How to say my / mine in Korean?

Informal Ways

내= my

내것 = mine (written Korean)
내꺼 (usually in spoken Korean)


한눈 팔지마 누가 뭐래도 내꺼 (내꺼)


다른 여자랑 말도 섞지마 난 니꺼 (난 니꺼)


Formal Ways

제 = my
제 양말이에요 = (These are) my socks
제 신발이에요 = (These are) my shoes

제 것 = mine (written Korean)
제 꺼 (usually in spoken Korean)
제 꺼에요 = (It is) mine

How to say I in Korean ? Informal Ways Part 2

In Part 1, we learnt three different informal ways to say "I" in Korean, they are:

1. 나  [ na ]
2. 나는  [ naneun ]
2a. 난 [ nan ]
3. 내가  [ naega ]

In this part, we will talk about the remaining forms:

4. 나도 [ nado ]
4a. 나두 [ nadu ]
5. 나를 [ naleul ]
5a. 날 [ nal ]


Form 4. 나도 [ nado ] - (I...too)

This one is rather easy. First of all, it is also a variation of the simplest form of "I" 나  [ na ].

나도 [ nado ] = 나  [ na ] + 도 [ do ]

It has the meaning of "I...too" .


Form 4a. 나두 [ nadu ]

나두 [ nadu ] = 나 [ na ] + 두 [ du]

두 [ du] means two in Korean. So you can easily get that 나두 [ nadu ] is a slang used by the new generation and in very informal way meaning "I...too".

It is just like we use "me2" to represent "me too". In this case, 두 [ du] is like the "2" in "me2"


Form 5. 나를 [ naleul ] - (me)

나를 [ naleul ] = 나 [ na ] + 를  [ leul ]

를  [ leul ] is attached to 나 [ na ] (I) meaning that "I" is the object of this sentence.
For easier understanding, 나를 [ naleul ] means "me" in English.

For example,

Look at        me
(Verb)      (Object)

= Me       +   Look at  (Remember the sentence structure of Korean is Subject + Object + Verb)
  (Object)      (Verb)

= 나를 [ naleul ]   +   봐 [ bwa ]
        (Me)                 (Look)

In the song "200%" of AKMU, the first sentence of lyrics is 나를봐 [ naleul bwa ] (Look at me)

5a. 날 [ nal ] - (me)

날 [ nal ] is simple an abrreviation of Form 5. 나를 [ naleul ]

How to say I in Korean ? Informal Ways Part 1

In Korean, there are so many ways to say I. We will discuss it bit by bit and hope you can understand it easily.

We know that in Korea, degree of politeness is important. There are informal ways and formal ways to say " I " in Korean.

In this post, we focus on the informal ways first.

1. 나  [ na ]
2. 나는  [ naneun ]
2a. 난 [ nan ]
3. 내가  [ naega ]
4. 나도 [ nado ]
4a. 나두 [ nadu ]
5. 나를 [ naleul ]
5a. 날 [ nal ]

Don't be scared by the above forms. We will discuss them one by one.


Form 1. 나  [ na ]  =  I
It is the simplest form of "I". Every other form of "I" was actually transformed from this 나  [ na ].


Form 2. 나는  [ naneun ]

나는  [ naneun ] = 나 [ na ] + 는 [ neun]

As you can see, 나는  [ naneun ] actually started with 나 [ na ] (Form 1 above).
는 [ neun] is attached to 나 [ na ] (I) and is used to tell others that the subject of the sentence is "I".


Form 2a. 난 [ nan ]

난 [ nan ] has exactly the same meaning as 나는  [ naneun ] mentioned above.
It is just an abbreviation of 나는  [ naneun ].

Form 3.  내가  [ naega ]

내가  [ naega ]  = 나 [ na ] + 가 [ ga]
and changed 나 [ na ] to 내 [ nae ] when 가 [ ga] is added

가 [ ga] is like the article "the" in English and it was added after 내 [ nae].
It is used to describe 내 [ nae] (I), stressing that the focus of the sentence is "I".


Difference between Form 2 나는  [ naneun ] and Form 3 내가  [ naega ]

It is very difficult to differentiate 나는  [ naneun ] and 내가  [ naega ]  as both of them have the same meaning as "I". Followings are what I have figured out:


나는  [ naneun ] is used when you are telling what you generally do.

내가  [ naega ] is used when you are telling that you are the one who does that thing.


For example:

What did you do?
==> 나는 마셨다 [ naneun masyeossda ] (I drank)
You are telling that you "DRANK"

Who bought a new dress?
==> 내가  샀어 [ naega sasseo] (I bought)
You are telling that it was "YOU" who bought the dress.


