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What is Korean Age?

While it is a taboo to ask someone (especially women) their age in Western countries, one of the first things that native Koreans will ask you when you meet is your age. This is not due to lack of politeness–in fact, it is quite the opposite. Most of you learning Korean know that there are varied levels of politeness when conversing in Korean–and this is exactly why people will ask you your age—they want to know so that they can address you accordingly.

Korean Age Calculator

Enter Your Birth Year Below:

Your Korean age is ? years old.

However, when you give them your answer, you may see them nodding their head and stating a number that is higher than your actual age, or they may inform you that you are actually older in Korean age. Why is Korean age different? This is due to the different Korean age system, which is different from the international age. So if you see any K-Pop star saying their age in Korean, you should know their international age is different.

For example:

How old is Jungkook in Korea? His birthday is September 1, 1997.
- In Korean age: He’s years old from January 1st until December 31st, 2018.
- In international age: He’s years old until August 30th and years old after September 1st, which is his birthday.

You’ll learn more about how to work out Korean age in this article.

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Korean Age Cheat Sheets 2018

If you meet Koreans for the first time, they’ll ask your name and your age first.
Being able to talk about your age in Korean is very important in Korean culture.

This 10-page eBook is a MUST-HAVE for all Korean learning beginners!

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How can you download? First, log in to KoreanClass101. Then, simply click on the button below. Download your FREE Korean age PDF today and learn to say your Korean age in no time!
This is a must-have guide for absolute beginners.

Related Lessons

Writing in Korean

Introduction to Korean

Korean Pronunciation

Korean in 3 Minutes

International Age vs Korean Age
How to Calculate Korean Age
How to Say Your Age in Korean (Updated in 2018)
Why Do Korean People Always Ask Age?
Citing Age
Related Lessons
Korean Age Calculator

1. International Age vs Korean Age

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What is the Korean age system? What is the difference between Korean age and American age (International Age or Western Age)?

1) In Korea, you are born one (1) years of age.

While Westerners consider newborn babies to be ‘zero’ years old upon birth, native Koreans actually calculate the time babies spend in their mother’s womb as a ‘year’ (although, technically, it is 10 months, they round it up to one year), so when babies are born in Korea, they are considered to be 한 살(han sal)=”one year old”. This automatically adds one year to the age that you may be used to. So when someone in Korea tells you, for example, that they are 스무 살(seumu sal)=“twenty years old”, they may actually be 열여덟 살(yeol yeodeol sal)=”18 years old” or 열아홉 살(yeolahop sal)=”19 years old”.

2) In Korea, you increase your age count on January 1st of every year, not on your birthday.

Now, why would a native Korean add two years to their ‘Western age,’ you may wonder. This is because Koreans automatically gain a year on January 1st, regardless of whether their birthday has passed or not.

International Age measures how long you have lived.
Korean Age measures how many years you have experienced.

For example, let’s say a child was born on December 31st, 2010. This child is already a year old, but only two days later, although the child is only three days old, he/she will already be two years old in Korean age, because everyone gains a year when the new year begins. So their actual age in international standards, or 만 나이(man nai), would technically be ‘zero’ years old, but when the parents are asked about the age of their child, they will probably answer, “한국 나이로 두 살이에요.”(hanguk nairo du sarieyo)=”My child is two years old in Korean age.”

One thing to keep in mind is that 만(man) is a Sino Korean word which does not come from the Chinese character ‘萬’, which means “ten thousand”, but from ‘滿’, which means “full” and it’s the same as the international age.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Korean age culture, however, is only a cultural thing–in order to avoid confusion and keep up with international standards, on official documents such as a passport or a birth certificate, everyone in Korea will use their 만 나이(man nai), or international age. This means that when you see the age of Korean sports stars at the PyeongChang Olympics, it will be their international age, not their Korean age concept.

2. How to Calculate Korean Age

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What is my Korean age? How can I calculate my Korean age? Have you ever wondered? Calculating your Korean age is not very difficult! Here are 3 different but easy ways.

First, all you need to do is add 1 to the current year, then subtract the year of your birth, and you will get your Korean age.

Example:

If you were born in 1980 and wanted to calculate your age in 2018:2018 + 1 - 1980 = 39 (Korean Age)

Second, if you’re not good at calculating, you can just follow this:

If your birthday has passed: Your Age + 1 = Korean Age
If your birthday hasn’t passed yet: Your Age + 2 = Korean Age

Third, use our Korean age converter. This is the easiest way. Just enter your birth year and it’ll calculate your Korean age. Click here to get get your Korean age calculator.

