Korean Counter Sigan (시간): How to Say How Many Hours

What you'll learn

• Say one to twelve hours, plus 20 and 24, with 시간 and the correct native number forms.
• Tell 세 시 (3 o'clock) from 세 시간 (three hours) and use the right particle with each.
• Add half hours and minutes: 한 시간 반, 두 시간 삼십 분.
• Ask 몇 시간 걸려요? and answer it with 동안 in a short travel dialogue.

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

Korean Counter Sigan: the Essentials

The Korean counter sigan (시간) is a word that follows a native number and means "hour" as a length of time. A counter is a word that tells you what kind of thing a number refers to. English has "an hour" and "three hours" with no extra word, but Korean always puts the number and 시간 together: 한 시간 (one hour), 세 시간 (three hours).

The pattern is: native number + 시간.

The word 시간 comes from Chinese characters 時間, but the number in front of it is native Korean: 하나, 둘, 셋. So 세 시간 is correct and 삼 시간 is not. Only the minutes that follow use Sino-Korean numbers, and a later section shows how the two systems sit in one phrase.

How Do You Use 시간 in a Sentence?

To use 시간 in a sentence, put the native number and 시간 before a verb of duration, such as 걸리다 (to take time), 자다 (to sleep), 기다리다 (to wait) or 공부하다 (to study). No particle is needed between the duration and the verb: 세 시간 기다렸어요 (I waited three hours).

Notice that the duration sits close to the verb, just before it, and the object (버스를) comes first. The duration usually needs no particle, although 을/를 is possible for emphasis (세 시간을 기다렸어요). You can also add 은/는 to stress the length, as in 세 시간은 너무 길어요 (three hours is too long), but beginners can skip it.

The sentences above give you a model for every duration. Next is the rule that builds the numbers.

Which Number System Does It Take?

The counter 시간 takes native Korean numbers. Five of them shorten before a counter: 하나 becomes 한, 둘 becomes 두, 셋 becomes 세, 넷 becomes 네 and 스물 becomes 스무. Learn those five forms once and they work for every counter.

Look at the "Spoken" column for 5 to 9. A final ㅅ or ㅂ is said as a plain stop ([ㄷ] or [ㅂ]), and that stop makes the ㅅ of 시 tense, so you hear [ㅆ] in [씨]. This is tensification, Article 23 of the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) standard pronunciation rules (표준 발음법). After ㄹ, as in 여덟 시간 and 열 시간, many speakers also say [씨], but no general rule requires it. The same effect gives 몇 시간 the sound [멷씨간]. Your mouth does this on its own once you speak at normal speed.

Larger Numbers: 11, 12, 20 and 24

Bigger durations follow the same pattern, and the last digit shortens as usual: 열한 시간 (11 hours), 열두 시간 (12 hours), 스무 시간 (20 hours), 스물네 시간 (24 hours). The last one equals one full day, and you will see it written 24시간 on shop signs. As a spoken duration, say 스물네 시간; the sign 24시간 (open 24 hours) is usually read 이십사 시간.

Expert tip: the 스무 trap applies here too. Learners often say 스물 시간, which sounds wrong. Before any counter, twenty is 스무.

How Is 시 Different from 시간?

시 names a point on the clock, while 시간 names a length of time. Both take native numbers, so the only difference in form is the extra syllable 간 (which means "interval"): 세 시 is 3 o'clock and 세 시간 is three hours.

The first sentence means "Let's meet at three o'clock", and the second means "We met for three hours". The particle 에 attaches to a point in time, and 동안 attaches to a stretch of time. Mixing them up changes the meaning completely, so check for 간 whenever you hear a number before 시.

For the full rules on reading clock hours, see telling the hour with 시. The next section puts the two ideas together in a question.

How Do You Ask How Long Something Takes?

To ask how many hours something takes, say 몇 시간 걸려요? The word 몇 means "how many" and 걸리다 means "to take (time)". The answer repeats the number: 두 시간 걸려요.

Here is a short dialogue between two friends who plan a trip.

• 지수: 부산까지 몇 시간 걸려요? (How many hours does it take to Busan?)
• 민호: 기차로 두 시간 반쯤 걸려요. (About two and a half hours by train.)
• 지수: 버스는요? (And by bus?)
• 민호: 버스는 네 시간쯤 걸려요. (About four hours by bus.)
• 지수: 그럼 기차로 가요. (Then let's go by train.)

The suffix 쯤 means "about", and you attach it directly to the duration. The travel times in the dialogue are examples for practice, not timetable facts.

How Do You Say "for Two Hours"?

To say that you did something for a number of hours, add 동안 after the duration: 두 시간 동안 공부했어요 (I studied for two hours). 동안 is a noun meaning "during", so it works like the English word "for" in this pattern. You can leave it out after verbs such as 걸리다, but it makes the sentence clearer when another action fills the time.

