Korean Counter Geureut (그릇): Count Bowls of Rice and Soup

What you'll learn

• Count one to ten bowls of food with 그릇, using the correct native number forms.
• Order bowls in a restaurant and ask 몇 그릇 to find out how many.
• Choose between 그릇, 공기 and 접시 for rice, soup and plated dishes.
• Tell 그릇 as a counter (밥 세 그릇) from 그릇 as an object (그릇 세 개).

Prerequisites: native Korean numbers 1-10. Estimated time: 30 minutes.

Korean Counter Geureut: the Essentials

The Korean counter geureut (그릇) is a short word that follows a number and means "a bowl of". A counter is a word that tells you what kind of unit a number refers to. English does this with phrases such as "two bowls of soup" or "three plates of pasta". Korean needs the counter almost every time, and 그릇 is the general one for food that is served in a bowl.

The pattern is: dish + native number + 그릇.

The word 그릇 is also a noun. It means "bowl", "dish" or "vessel" on its own: 그릇을 씻다 means to wash the dishes. The counter grew out of this noun, so 국 두 그릇 literally says "two bowls' worth of soup".

Like 잔 and 병 (but not 인분, which takes Sino-Korean numbers), 그릇 takes native Korean numbers (하나, 둘, 셋), not Sino-Korean ones (일, 이, 삼). So 두 그릇 is correct and 이 그릇 is not. The wider system is explained in how Korean counters work. The next section puts the counter into sentences.

How Do You Use 그릇 in a Sentence?

To use 그릇 in a sentence, put the dish first, then the native number, then 그릇: 냉면 두 그릇을 시켰어요 (I ordered two bowls of cold noodles). English puts the number before the noun, but Korean puts the counter phrase after the noun, and the counter is an extra word that English does not need.

Three patterns cover almost every real sentence.

More sentences to hear and repeat:

• 아이가 죽을 한 그릇 다 먹었어요. (The child ate a whole bowl of porridge.)
• 칼국수 세 그릇 포장해 주세요. (Please pack three bowls of noodle soup to go.)
• 저는 비빔밥 한 그릇이면 충분해요. (One bowl of bibimbap is enough for me.)

The particle 을/를 or 이/가 can sit on the dish (밥을 두 그릇) or be dropped in speech (밥 두 그릇 먹었어요). You never put a particle between the number and 그릇. Writing 두를 그릇 is always wrong. A particle after the counter phrase is fine: 한 그릇이면 in the last sentence adds "if it is just one".

Now you can build a full sentence. Next comes the number rule that makes the counter work.

Which Number System Does 그릇 Take?

The counter 그릇 takes native Korean numbers from 1 to 99. Five native numbers shorten before any counter, and learning those five forms once covers every counter that takes native numbers, including 잔, 병 and 개.

Two sound changes show in the "Spoken" column. First, the final ㅅ of 그릇 is always said as [ㄷ], so 그릇 sounds like [그륻] when nothing follows. Second, after 5, 6, 7 and 9 a final ㅅ or ㅂ is said as a plain stop, and that stop usually makes the ㄱ of 그릇 tense, so you hear [끄]. This is tensification, covered by the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) standard pronunciation rules (표준 발음법). After ㄹ, as in 여덟 그릇 and 열 그릇, the standard form stays plain. The same effect gives 몇 그릇 the sound [멷끄륻].

Which Forms Shorten before 그릇?

Five numbers shorten before 그릇: 하나 becomes 한, 둘 becomes 두, 셋 becomes 세, 넷 becomes 네 and 스물 becomes 스무. These short forms are numeral determiners (수 관형사). They stand in front of the counter the way an adjective stands in front of a noun.

The shortening applies at the end of larger numbers too: 열한 그릇 (11), 열두 그릇 (12), 스물한 그릇 (21). Round tens keep their full form: 서른 그릇 (30), 마흔 그릇 (40).