Another easy way to distinguish them is to simply use 내가  [ naega ] to mean "That is me who"
내가  샀어 [ naega sasseo] (I bought)
==> meaning: That is me who bought

How to say Have / Don't have/ Without in Korean?

Have = 있어 [ iss-eo]
Don't Have/ Without = 없어 [ eobs-eo ]


Do you have something?

(something)  Have ?  (something) 있어 [ iss-eo] ?



I have something

(something)  Have .   (something) 있어 [ iss-eo].



I don't have something

(something) Don't Have .   (something) 없어 [ eobs-eo ].



Politeness

Informal:  있어 [ isseo]   없어 [ eobseo ]
Formal:    + 요 [yo] at the end   ==>  있어요 [ isseo-yo]      없어요 [ eobseo-yo ]




In G-Dragon's song "Crooked", the word Don't Have 없어 [ eobseo ] was frequently used.

       영원한             건             절대        없어
yeong-won-han        geon       jeol-dae       eobs-eo 
       Forever            Thing      Absolutely   Don't Have   = Absolutely don't have forever thing
                                               絕對

이유도        없어
 i-yu-do        eobs-eo 
 Reason        Don't Have/ Without       =     Without reason (in English)
   理由

진심이        없어
jim-sim-i      eobs-eo
Sincerity      Don't Have/ Without       =     Without sincerity (in English)
   真心

아무도        없어
a-mu-do      eobs-eo
Anybody     Don't Have/ Without       =     Without anybody (in English)


의미           없어
ui-mi           eobs-eo
Meaning      Don't Have/ Without       =     Without meaning (in English)

How to say Really / Real in Korean?

Really / Real = 진짜 [ jinjja ]

Really? = 진짜? [ jinjja ]
Really. = 진짜.  [ jinjja ]
Really pretty. = 진짜 [jinjja ] 예쁘다 [ yeppeuda ].
Real (adjective) = 진짜  [ jinjja ]


Informal
진짜 [ jinjja ]

Formal
진짜 [ jinjja ] + 예요 [ yeyo]

Very Formal

Korean Numbers - Zero, Hundred, Thousand, Million, Billion, Trillion

There are two ways to say the Korean Numbers, the easier one is the Chinese-based number and the harder one is the Native Korean number.

To recap, visit the following posts:

Korean Numbers 1 to 10 - Chinese-based Numbers

Korean Numbers 1 to 10 - Native Korean Numbers

This post will discuss other numbers.

0 Zero  공 [ yeong ]  or  영 [ gong ] 

공 [ yeong ] - sounds like "young" in English

But in phone numbers, we pronouce Zero as:

영 [ gong ] - sounds like "cone" in English

10 Ten  십 [ sip ]  or  열 [ yeol ]

We learnt this before.

Chinese-based:  십 [ sip ]

Native Korean:  열 [ yeol ]

100 Hundred  백 [ baek]

150  A Hundred Fifty = Hundred + Fifty = 백 [ baek] + 오십 [ osip ] =  백오십

250 Two Hundred Fifty = Two x Hundred + Fifty = 이 [ i ] + 백 [ baek] + 오십 [ osip ] = 이백오십

1,000 Thousand

10,000 Ten Thousand

100,000 Hundred Thousand

1,000,000 Million

10,000,000 Ten Million

100,000,000 Billion

1,000,000,000 Trillion

Telling Dates in Korean - Year, Month, Day

We use Sino-Korean numbers in telling dates.

Format of the dates in Korean is as follows:

_____ Year          ______ Month      ______ Day
_____ 년 [nyeon] ______ 월 [ wol ]  ______ 일 [ il]


Year = 년 [nyeon]

Year 1998 Nineteen Ninety-Eight
= One Thousand Nine Hundred Ninety Eight Year
= One + Thousand + Nine + Hundred + Nine + Ten + Eight + Year
= 일 [ il ] + 천 [ cheon ] + 구 [ gu ] + 백 [ baek ] + 구 [ gu ] + 십 [ sip ] + 팔 [ pal ] + 년 [nyeon]
= 일천구백구십팔년 [ ilcheon gubaek gusip pal nyeon ]

Year 2012 Two Thousand and Twelve
= Two Thousand Twelve Year
= Two + Thousand + Ten + Two
= 이 [ i ] + 천 [ cheon ] + 십 [ sip ] + 이 [ i ] + 년 [nyeon]
= 이천십이년 [ icheon sipi nyeon]