3. How to Say Your Age in Korean (Updated in 2018)

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If Koreans want to know your ask, they probably use one of these following questions. They all mean ‘How old are you?’.

Informal: 몇 살이야? (meot sariya?)
Polite: 나이가 어떻게 돼요? (naiga eotteoke doeyo?)
Formal: 연세가 어떻게 되세요? (yeonsega eotteoke doeseyo?)

How old am I in South Korea? Have you wondered how old you are in Korea? Do you want to count your age in Korean?

Informal: ___이야. (___ iya.)
Polite: ___이에요. (___ ieyo.)
Formal: ___입니다. (___ imnida.)

Just find your age below and fill out the blank above. The above lines just mean ‘to be’. 살 (sal) below is a counter and it is used when you’re counting the ages of people or animals. You can download the following list here.

Birth Year	Age	Korean	Romanization
2018	1 year old	한 살	han sal
2017	2 years old	두 살	du sal
2016	3 years old	세 살	se sal
2015	4 years old	네 살	ne sal
2014	5 years old	다섯 살	da-seot sal
2013	6 years old	여섯 살	yeo-seot sal
2012	7 years old	일곱 살	il-gop sal
2011	8 years old	여덟 살	yeo-dul sal
2010	9 years old	아홉 살	a-hop sal
2009	10 years old	열 살	yeol sal
2008	11 years old	열한 살	yeol-han sal
2007	12 years old	열두 살	yeol-du sal
2006	13 years old	열세 살	yeol-se sal
2005	14 years old	열네 살	yeol-ne sal
2004	15 years old	열다섯 살	yeol-da-seot sal
2003	16 years old	열여섯 살	yeol-yeo-seot sal
2002	17 years old	열일곱 살	yeol-il-gop sal
2001	18 years old	열여덟 살	yeol-yeo-dul sal
2000	19 years old	열아홉 살	yeol-a-hop sal
1999	20 years old	스무 살	seu-mu sal
1998	21 years old	스물한 살	seu-mul-han sal
1997	22 years old	스물두 살	seu-mul-du sal
1996	23 years old	스물세 살	seu-mul-se sal
1995	24 years old	스물네 살	seu-mul-ne sal
1994	25 years old	스물다섯 살	seu-mul-da-seot sal
1993	26 years old	스물여섯 살	seu-mul-yeo-seot sal
1992	27 years old	스물일곱 살	seu-mul-il-gop sal
1991	28 years old	스물여덟 살	seu-mul-yeo-dul sal
1990	29 years old	스물아홉 살	seu-mul-a-hop sal
1989	30 years old	서른 살	seo-reun sal
1988	31 years old	서른한 살	seo-reun-han sal
1987	32 years old	서른두 살	seo-reun-du sal
1986	33 years old	서른세 살	seo-reun-se sal
1985	34 years old	서른네 살	seo-reun-ne sal
1984	35 years old	서른다섯 살	seo-reun-da-seot sal
1983	36 years old	서른여섯 살	seo-reun-yeo-seot sal
1982	37 years old	서른일곱 살	seo-reun-il-gop sal
1981	38 years old	서른여덟 살	seo-reun-yeo-dul sal
1980	39 years old	서른아홉 살	seo-reun-a-hop sal
1979	40 years old	마흔 살	ma-heun sal
1978	41 years old	마흔한 살	ma-heun-han sal
1977	42 years old	마흔두 살	ma-heun-du sal
1976	43 years old	마흔세 살	ma-heun-se sal
1975	44 years old	마흔네 살	ma-heun-ne sal
1974	45 years old	마흔다섯 살	ma-heun-da-seot sal
1973	46 years old	마흔여섯 살	ma-heun-yeo-seot sal
1972	47 years old	마흔일곱 살	ma-heun-il-gop sal
1971	48 years old	마흔여덟 살	ma-heun-yeo-dul sal
1970	49 years old	마흔아홉 살	ma-heun-a-hop sal
1969	50 years old	쉰 살	swin sal
1968	51 years old	쉰한 살	swin-han sal
1967	52 years old	쉰두 살	swin-du sal
1966	53 years old	쉰세 살	swin-se sal
1965	54 years old	쉰네 살	swin-ne sal
1964	55 years old	쉰다섯 살	swin-da-seot sal
1963	56 years old	쉰여섯 살	swin-yeo-seot sal
1962	57 years old	쉰일곱 살	swin-il-gop sal
1961	58 years old	쉰여덟 살	swin-yeo-dul sal
1960	59 years old	쉰아홉 살	swin-a-hop sal
1959	60 years old	예순 살	ye-sun sal
1958	61 years old	예순한 살	ye-sun-han sal
1957	62 years old	예순두 살	ye-sun-du sal
1956	63 years old	예순세 살	ye-sun-se sal
1955	64 years old	예순네 살	ye-sun-ne sal
1954	65 years old	예순다섯 살	ye-sun-da-seot sal
1953	66 years old	예순여섯 살	ye-sun-yeo-seot sal
1952	67 years old	예순일곱 살	ye-sun-il-gop sal
1951	68 years old	예순여덟 살	ye-sun-yeo-dul sal
1950	69 years old	예순아홉 살	ye-sun-a-hop sal
1949	70 years old	일흔 살	il-heun sal
1948	71 years old	일흔한 살	il-heun-han sal
1947	72 years old	일흔두 살	il-heun-du sal
1946	73 years old	일흔세 살	il-heun-se sal
1945	74 years old	일흔네 살	il-heun-ne sal
1944	75 years old	일흔다섯 살	il-heun-da-seot sal
1943	76 years old	일흔여섯 살	il-heun-yeo-seot sal
1942	77 years old	일흔일곱 살	il-heun-il-gop sal
1941	78 years old	일흔여덟 살	il-heun-yeo-dul sal
1940	79 years old	일흔아홉 살	il-heun-a-hop sal
1939	80 years old	여든 살	yeo-deun sal
1938	81 years old	여든한 살	yeo-deun-han sal
1937	82 years old	여든두 살	yeo-deun-du sal
1936	83 years old	여든세 살	yeo-deun-se sal
1935	84 years old	여든네 살	yeo-deun-ne sal
1934	85 years old	여든다섯 살	yeo-deun-da-seot sal
1933	86 years old	여든여섯 살	yeo-deun-yeo-seot sal
1932	87 years old	여든일곱 살	yeo-deun-il-gop sal
1931	88 years old	여든여덟 살	yeo-deun-yeo-dul sal
1930	89 years old	여든아홉 살	yeo-deun-a-hop sal
1929	90 years old	아흔 살	a-heun sal
1928	91 years old	아흔한 살	a-heun-han sal
1927	92 years old	아흔두 살	a-heun-du sal
1926	93 years old	아흔세 살	a-heun-se sal
1925	94 years old	아흔네 살	a-heun-ne sal
1924	95 years old	아흔다섯 살	a-heun-da-seot sal
1923	96 years old	아흔여섯 살	a-heun-yeo-seot sal
1922	97 years old	아흔일곱 살	a-heun-il-gop sal
1921	98 years old	아흔여덟 살	a-heun-yeo-dul sal
1920	99 years old	아흔아홉 살	a-heun-a-hop sal
1919	100 years old	백 살	baek sal

