Korean Counter Dae (대): Count Cars, Computers and Machines

What you'll learn

• Count one to ten vehicles or machines with 대, using the correct native number forms.
• Ask 몇 대 in a rental-car or electronics-shop scene and answer it.
• List the everyday nouns that take 대, and those that take other counters.
• Recognise the casual uses of 대 for hits, injections and cigarettes.

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

Korean Counter Dae: the Essentials

The Korean counter dae (대) is a short word that follows a number and means "units of" for vehicles and machines. A counter is a word that tells you what kind of unit a number refers to. English has a few such words, such as "two units of equipment" or "ten head of cattle". Korean needs a counter almost every time, and 대 is the one for anything with an engine, wheels or a power supply.

The pattern is: vehicle or machine + native number + 대.

The word 대 comes from the Chinese character 臺, which means a stand or platform. The idea is a machine that sits on a stand or a base. The character is not needed for daily use. You only need the rule: vehicles and machines take 대.

Like most counters for things, 대 takes native Korean numbers (하나, 둘, 셋), not Sino-Korean ones (일, 이, 삼). So 두 대 is correct and 이 대 is not. The wider system is explained in how Korean counters work. The next section puts the counter into sentences.

How Do You Use 대 in a Sentence?

To use 대 in a sentence, put the vehicle or machine first, then the native number, then 대: 자동차를 두 대 샀어요 (I bought two cars). 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:

• 회사에 버스가 두 대 있어요. (The company has two buses.)
• 사무실에 프린터가 한 대 있어요. (There is one printer in the office.)
• 공항에 비행기가 다섯 대 서 있어요. (Five planes are parked at the airport.)

The particle 을/를 or 이/가 can sit on the noun (자동차를 두 대) or be dropped in speech (자동차 두 대 샀어요). You never put a particle between the number and 대. Writing 두를 대 is always wrong. A particle after the counter phrase is fine: 한 대만 있어요 means "there is only one".

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

Which Number System Does 대 Take?

The counter 대 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 개, 권 and 장.

Look at the "Spoken" column for 5, 6, 7 and 9. A final ㅅ or ㅂ is said as a plain stop ([ㄷ] or [ㅂ]), and that stop usually makes the ㄷ of 대 tense, so you hear [ㄸ]. This is tensification, covered by the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) standard pronunciation rules (표준 발음법). After ㄹ, as in 여덟 대 and 열 대, the standard form stays plain. The same effect gives 몇 대 the sound [멷때].

Which Forms Shorten before 대?

Five numbers shorten before 대: 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 대 (11), 열두 대 (12), 스물한 대 (21). Round tens keep their full form: 서른 대 (30), 마흔 대 (40).

Expert tip: learners often say 셋 대 or 넷 대 because they learned 셋 and 넷 first. Say 세 대 and 네 대. 세 and 네 share the same vowel, so only the first consonant (ㅅ or ㄴ) tells them apart: say it clearly.

What Happens at 100 and Above?

Native numbers stop at 아흔아홉 (99) in everyday counting. A car dealer with 백 대 (100 cars) or an airline with 이백 대 uses Sino-Korean numbers. Everyday talk stays between 한 대 and 스무 대.

When you write the number in Hangul, keep a space: 세 대, not 세대. When you write with digits, Article 43 of the 한글 맞춤법 (Hangul spelling rules) allows the counter to be attached, and that is the usual style: 3대, 12대. Note that 세대 written without a space is a different word that means "generation" or "household".

You can now count any fleet. Next is the question that asks for the count.

How Do You Ask How Many with 몇 대?

To ask how many vehicles or machines there are, say 몇 대예요? The word 몇 means "how many", so 몇 대 means "how many units". It is pronounced [멷때] because the final ㅊ of 몇 is said as [ㄷ], which tenses the ㄷ.

The answer repeats the same pattern: number + 대 + 이에요 or a verb. After 대 the copula takes the 예요 form because 대 ends in a vowel, so you say 세 대예요.

Rental-Car Dialogue

The dialogue below uses 대 the way a real rental desk does. The customer asks for a vehicle and a price, and the clerk answers with a count.

• 손님: 안녕하세요. 차 한 대 빌리고 싶어요. (Hello. I would like to rent a car.)
• 직원: 며칠 필요하세요? (How many days do you need it?)
• 손님: 삼 일이요. 한 대에 하루 얼마예요? (Three days. How much is one car per day?)
• 직원: 소형차는 한 대에 하루 육만 원이에요. (A compact car is 60,000 won a day. The price is an example.)
• 손님: 그럼 소형차 한 대 예약할게요. (Then I will reserve one small car.)

