Lesson 3. How much is it: 원, 만, and big numbers

I can ask the price — 얼마예요? — and understand the answer in won, even in tens of thousands: 삼만 오천 원.

Prices: 원, 만, and groups of four digits

What for: to ask the price and understand the answer: 얼마예요? “How much is it?” Prices take Sino-Korean numbers (일, 이, 삼 …) + 원: 육천 원. Big numbers: 백 is 100, 천 is 1,000, 만 is 10,000. Korean groups numbers by four digits: after 만 come 십만 (100,000), 백만 (1,000,000), 천만, 억. English counts in thousands, so 100,000 is “ten 만” in Korean, and “ten thousand” is one word, 만. See the table. No “one” before 백, 천, 만: 백 원, 천 원, 만 원. A number is read by its places from the left: 35,000 is 삼만 오천. Price tags use figures: 5,000원. The second counter is 병 “bottle”. Its number is native Korean, as with 개: 우유 세 병. 다 and 모두 mean “all, in total”. 카드로 means “by card”. Common mistakes: • NOT 백천 원 (100,000) → 십만 원 • NOT 십천 원 → 만 원 • NOT 세 천 원 → 삼천 원 (prices take Sino-Korean numbers) • NOT 우유 삼 병 → 우유 세 병

Place values in groups of four digits

After 만 the count starts over: 십만, 백만, 천만.

In figures	In Korean	Literally
100	백	one hundred
1 000	천	one thousand
10 000	만	“ten thousand”
100 000	십만	“ten 만”
1 000 000	백만	“one hundred 만”
10 000 000	천만	“one thousand 만”
100 000 000	억	new word

The price on the tag and aloud

On the tag, figures; aloud, Sino-Korean numbers.

Price tag	Read as
800원	팔백 원
3,500원	삼천오백 원
70,000원	칠만 원
65,000원	육만 오천 원
120,000원	십이만 원

Lesson notes

Prices: 원, 만, and groups of four digits