Half Hours and Minutes

To add half an hour, put 반 (half) after 시간: 한 시간 반 is one and a half hours, and 세 시간 반 is three and a half. To add other minutes, use a Sino-Korean number with 분: 두 시간 삼십 분 is two hours and thirty minutes.

The mixed system is the rule to remember: hours use native numbers, minutes use Sino-Korean numbers. The same split appears when you tell the clock, so minutes and seconds is a natural follow-up page.

Daily-Life Durations with 시간

Most real uses of 시간 sit in a few daily scenes: sleep, work, travel and entertainment. The table gives each scene a model sentence that you can adapt by changing the number.

The phrase 하루에 means "per day". Korean uses 에 after a period (하루, 일주일, 한 달) to mean "per", so 하루에 여덟 시간 reads literally as "in a day, eight hours". This 에 attaches to the period, not to the duration, which keeps it separate from the 에 you use with clock times.

How Do You Say "about" and "More than" an Hour?

To say "about" a number of hours, add 쯤 or 정도 after 시간: 두 시간쯤 or 두 시간 정도 (about two hours). To say "more than", add 넘게: 세 시간 넘게 기다렸어요 means "I waited more than three hours". To say "within", add 이내: 한 시간 이내 means within an hour.

The pattern 시간마다 means "every" interval, so 두 시간마다 is "every two hours". It is useful for medicine labels and bus timetables. The rule for all four patterns is the same: they attach straight after 시간 and need no extra counter.

Which Common Words Contain 시간?

Many everyday nouns end in 시간 or start with it, and the meaning is always "time" in a general sense, not a counted number of hours. Knowing them keeps you from confusing the counter with the noun.

Notice that 점심시간은 열두 시예요 uses both ideas at once: the noun 시간 in 점심시간, and the clock hour 열두 시 with no 간. That is the cleanest contrast on the page.

Misconceptions about 시간

Learners often assume that 시간 and 시 are the same word, or that hours must use Sino-Korean numbers because minutes do. Both ideas are wrong.

Misconception 1: 시 and 시간 are interchangeable. They are not. 세 시 is a time on the clock and 세 시간 is a length of time. A friend who hears 세 시 걸려요 will be confused, because it would mean "it takes 3 o'clock".

Misconception 2: hours follow minutes, so they are Sino-Korean. Hours take native numbers and minutes take Sino-Korean ones. Both appear in 세 시간 이십 분.

Misconception 3: 시간 only means "hour". The same word also means "time" in general. In 시간 있어요? (Do you have time?) there is no number and no counting. A number in front, as in 세 시간, is what marks the counter use.

Common Mistakes and Fixes

Five errors cover most wrong uses of 시간. Read the wrong form first, then the fix.

1. Using Sino-Korean numbers. Wrong: 삼 시간, 이 시간. Fix: 세 시간, 두 시간.
2. Using 시 for a duration. Wrong: 세 시 걸려요. Fix: 세 시간 걸려요.
3. Using the full number form. Wrong: 하나 시간, 둘 시간, 스물 시간. Fix: 한 시간, 두 시간, 스무 시간.
4. Using native numbers for minutes. Wrong: 한 시간 서른 분. Fix: 한 시간 삼십 분.
5. Adding 에 to a duration. Wrong: 세 시간에 공부했어요 when you mean "for three hours". Fix: 세 시간 동안 공부했어요.

Honest limits. In writing, Koreans use digits: 3시간, 2시간 30분. Spacing varies between signs, apps and books, and the standard spelling rule (한글 맞춤법 제43항) allows counters to attach to digits. Native speakers also say 이십사 시간 for 24시간 signs. This page teaches the native-number forms that always work in conversation.

Practice Set

Answer each item before you read the answer line.

1. Say "five hours" in Korean.
2. Say "two and a half hours" in Korean.
3. Ask how many hours the flight takes.
4. Which means "I studied for three hours": 세 시 동안 공부했어요 or 세 시간 동안 공부했어요?
5. Correct the mistake: 삼 시간 걸려요.
6. Say "one hour and twenty minutes".

Answers:

1. 다섯 시간 (daseot sigan).
2. 두 시간 반 (du sigan ban).
3. 비행기는 몇 시간 걸려요? (bihaenggineun myeot sigan geollyeoyo?)
4. 세 시간 동안 공부했어요. 세 시 is a clock time, not a duration.
5. 세 시간 걸려요. Replace the Sino-Korean 삼 with the native 세.
6. 한 시간 이십 분. The hour is native and the minutes are Sino-Korean.

If you got four or more, you are ready to move on.

What to Learn Next

You now know how to use the Korean counter sigan for hours: native number, then 시간, with Sino-Korean numbers only for minutes. Continue in this order:

• Telling the hour with 시 for clock times such as 세 시, because the counter and the clock hour look alike.
• Minutes and seconds for the Sino-Korean half of mixed durations.
• Korean time expressions for 오늘, 내일, 지금 and other time words.
• Time Counters for the full set of duration counters: days, weeks, months and years.

Frequently Asked Questions