Notice that 삼 일 (three days) uses a Sino number with the day counter, while 한 대 uses a native number. Both appear in one scene. The price 육만 원 uses 만 (10,000), explained in 10000 in Korean. For more vocabulary, see Korean transportation vocabulary.

What Counts as a 대?

대 counts vehicles, computers, phones, appliances and large instruments. If the item is a machine you can switch on or ride, 대 usually fits. The table groups the common cases.

The rule of thumb is simple. If it moves under its own power or runs on electricity, try 대. The rule has limits, which the next sections show.

Do Appliances and Electronics Take 대?

Yes. Home appliances and electronics are the second biggest group for 대. Korean speakers count them as machines.

Small accessories do not fit this group. A charger, an earphone cable or a remote control is normally counted with 개: 충전기 한 개. The dividing line is size and independence. A device that does a job alone is a machine, and a part that supports it is an object. See the 개 counter for the fallback.

What about Ships, Buses and Planes?

Buses and planes take 대, but ships take 척. The counter 척 is used for ships and boats of any size, and it takes native numbers in speech: 배 한 척 (one ship), 배 두 척 (two ships). Trains are counted by the whole vehicle with 대 or by the cars with 칸 (a counter outside this lesson).

A ferry is a ship, so the ferry itself is 한 척. The cars that drive onto it are 자동차 열 대. Counting the contents and the carrier with different counters is normal in Korean.

Does 대 Mean Anything Else?

Yes. In casual speech 대 also counts hits, injections and cigarettes, in the sense of one "blow" or one "round". This second use is informal and has a different feel from the machine use.

In a clinic, 주사 한 대 맞고 가세요 (get one injection before you go) is an ordinary thing to hear. The hitting and cigarette uses are casual, so listen for them before you use them. Dictionaries treat this 대 as a separate word from the machine counter 臺, so the two meanings do not need to share a logic.

Daily-Life Phrases with 대

Most real uses of 대 fall into a few daily scenes: parking, shopping, travel and work. Learn these phrases as whole chunks, because the number and counter then come out together without thinking.

The ending 고 싶어요 in 사고 싶어요 means "want to", and 나다 in 고장 났어요 means that the machine broke down. The particle 에는 in 집에는 marks the place and adds a topic feel. Next, see which beliefs about the counter are wrong.

Misconceptions about 대

Learners often assume that 대 counts every machine or that 대 counts people in a vehicle. Both ideas are wrong.

Misconception 1: 대 counts every device. Small parts and accessories take 개. A charger is 충전기 한 개, not 한 대.

Misconception 2: 대 counts the people in a vehicle. People always use 명: 버스에 사람이 열 명 있어요. The bus is 한 대, and the passengers are 열 명.

Misconception 3: 대 counts animals that pull a vehicle. Animals use 마리. The vehicle is 대, the horse is 마리.

Misconception 4: Sino numbers are more formal for machines. 대 never takes them below 100. Politeness lives in the verb ending, not in the number system.

Common Mistakes and Fixes

The most frequent errors with 대 are about number forms and counter choice. Each one has a simple fix.

Remember the rule of thumb: engines and electricity use 대, ships use 척, and small parts use 개.

Practice Set

Try these five questions before you check the answers below.

1. Fill in the blank: 컴퓨터 ___ 대 있어요. (three)
2. Say "two buses" in Korean.
3. Which counter fits one ship?
4. Which counter fits 충전기 (a charger)?
5. Correct this sentence: 자동차 이 대 샀어요.

Answers

1. 세. The sentence is 컴퓨터 세 대 있어요.
2. 버스 두 대.
3. 척, as in 배 한 척.
4. 개, as in 충전기 한 개. A small accessory is an object, not a machine.
5. 자동차 두 대 샀어요. The counter 대 needs a native number, so 이 becomes 두.

What This Lesson Does Not Cover

This lesson covers 대 for vehicles and machines. It does not cover people (see the 명 counter), animals (see the 마리 counter) or the general fallback for small objects (see the 개 counter). It also leaves out the counters 척 for ships and 칸 for train cars, which have no lesson of their own on this site yet.

What to Learn Next

The next lesson is the 개 counter, the default for objects that have no counter of their own. To see every counter for objects side by side, go back to Counting Things. Once the korean counter dae feels natural, practise it with Korean shopping phrases and the numbers in native Korean numbers 1-100.

Frequently Asked Questions

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