Korean Numbers 1-100: Sino and Native Charts with Audio

What you'll learn

• Count from 1 to 100 in Sino-Korean and from 1 to 99 in native Korean.
• Build any number with the two build rules: tens digit plus 십, or a separate native ten.
• State which list to use for money, dates, minutes, age and objects.
• Find a number quickly in either chart.

Prerequisites: Korean numbers 1-10 in both systems. Estimated time: 40 minutes.

What Are Korean Numbers 1-100?

Korean numbers 1-100 are the 100 number words from 1 to 100, and Korean has two complete lists for them. The Sino-Korean list covers the full range and goes on beyond 100. The native Korean list covers 1 to 99 only, because 100 is Sino-Korean 백 in both systems. The two lists give different words for the same quantity.

Pick the list from the situation. Sino-Korean numbers read labels, prices, dates and minutes. Native numbers count objects, people, hours and spoken ages. The next two sections give each chart in full, one row for every ten numbers.

Sino-Korean Numbers 1-100: the Chart

The Sino-Korean numbers run from 일 (1) to 백 (100) and are built with one rule: say the tens digit, then 십, then the ones digit. The digit 일 is dropped before 십, so 10 is 십, 11 is 십일 and 20 is 이십. Only eleven words are needed for the whole chart: the nine digits, 십 and 백.

To read the chart, find the row for the range and the column for the last digit. The number 47 is in the row 41-50 under "ends in 7": 사십칠. The tens digit comes first, and the ending is the digit. So 사십칠 is 사 (4), 십 (10), 칠 (7).

Some Sino-Korean numbers change sound when they are said. According to the standard pronunciation rules (표준 발음법) of the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원), a final consonant moves across to a following vowel, and a final ㅂ turns into [ㅁ] before a ㄴ sound.

You write these numbers as they are spelled; only the sound changes. For example, 육십 is still written 육십 even though you hear [육씹].

Native Korean Numbers 1-99: the Chart

The native Korean numbers run from 하나 (1) to 아흔아홉 (99). They use separate words for the tens (열, 스물, 서른, 마흔, 쉰, 예순, 일흔, 여든, 아흔), and the ones digit follows without a space. There is no native number for 100 in everyday use.

The chart shows nine tens words and nine ones words, so the native list needs 18 separate words, compared with eleven in the Sino list. Before a counter, five forms change: 하나 becomes 한, 둘 becomes 두, 셋 becomes 세, 넷 becomes 네, and exactly 20 becomes 스무. The full rules, with sound changes, are on native Korean numbers 1-100, and the Sino rules are on Sino-Korean numbers 1-100.

How Do the Two Lists Differ?

The two lists differ in size, pattern, endpoint and use. The comparison below sets the features side by side, so you can see why the native list is the harder one to memorise.

The build rules appear in two lines. Sino-Korean: tens digit, then 십, then ones digit (삼십오 for 35). Native: a tens word, then the ones word, written as one word (서른다섯 for 35). Sino-Korean is regular, while native is a lookup. That is the main reason many courses teach Sino-Korean to 100 before native to 99.

Worked Readings: Ten Numbers in Both Systems

Practise on ten numbers that cover every row of the charts. Say the Sino-Korean word, then the native word, then cover the answers and repeat from the digits.

The Sino-Korean column is shorter to say in most rows, and it is the column you hear in labels and announcements. Notice 44: 사십사 repeats 사 at both ends, and 마흔넷 uses one word for each part. The check is the same for each row: split the number into tens and ones, and name each part.

Where Do Numbers 1-100 Appear in Real Sentences?

Both lists appear in everyday sentences, and the unit after the number tells you which one to use. The table gives eight sentences, with the list used in each.

The pairs in the table use nearly the same size of number twice, once native and once Sino, so you can hear the difference in the unit. The counters 명, 살 and 개 take native numbers, and 번, 분, 원 and 층 take Sino-Korean numbers.

What Tricks Help You Memorise 1-100?

Three tricks make the charts easier to remember. They work on the structure of the lists and not on the individual words.