Month = 월 [ wol ]

January        =  1  +  Month  =   일 [ il ]  +  월 [ wol ]  =  일월 [ ilwol ]
February      =  2  +  Month  =   이  [ i ] +  월 [ wol ]  = 이월 [ iwol ]
March          =  3  +  Month  =   삼 [ sam ]  +  월 [ wol ] = 삼월 [ samwol ]
April            =  4  +  Month  =   사 [ sa ]  +  월 [ wol ]  = 사월 [ sawol ]
May            =  5  +  Month  =   오 [ o ]  +  월 [ wol ]  = 오월 [ owol]
June            =  6  +  Month  =    육 [ yuk ]  +  월 [ wol ] = 유월 [ yuwol ] 
July             =  7  +  Month  =   칠 [ chil ]  +  월 [ wol ] = 칠월 [ chilwol ]
August         =  8  +  Month  =   팔 [ pal ]  +  월 [ wol ] = 팔월 [ palwol ]
September    =  9  +  Month  =   구 [ gu ]  +  월 [ wol ]  = 구월 [ guwol ]
October        =  10  +  Month  =    십 [ sip ]  +  월 [ wol ] = 시월 [ siwol ]
Eleven         =  11  +  Month  =   십일 [ sipil ]  +  월 [ wol ]  = 십일월 [ sipilwol ]
December    =  12  +  Month  =   십이 [ sipi ]  +  월 [ wol ]  =  십이월 [ sipiwol ]

Please note that for June and October, there are some changes when combining the numbers with the word month:

Originally, June = 6  +  Month  =    육 [ yuk ]  +  월 [ wol ] =  육월 [ yukwol ]
But you have to remove the last letter k and it becomes 유월 [ yuwol ] 

Originally, October = 10  +  Month  =    십 [ sip ]  +  월 [ wol ] =  십월 [ sipwol ]
But you have to remove the last letter p and it becomes 시월 [ siwol ]


Day = 일 [ il] 
It is exactly the same word for the Sino-Korean number One 일 [ il] .

1st =  1  + Day =  일 [ il ]  +  일 [ il]  = 일일 [ ilil ]
15th =  10 + 5 + Day =  십 [ sip ] + 오 [ o ]  +  일 [ il]  = 십오일 [ sipo il ]
20th =  2 + 10 + Day =  이  [ i ] + 십 [ sip ]  +  일 [ il]  = 이십일 [ isipil ]
31th = 3 + 10 + 1 + Day =  삼 [ sam ] + 십 [ sip ] + 일 [ il ]  +  일 [ il] = 삼십일일 [ samsipilil]

Since the word Day 일 [ il] has the same pronunciation as the number One 일 [ il], it would be difficult to pronouce two 일 together:

일일 [ il il ]
1 Day (meaning 1st day)

Therefore, we would carry over the last letter "l" of the first 일 [ il] to the second 일 [ il].
It becomes 일일 [ i lil ]
Instead of speaking [ il il ], we pronouce it more like [ i lil ].

How to tell your age in Korean?

Counting Korean Age
When talking about age, you need to understand that Korean Age is calculated in a different way.
Usually, our age equals to Current Year - Your Birth Year.
For example, if you were born in 1990, your age is 25 (= 2015 - 1990).

However, in Korea, the time when you were in your mother's tummy was also counted as part of your age. So when you were born, you were already one year old. Therefore, if you were born in 1990, your Korean age is 26 (one year older)

Tell your age in Korean
Having noted the above Korean age, we now turn to learn how to tell your age in Korean.

Years old

Year(s) old = 살 [sal]  or  세 [ seh ]

When you are using the Native Korean numbers to tell your age, you use 살 [sal] to mean "year(s) old". If you use the Chinese-based numbers, use 세 [ seh ] to present "year(s) old"

For example, 25 years old

Native Korean numbers (more frequently used in telling age)
20 + 5 +  살 [sal] =  + 다섯   [ daseot ] + 살 [sal] =  다섯살   [   deseot sal ]

Chinese-based numbers (may be used in writing, but rarely spoken)
2 x 10 + 5 + 세 [ seh ] =  이 [ i ] + 십 [ sip] + 오 [ o ] + 세 [ seh ] = 이십오세 [ isiposal ]


I am / He is / She is / You are / They are / It is



My age is ...