Expert tip: learners often say 둘 그릇 because 둘 is the first form of two they learned. Say 두 그릇. A quick check: if a counter follows, the number is 한, 두, 세, 네 or 스무, never 하나, 둘, 셋, 넷 or 스물.

What Happens at 100 and Above?

Native numbers stop at 아흔아홉 (99) in everyday counting. A banquet hall, a school canteen or a delivery company might count 백 그릇 (100 bowls) or 이백 그릇 (200 bowls), and those use Sino-Korean numbers. Everyday meals stay between 한 그릇 and 스무 그릇.

When you write with digits, attach the counter without a space: 3그릇, 12그릇. When you write the number in Hangul, keep a space: 세 그릇, not 세그릇. The spacing rule is Article 43 of the 한글 맞춤법 (Hangul spelling rules).

You can now count any table of food. Next is the question that asks for the count.

How Do You Ask How Many with 몇 그릇?

To ask how many bowls there are, say 몇 그릇이에요? The word 몇 means "how many", so 몇 그릇 means "how many bowls". It is pronounced [멷끄륻] because the final ㅊ of 몇 is said as [ㄷ], which tenses the ㄱ.

The answer repeats the same pattern: number + 그릇 + 이에요 or a verb. After 그릇 the copula takes the 이에요 form because 그릇 ends in a consonant, so you say 두 그릇이에요. The ending 쯤 in 다섯 그릇쯤 means "about".

Restaurant Dialogue

The dialogue below uses 그릇 the way a real restaurant does. The customer names each dish with its count, and the server confirms.

• 직원: 어서 오세요. 몇 분이세요? (Welcome. How many people?)
• 손님: 세 명이에요. 설렁탕 두 그릇이랑 냉면 한 그릇 주세요. (Three. Two bowls of seolleongtang and one bowl of cold noodles, please.)
• 직원: 네. 밥은 따로 필요하세요? (Yes. Do you need rice separately?)
• 손님: 네, 밥 한 공기 추가해 주세요. (Yes, please add one bowl of rice.)
• 직원: 알겠습니다. 잠시만 기다려 주세요. (Understood. Please wait a moment.)

Notice that the customer says 세 명 for the people and 두 그릇 for the food. The first counts guests, and the second counts dishes. For more lines like these, see Korean restaurant phrases. Next, learn the two neighbours of 그릇.

Should You Use 그릇, 공기 or 접시?

Use 그릇 for food served in a bowl, 공기 for a small bowl of rice, and 접시 for food on a plate. The counter follows the container, and one meal can use all three.

Rice shows the overlap. 밥 한 그릇 and 밥 한 공기 are both natural. 공기 is more exact because it names the small bowl in which rice is served, and menus list the item as 공깃밥 (a bowl of plain rice). The standard spelling has the ㅅ (사이시옷), but many menus write 공기밥. The word 공기 also means "air", a different word with the same spelling, but a number after a food noun means a rice bowl.

접시 is the plate, and it counts what lies on it: 전 한 접시 (one plate of savory pancakes), 과일 두 접시 (two plates of fruit). Do not use 그릇 for a plate of food. See Korean dishes vocabulary for dish names that go with these counters.

What Is the Difference between 밥 세 그릇 and 그릇 세 개?

밥 세 그릇 means three bowls of rice, and 그릇 세 개 means three bowls as objects. The first counts food with the counter 그릇. The second counts the vessels with the general counter 개 because the sentence is about the bowls, not the food in them.

This is the same split as 물 두 잔 (two glasses of water) and 컵 두 개 (two cups). The 잔 counter lesson shows the pattern for cups. If you remember one test, ask yourself: am I talking about food or about tableware?

The noun 그릇 also appears in a figure of speech. 그릇이 큰 사람 describes a person with a large capacity, in the sense of a generous and capable character. You can recognise it when you hear it, but you do not need to use it yet.

How Do You Ask for More Rice?

