Korean Numbers Chart: Printable Sino-Korean and Native Lists

The PDF is being prepared, and its status is shown on the card above. The printable worksheet with exercises and an answer key is on a separate page, Korean numbers chart printable. This page is the on-page chart with audio.

What Is on the Korean Numbers Chart?

The Korean numbers chart holds four blocks: the Sino-Korean list, the native Korean list, five counters and the time pattern. Together they cover the numbers a beginner needs for prices, ages, counting things and telling the time.

Hangul is printed large, with the Revised Romanization in small type beneath each word. A text version of the whole chart appears in the next three sections, so it is searchable and works with screen readers. The chart does not repeat the longer tables. It leaves out 11 to 19 and the numbers between the tens, because those are built from the blocks it does show: 십 plus 일 is 십일 (11), and 스물 plus 하나 is 스물하나 (21). The chart exists to be used, so the method comes first.

How Do You Use the Chart to Study?

To study with the chart, cover one column, say the numbers aloud, and then check. The routine takes about five minutes and uses the chart as a self-test and not as a list to read.

1. Look for 60 seconds. Say each number once, aloud, with the audio on this page.
2. Cover the Hangul column. Keep the Arabic numerals visible and say the Korean for each.
3. Check and mark. Uncover the Hangul. Put a dot beside every number you missed.
4. Repeat only the dotted numbers. Say each one three times.
5. Test the other system. Do the same with the other list, then say a pair such as 칠 and 일곱, both meaning 7.

You will know it worked when you can say 1 to 10 in both systems with the page covered.

A short example shows the routine at work. Cover the Hangul and look only at 7. Say 칠 for the Sino list and 일곱 for the native list. Then ask which list a real situation needs. A price of 7,000 won uses Sino, so it is 칠천 원. Seven cups use native, so it is 일곱 잔. Linking each number to a job turns the chart from a list into a decision aid. Print the chart at 100% scale in black and white so that you can write on it. If you study on screen, use a sheet of paper as the cover.

Sino-Korean Numbers on the Chart

The Sino-Korean numbers on the chart are the ones used for dates, prices, phone numbers and minutes. They run from 일 (1) to 십 (10), then the tens 이십 (20) to 구십 (90) and 백 (100).

Zero is 영 (yeong) in maths and 공 (gong) in phone numbers. Numbers in between are built by combining the tens and the unit: 이십오 is 25 and 구십구 is 99. For the full list with audio, see Korean numbers 1-100.

Native Korean Numbers on the Chart

The native Korean numbers on the chart are the ones used for counting things, telling age and saying the hour. They run from 하나 (1) to 열 (10), then the tens 스물 (20) to 아흔 (90). Before a counter, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 20 change shape.

The forms in brackets are the short ones that appear before a counter, so 1 item is 한 개 and 20 items is 스무 개. Native numbers stop at 99, and 100 uses the Sino 백. A plan to learn the list in five days is on the page about how to memorize native Korean numbers.

The difference between the two lists is the most common source of mistakes, and Sino vs native Korean numbers lays out which list goes with which job.

Sound Changes the Chart Does Not Show

The chart shows the spelling of each number, but a few numbers sound different from how they look. The standard pronunciation rules of the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) explain the changes, and the audio on this page lets you hear them. Learn them as exceptions to the spelling, not as new words.

Reading the written form is still the right first step: build the number from the chart, say it, and then let the audio correct the sound. A different rule, the seven final sounds, explains why native numbers such as 여섯 (6) are said [여섣] when they stand alone: a final ㅅ is pronounced as [ㄷ].

Counters and Time on the Chart

Counters and time sit in a strip at the bottom of the chart because they use both lists at once. A counter is a small word that follows a number and says what kind of thing is counted. The five counters on the chart all take native numbers.

The time pattern uses native numbers for the hour and Sino-Korean numbers for the minutes. So 3:20 is 세 시 이십 분, and 7:45 is 일곱 시 사십오 분. A half hour can also be 반 (half): 12:30 is 열두 시 반.

The counters strip is a starting point. Korean counters has the full set, and how to tell the time explains the pattern in detail.

Limitation: a one-page chart cannot teach the rules around the numbers. It does not explain why 5,000 won uses Sino numbers and 5 apples use native ones, and it leaves out the numbers above 100 and the rest of the counters. Use it as a reference and a self-test and pair it with the lessons below.

Where Can You Go Next?

Use the Korean numbers chart to find your weakest block, then open the lesson for that block. Each block links to one page.

You can also return to Korean Numbers to see every lesson in the section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Free for personal and classroom use. Teachers may print copies for their students. No reselling or republishing online.

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