내 [ ne ]  + 나이 [ nai]  +    number
     My    +    Age         is    number

When G-dragon was 13 years old, he had a song named "My age is 13 (내나이열셋 [ ne nai yeolset]". You can check out his music video:

Telling Time in Korean - Seconds

If you want to tell time in Korean, please make sure you know about the Korean Number systems first (the Chinese-based Number and the Native Korean Number).

Time can be divided into Hours, Minutes and Seconds. In previous posts, we talked about Hours and Minutes.

We now turn to Seconds.

We use Chinese-based Number to tell Seconds.

Second = 초 [ cho ]

1 Second = One + Second =  일  + 초 [ cho ]  =  일초  [ ilcho]
10 Seconds = Ten + Second =  십  + 초 [ cho ]  =  십초  [ sipcho ]
30 Seconds = Thirty + Second = 삼십  + 초 [ cho ]  =  삼십초  [ samsipcho ]
60 Seconds = Sixty + Second = 육십  + 초 [ cho ]  = 육십초 [ yuksipcho ]

There is a Kpop song called 60 Seconds 육십초 by Kim Sung Kyu and the lyrics contain the phrase "60 Seconds 육십초 [ yuksipcho ]", you can hear it at 0:50 and 2:03

At the beginning of the video,  Daesung from Bigbang said "Countdown, 십초  [ sipcho ]!" which means "Countdown, 10 seconds!"

Telling Time in Korean - Minutes

If you want to tell time in Korean, please make sure you know about the Korean Number systems first (the Chinese-based Number and the Native Korean Number).

Time can be divided into Hours, Minutes and Seconds. In the last post, we talked about Hours.

This post will talk about Minutes.

Minutes

We use Chinese-based Number for telling Minutes.

Minute = 분 [ boon ]

1 Minute = One + Minute = 일   [ il ]  + 분 [ boon ]  =  일분  [ ilboon ]
2 Minutes = Two + Minute = 이   [ i ]  + 분 [ boon ]  =  이분  [ iboon ]
3 Minutes = Three + Minute = 삼   [ sam ]  + 분 [ boon ]  =  삼분  [ samboon ]
15 Minutes = Fifteen + Minute =  십오 [ sipo]  + 분 [ boon ]  =  십오분  [ sipoboon ]
30 Minutes = Thirty + Minute = 삼십 [ samsip ]  + 분 [ boon ]  =  삼십분  [ samsipboon ]
45 Minutes = Forty-five + Minute = 사십오 [ sasipo]  + 분 [ boon ]  =  사십오분  [sasipoboon ]


How do you say 2:30? It's

HOUR 시 [ shi ]  + MINUTE 분 [ boon ]

Two O'clock       +      30 Minutes
두시 [ dushi ]      +     삼십분  [ samsipboon ]


30 Minutes

30 Minutes also means Half an hour, therefore you can use Half  반 [ ban ] instead.
Simple use 반 [ ban ] to replace 30 minutes

Two O'clock       +      30 Minutes
Two O'clock       +      Half
두시 [ dushi ]      +      반 [ ban ]

Telling Time in Korean - Hours

If you want to tell time in Korean, please make sure you know about the Korean Number systems first (the Chinese-based Number and the Native Korean Number).

Time can be divided into Hours, Minutes and Seconds.

Hours
Let's start with Hours.

O'clock = 시 [ shi ]

For Hours, use the Native Korean Number

One O'clock   =  One  +  O'clock   =  하나  [ hana ]  +  시 [ shi ]  = 한시 [hanshi]
Two O'clock  =  Two  +  O'clock  =  둘   [ dul ]  +  시 [ shi ]  = 두시 [ dushi ]
Three O'clock =  Three  +  O'clock  =  셋  [ set ]  +  시 [ shi ]  = 세시 [ seshi ]
Four O'clock  =  Four  +  O'clock  =  넷   [ net ]  +  시 [ shi ]  = 네시 [ neshi ]
Five O'clock  =  Five  +  O'clock  =  다섯   [ daseot ]  +  시 [ shi ]  = 다섯시 [ daseotshi ]
Six O'clock  =  Six  +  O'clock  =  여섯    [ yeoseot ]  +  시 [ shi ]  = 여섯시 [ yeoseotshi ]
Seven O'clock  =  Seven  +  O'clock  =  일곱   [ilgop ]  +  시 [ shi ]  = 일곱시 [ ilgopshi ]
Eight O'clock  =  Eight  +  O'clock  =  여덟   [ yeodeol ]  +  시 [ shi ]  = 여덟시  [ yeodeolshi ]
Nine O'clock  =  Nine  +  O'clock  =  아홉   [ ahop ]  +  시 [ shi ]  = 아홉시 [ ahopshi ]
Ten O'clock  =  Ten  +  O'clock  =  열   [ yeol]  +  시 [ shi ]  = 열시 [ yeolshi ]
Eleven O'clock  =  Eleven  +  O'clock  =  열하나 [ yeolhana ]  +  시 [ shi ] = 열한시 [ yeolhanshi ]
Twelve O'clock  =  Twelve  +  O'clock  = 열둘 [ yeoldul ]  +  시 [ shi ]  = 열두시 [ yeoldushi ]

For Five to Ten O'clock, simply combine the Native Korean Number with 시 [ shi ].