4. Why Do Korean People Always Ask Age?

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Why Do Korean People Always Ask Age? Why do many Korean people ask your age when you meet them for the first time? How does age work in Korea?

실례지만 나이가 어떻게 되세요?
Sillyejiman naiga eotteoke doeseyo?
Excuse me, but how old are you?

It’s because they want to know which politeness level of the speech they should use and age decides how you address each other.

Why are there so many non-related 오빠(oppa)s=”older brother” and 누나(nuna)s=”older sister” in Korea?

Unlike in Western cultures where you use the same level of politeness regardless of age, in Korea there are various levels of politeness. This is one of the reasons why age asking is so important to native Koreans–they need to find out the age so that they can figure out how to address one another.

If you are 동갑(donggap)=”the same age”, you will likely find yourself forming a fast friendship–as can be seen in the way Koreans count their age, people who are born in the same year are all considered to be the same age.

If you look at the hit Korean movie 동갑내기 과외하기(donggapnaegi gwawehagi)=”private tutoring someone the same age”, the heroine, who is a freshman at college, starts private tutoring the hero, who is a senior in high school but born in the same year as her. This makes their situation tricky, as they are 동갑(donggap), but she is his teacher.

Usually, you will find that your classmates are the same age as you–you are a part of the same age group with the same experiences-everyone goes to school together, and moves up in age together at the beginning of every year. It is a great ice breaker and you find yourself becoming close friends when you find out that you are the same age. This is why when you are introduced to someone else through a mutual friend, you will find native Koreans automatically checking each other’s age so that they can figure out whether they can start using informal speech, or 반말(banmal), right away.