To ask for more rice, say 밥 한 그릇 더 주세요, which means "one more bowl of rice, please". The word 더 means "more" and follows the counter. In restaurants that sell rice separately, you can also add one with 추가 (addition).

Notice that 공깃밥 하나 uses the bare number 하나, not 한 그릇. When a noun already contains the container (공깃밥, "rice-bowl rice"), speakers often drop the counter and use the bare number. Some restaurants include extra side dishes or refills of rice at no charge, and some do not, so it helps to ask politely first.

Should You Use 그릇 or 인분?

Use 그릇 for dishes served in a single bowl, and use 인분 for portions that are cooked for sharing, usually at a grill. The counter 인분 names a serving per person and takes Sino-Korean numbers, which makes it very different from 그릇.

The 인분 counter has its own lesson. If you are not sure, listen to how the staff count: a dish that arrives in a bowl for one person is 그릇.

Daily-Life Phrases with 그릇

Most real uses of 그릇 fall into a few daily scenes: ordering, eating at home, cooking and clearing up. Learn these phrases as whole chunks, because the number and counter then come out together without thinking.

The ending 을래요 in 먹을래요 expresses a wish or choice in friendly speech. The word 뚝딱 is a sound word that suggests a job done quickly, so 한 그릇 뚝딱 means one bowl gone in a flash. Next, see which beliefs about the counter are wrong.

Misconceptions about 그릇

Learners often assume that 그릇 counts anything on a table, or that 한 그릇 and 한 공기 are always interchangeable. Both ideas are only partly true.

Misconception 1: 그릇 counts every dish. 그릇 counts food in a bowl. A plate of pancakes is 접시, a cup of tea is 잔, and a grilled-meat portion is 인분.

Misconception 2: 밥 한 그릇 and 밥 한 공기 are always identical. Both are natural, but 공기 names the small rice bowl exactly, while 그릇 can be larger. A bowl of rice topped with other food, such as 비빔밥, uses 그릇.

Misconception 3: 그릇 needs the dish to be hot. 냉면 한 그릇 is cold, and 팥빙수 한 그릇 is a frozen dessert in a bowl. The container decides.

Misconception 4: Sino numbers sound more polite. 그릇 never takes them below 100. Politeness lives in the verb ending (주세요, 주시겠어요?), not in the number system.

Common Mistakes and Fixes

The most frequent errors with 그릇 are about number forms and word order. Each one has a simple fix.

The last row points back to the 인분 rule. A dish cooked at the table and shared by everyone is a portion, not a bowl.

Practice Set

Try these five questions before you check the answers below.

1. Fill in the blank: 밥 ___ 그릇 더 주세요. (one)
2. Say "three bowls of cold noodles" in Korean.
3. Which counter fits 전 (savory pancakes) on a plate?
4. What is the difference between 국 두 그릇 and 그릇 두 개?
5. Correct this sentence: 냉면 이 그릇 주세요.

Answers

1. 한. The sentence is 밥 한 그릇 더 주세요.
2. 냉면 세 그릇.
3. 접시, as in 전 한 접시.
4. 국 두 그릇 counts the soup (two bowls of soup). 그릇 두 개 counts the empty vessels (two bowls).
5. 냉면 두 그릇 주세요. The counter 그릇 needs a native number, so 이 becomes 두.

What This Lesson Does Not Cover

This lesson covers 그릇 for bowls of food. It does not cover drinks in cups or glasses (see the 잔 counter), bottles (see the 병 counter) or restaurant servings (see the 인분 counter). It also leaves out the many specialised words for bowl shapes, such as 대접 and 뚝배기, which belong in a kitchen vocabulary lesson.

What to Learn Next

The next lesson is the 인분 counter, which counts servings and is the exception that takes Sino-Korean numbers. To see every food and drink counter side by side, go back to Counting Food and Drinks. Once the korean counter geureut feels natural, practise it with Korean shopping phrases and the numbers in native Korean numbers 1-100.

Frequently Asked Questions

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