However, for One to Four O'clock and Eleven to Twelve O'clock, some minor changes are needed:

One O'clock
Originally it should be 하나  [ hana ]  +  시 [ shi ]  = 하나시 [ hanashi ]
However, we need to remove the last letter "a" and so it becomes 한시 [hanshi]

Two O'clock
Originally it should be 둘  [ dul ]  +  시 [ shi ]  = 둘시 [ dulshi ]
However, we need to remove the last letter "l" and so it becomes 두시 [dushi]

Three O'clock
Originally it should be 셋  [ set ]  +  시 [ shi ]  = 셋시 [ setshi ]
However, we need to remove the last letter "t" and so it becomes 세시 [seshi]

Four O'clock
Originally it should be 넷  [ net ]  +  시 [ shi ]  = 넷시 [ netshi ]
However, we need to remove the last letter "t" and so it becomes 네시 [neshi]

Eleven O'clock
Originally it should be 열하나   [ yeolhana ]  +  시 [ shi ]  = 열하나시 [ yeolhanashi ]
However, we need to remove the last letter  "a" and so it becomes 열한시 [ yeolhanshi ]

Twelve O'clock
Originally it should be 열둘   [ yeoldul ]  +  시 [ shi ]  = 열둘시 [ yeoldulshi ]
However, we need to remove the last letter "l" and so it becomes 열두시 [ yeoldushi ]

Korean Numbers 1 to 10 - Native Korean Numbers

In Korean, there are two types of pronunciations for the same numbers (숫자, [sutja])
In the previous post, we learned about the Chinese-based numbers.

In this post, we will learn the other type of numbers, namely Native Korean Numbers, which is more difficult.

1    One     하나  [ hana ]
2    Two    둘   [ dul ]
3    Three  셋  [ set ]
4    Four    넷   [ net ]
5    Five     다섯   [ daseot ]
6    Six      여섯    [ yeoseot ]
7    Seven   일곱   [ilgop ]
8    Eight    여덟   [ yeodeol ]
9    Nine    아홉   [ ahop ]
10  Ten     열   [ yeol]

These Native Korean numbers are used in the following ways:
1. Time (O'clock) **For Minutes and Seconds, use Chinese-based numbers
2. No. of hours
2. Age - can be said in both Chinese-based and Native Korean ways
3. No. of people
4. No. of times

I noticed from the following Bigbang videos that Native Korean Numbers are used in counting one, two, three.

First Scenario:  Counting 1,2,3 when taking photos  하나 둘 셋 [ hana dul set ]!



Second Scenaro: Counting 1,2,3 when getting ready for the game 하나 둘 셋 [ hana dul set ]!

Korean Numbers 1 to 10 - Chinese-based Numbers

In Korean, there are two types of pronunciations for the same numbers (숫자, [sutja]).
This post will discuss the Chinese-based numbers, which are a little bit similar to Chinese.

1    One     일   [ il ]
2    Two    이   [ i ]
3    Three  삼   [ sam ]
4    Four    사   [ sa ]
5    Five     오   [ o ]
6    Six      육    [ yuk ]
7    Seven   칠   [ chil ]
8    Eight    팔   [ pal ]
9    Nine    구   [ gu ]
10  Ten     십   [ sip ]

These Chinese-based numbers are used in the following ways:
1. Date (Year, Month, Day)
2. Time (Minutes, Seconds) **But not for Hours(O'clock), use Native Korean numbers for Hours
3. Money (Price)
4. Telephone Number
5. Age - can be said in both Chinese-based and Native Korean way
6. Temperature
7. Measurements (miles, meters, gallon)

Let's learn from BigBang to count down from 10 to 1.

G-dragon counting down from 10 to 1:

The Korean Kid's song Number Song is also good for learning the numbers 1 to 10:
Number Song in Koeran is 숫자송
숫자 means Number
송 means Song
숫자[ sutja] 송 [ song ] = Number Song