• Learn Sino-Korean as a formula. After 십, you only repeat the digits you know. Practise reading 11 to 99 aloud from the chart for five minutes, and the pattern fixes itself.
• Learn native as nine tens. Add one new ten per day: 열 and 스물 first, then 서른, 마흔, 쉰, and so on. Tie each ten to an age or a quantity you know.
• Alternate the lists. Say 20 in Sino (이십) then native (스물), then 30 (삼십, 서른), and so on up to 90. Alternation makes the two sets contrast clearly in memory.

For a full plan that splits the native list over five days, use how to memorize native Korean numbers.

Where Do You See Sino-Korean Numbers on Signs?

Signs, labels and addresses use Sino-Korean numbers, because they name or label something and do not count it. A short list of sign types trains your eye as well as your ear.

Notice that the zero in 101 and 305 is not read: 101 is 백일 and 305 is 삼백오. Skipping zeros is the same habit as in the money lessons, where 10,050 is 만 오십. The rule for numbers above 100 is taught in how to say large numbers in Korean.

Which List Should You Learn First?

Learn Sino-Korean 1-100 first, then native 1-10, and then the native tens. This order matches the situations that beginners meet first, and it keeps each step small. The table maps a goal to a starting point.

For a traveller, Sino-Korean to 100 plus native 1 to 10 is enough for the first weeks. For a long-term learner, both lists are needed within the first month. If you cannot decide, follow the order in how to learn Korean numbers, which expands this table into a plan.

Counting to 100 by Tens

Counting by tens is the fastest way to learn the shape of each list, because the tens are the words that carry the pattern. Say them aloud in order, once for each system.

Read the Sino column first. The tens are the same digit words you already know, with 십 added. Then read the native column, where each ten is a new word. The jump from 90 to 100 shows the difference: Sino-Korean 구십 leads naturally to 백, while native 아흔 ends the list.

For a quick self-test, cover one column and say the other from the digits. If you can produce 이십 and 스물, 칠십 and 일흔 on demand, the tens are secure.

Mistakes with Both Lists

The main mistakes with both lists come from mixing them inside one number or using the wrong list for a counter. Check each of these before you speak.

1. Mixing systems. Wrong: 이십하나, 스물일. Right: 이십일 (Sino) or 스물하나 (native).
2. Adding 일 before 십. Wrong: 일십. Right: 십.
3. Saying 스물 살. Right: 스무 살. Exactly 20 shortens before a counter.
4. Using Sino-Korean for objects. Wrong: 이십 개. Right: 스무 개.
5. Using native numbers for money. Wrong: 스물 원. Right: 이십 원.
6. Using a native number for 100. Right: 백, for every use.

Limitation: this page gives the standard forms and the main uses. Sino-Korean 100 can take native counters in some phrases, such as 백 살, and some compounds and older usage differ. The charts are a reference, and the lessons linked above explain the exceptions.

Where Can You Get a Printable Chart?

A printable one-page chart that puts both lists together is on the Korean numbers chart page. Use it for study at a desk or on a wall. This page is the reading and listening version, with audio on the key rows and the rules written out in words.

Practice Set

Answer each item before you read the answer line.

1. Say 25 in Sino-Korean and in native Korean.
2. Say 47 in Sino-Korean.
3. Say 90 in native Korean.
4. Which list reads prices, and which list counts objects?
5. What is wrong with 일십?
6. How do you say 100?

Answers:

1. 이십오 (isibo) and 스물다섯 (seumuldaseot).
2. 사십칠 (sasipchil).
3. 아흔 (aheun).
4. Sino-Korean reads prices; native counts objects.
5. The digit 일 is not said before 십, so 10 is 십.
6. 백 (baek), in both systems.

Five or more correct means you can use both charts.

What to Learn Next

You now have both charts for Korean numbers 1-100. Continue in this order:

• Sino-Korean numbers 1-100 for the Sino rules and the sound changes in depth.
• Native Korean numbers 1-100 for the native rules, including 스무.
• 100 in Korean for the top of the range, with prices.
• Sino vs native Korean numbers for the full decision rule.

Frequently Asked Questions