Example:

A: 몇 년생이세요?
- (myeot nyeonsaengiseyo?)
- ”What year were you born?”
B: 2000년생이요.
- (icheonnyeonsaengiyo.)
- ”I was born in 2000.”
A: 저랑 동갑이시네요…괜찮다면 말 놓아도 될까요?
- (jeorang donggabisineyo…gwenchanttamyeon mal noado dwelkkayo?)
- ”You are the same age as me…if it is okay with you, shall we speak informally?”
B: 그럴까? 그럼 편하게 말 놔.
- (geureulkkayo? geureom pyeonhage mal nwa.)
- ”Shall we do that? Then address me informally.”

5. Citing Age

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Citing Age

You may have noticed in the dialogue above that ‘A’ asked ‘B’ how old they were by asking:

몇 년생이세요?
Myeot nyeonsaengiseyo?
What year were you born?

This is a common question asked by native Koreans when asking age, as they will likely figure out how old you are in Korean age by the year you were born. So instead of answering with your actual age, you could simply reply by giving your birth year as an answer—just let them know the year you were born, or you could just cite the last two numbers of the year you were born:

Example:

If you were born in 1990, you could say:
- 1990년생입니다. (1990nyeonsaengimnida)=”I was born in the year 1990.”
- 90년생입니다. (90nyeonsaengimnida)=”I was born in the year (19)90.”

빠른 __년생
Ppareun ___nyeonsaeng

Another age related expression that may throw you off is “빠른 년생 People.” We will describe why this phrase is used as it relates to the Korean education system. In Korea, the school year starts in March. This means the deadline to make it to a certain grade would be late February. ‘빠른 (ppareun) + insert year of birth’ refers to people that were born in either January or February, whose parents decided to let their children go to school with children born a year earlier.

Example:

If you were born in January, 1980, and went to school with classmates born in 1979, you would refer to yourself as 빠른 1980년생(ppareun cheongubaekpalsim-nyeonsaeng), or simply omit the first two numbers and say 빠른 80년생(ppareun palsim-nyeonsaeng). You can even say 빠른 80 (ppareun palgong). ‘Gong’ is another way to say 0 (zero) in Korean.

For example, say a child was born in February, 1999. The parents used to have two options–did they want their child to enter school as the youngest, or did they wait a year and let their child enter school as the oldest student? Depending on the decision that has been made, the child ended up going to school with friends who were born in 1998, or, those who were actually a year older than them. This means that other children born in 1999, who entered school a year later, had to refer to him/her as:

오빠 (oppa) = older brother(addressed by a female)
언니 (eonni) = older sister(addressed by a female)
누나(nuna) = older brother(addressed by a male)
형 (hyeong) = older sister(addressed by a male)

This system even confused native Korean people so it’s not been used since 2003. But those who entered elementary school before 2003 still see 빠른 년생 people. Just remember that these phrases are also used by native Koreans to refer to blood siblings, as well as non-related people who are senior to them.

Now if you ask someone their age and realize that they are younger than you, you can take the initiative and address them informally. However, in most cases, you will likely continue to use polite phrases until the recipient asks you to speak to them informally. And if you find out that someone is older than you, remember to use polite phrases and suffixes.

6. Related Lessons

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In this video series, you will learn the Korean alphabet, known as Hangul. We will teach you Hangul using simple steps, showing you the correct stroke order, helpful tricks for memorization, and proper usage in common Korean words. If you want to get started reading and writing Korean, this is THE place to start.

Go to Hangul Series

Want to learn Korean? Don’t know where to start? This is it. The Introduction to Korean Video series is perfect for those who know zero Korean but want to take that first step. In this series, you’ll learn all about the Korean language, as well as grammar, writing and phrases to get you started.

Go to Introduction Series

Ready to sound like a native Korean speaker? Join Alisha and Ara in the Ultimate Korean Pronunciation Series! You’ll learn the ins and outs of perfect Korean pronunciation. You’ll learn the common mistakes learners make, how to avoid them, and the nuances that only native speakers are aware of.

Go to Pronunciation Guide

Learn the basics you need to be polite while speaking Korean. Amy will take you step-by-step through must-know phrases and explain the grammar and composition. Plus, you’ll get some special tips on how to be extra authentic when interacting with native Korean speakers.

Go to 3 Minute Series

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How old are you? Can you say it in Korean?

Korean Age Calculator

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Table of Contents

1) In Korea, you are born one (1) years of age.

2) In Korea, you increase your age count on January 1st of every year, not on your birthday.