠천, then 삼백, so 칠천삼백 원. Practising it aloud with real receipts, bus signs or menu photos takes about five minutes a day and trains the same reflex that the quiz below checks.

The next unit is 만. The lesson on 10,000 in Korean shows how to read the 10,000 won note and amounts such as 15,000 and 50,000. Before it, 100 in Korean shows the hundreds that sit inside every price. For the full range, read how to say large numbers in Korean, and for a list of all numbers from 1 to 100 see Korean numbers 1-100. All related lessons are on the Korean Numbers hub.

If a clip sounds off, tell us on the corrections page.

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