Using your fingers to count in Korea is no longer considered hip and cool. You could get by with number under 10 but what if you have to point out 37 or 183? This is why we all need to learn how to count in Korean. It’s actually pretty easy. In Korean there are two sets of numbers which are used when counting, the first set are known as pure Korean numbers, and the other are Sino-Korean which is based on the Chinese numerals.

0 = gohng
1 = il
2 = yi
3 = sahm
4 = sah
5 = oh
6 = yook
7 = chil
8 = pahl
9 = goo
10 = ship

11 = ship il
12 = ship yi
13 = ship sahm

Get the drift? The last number stays the same so you just have to learn how to say the first digit.

10 = ship
20 = yi ship
30 = sahm ship
40 = sa ship
50 = oh ship
60 = yook ship
70 = chil ship
80 = pahl ship
90 = goo ship

Unlike Spanish, you don’t have to remember different numbers. “ship” meaning 10, stay behind the first number. So saying 47 would be “sah” meaning 4 + “ship” meaning “10″ + “chil” meaning “7″ Pretty easy right?

Now we will learn how to count to 100 so we will cover this part as well.

100 = baek.

So how would you count 158? Baek (100) oh ship (50) pahl (8) would be the correct answer. Counting to 999 isn’t that hard in Korean. Just add the numbers and the ship (10), baek (100)

999 would be……….goo (9) baek (100) goo (9) ship (10) goo (9)

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Korean is written by syllables. You should be able to write the syllables correctly if you remember three major and three minor rules. Before these are reviewed, several introductory points may be helpful: (1) There are three basic shapes of vowels, which I will call “vertical vowels,” “horizontal vowels,” and “w-vowels.” (2) Within the syllable, on must distinguish between an initial consonant (one before the vowel) and a final consonant (one after the vowel).

Three Major Rules
1. A “vertical vowel” (one of the tall and narrow vowels: ㅏ ㅑ ㅐ ㅒ ㅓ ㅕ ㅔ ㅖ ㅣ) is always written to the right of the initial consonant in the syllable, as in English: 가 (ka).

2. A “horizontal vowel” (one of the wide and short vowels: ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ) is always written under the initial consonant in the syllable, it always goes on the bottom: 노 (no).

3. If there is a final consonant in the syllable, it always goes on the bottom: 각 (kak), 녹 (nok).

Three Minor Rules
The three minor rules are just special cases of the three major rules.

1. In Korean, the first character in a syllable is never a vowel. If the first sound in a syllable is a vowel, you must use “ㅇ” as a silent place-holder first (in the position of an initial consonant).

2. Each of the “w-vowels” (ㅘ ㅙ ㅝ ㅞ ㅚ ㅟ ㅢ ) is in fact simply a combination of a “horizontal vowel” and a “vertical vowel.” For example, notice that “ㅘ” (wa) is constructed from “ㅗ”(o) and “ㅏ”(a). As one might expect, the horizontal component of the “w-vowel” (fro example, the “ㅗ” part of “ㅘ”) goes under the initial consonant, and the vertical component (the “ㅏ” part of “ㅘ”) goes to the right: 과 (kwa), 와 (wa).

3. ‘Double consonants’ (ㅃ ㅉ ㄸ ㄲ ㅆ ㄳ ㄵ ㄶ ㄺ ㄻ ㄼ ㄽㄾ ㄿ ㅀ ㅄ ) are treated as single consonant. This is true regarless of whether they are in the initial position in the syllable (ㅃ ㅉ ㄸ ㄲ ㅆ) or in the final position (ㄲ ㄳ ㄵ ㄶ ㄺ ㄻ ㄼ ㄽ ㄾ ㄿ ㅀ ㅄ ㅆ).

As you may have noticed in the exmaples, each individual character changes shape in order to “fit well” with the other characters in the syllable; the overall shape of the syllable should be such that squares can be drawn around them of approximately equal size.

The three major and three minor rules are summarized in the following charts, through example:

Major rules: no final consonant vertical: 가 (ka) horizontal: 노 (no)

Major rules: no consonant vertical: 각 (kak) horizontal: 녹 (nok)

Minor rules: no final consonant vertical 아 (a), 까 (kka) horizontal 오 (o) w-vowel 과 (kwa), 와 (wa)

Minor rules: final consonant vertical 앙 (ang), 없 (up) horizontal 온 (on) 곽 (kwak), 왔(watt)

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Beginning and Medial Consonants

*Note: The tense (doubled) consonants have a “stronger” sound than their lax counterparts that cannot be represented with English sounds. The difference comes from more tension in the mouth and throat while making the sounds. I still have trouble pronouncing these sounds, too.

Exceptions: ㅅ and ㅆ take an “sh” sound when they are in front of the ㅣ (“ee” sound) vowel, or any “y-series” vowel (see below). For example 피시 sounds like “pee shee” instead of “pee see”.

ㄹ makes a kind of “r” sound when it is found between two vowels. However, the sound is not like the “r” sound in English, but instead like the “r” sound in Spanish in words like “pero”. For example 파리 (Paris) sounds like “pah ree” instead of “pah lee”.

Ending Consonants

Some consonants take a different sound when they occur at the bottom of a syllable block, at the end of a word. Fortunately there are only a few possibilities for sounds, so it’s not that hard to remember. Remember, Koreans do not release consonants at the end of a word, they swallow them. ㄴ, ㅁ, and ㄹ do not change at the end of a word.

Mixed consonants: Some syllable blocks will have two different consonants on the bottom. If it is followed by a vowel sound (ex. 앉으세요! “Sit down!”), both consonants are pronounced. Otherwise, only one of the consonants will be spoken, the other will be silent (ex. 닭 “chicken”).

Vowels

Vowels are always the second character in a syllable block. There are 21 different vowels in Korean, but many of them are composites of the basic 8 vowels, so it is easier to remember.

The following vowels are composites of two of the basic vowels. Each is still pronounced as only one syllable.

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