10 Must Know Math Words

Learn 10 must-know math words

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Lesson Transcript

Hi, everyone! I’m Jaehwi, welcome back to Korean Weekly Words. In this video we'll be talking about 10 Must Know Math Words. Let's begin.

1. 계산하다 (gyesanhada) "calculate"

It literally means “to do calculation”, because 계산(gyesan) the noun means “calculation”.

So if you're bad students, you might want to say that

계산하는 게 싫어요. (Gyesanhaneun ge silreoyo.) "I don't like to calculating”, “I don't like to calculate."

or you can also say that 계산하는 걸 잘해요 (gyesanhaneun geol jalhaeyo) “I’m good at calculation.”

2. 공식 (gongsik) "formulas"

There are a lot of formulas in math, so when I was in junior high and high school, there were a lot of formulas that I had to memorize. In that case I can say,

고등학교 때 공식을 많이 외웠습습니다. (Godeunghakkyo ttae gongsigeul mani eowotsseumnida.)

“I remembered a lot of formulas when I was in high school.”

And now I forgot most of that, so in that case I can just say that,

고등학교 때 공식을 많이 잃어버렸습니다. (Godeunghakgyo ttae gongsigeul mani ilreobeoryeotsseumnida.) "I forgot most of the formulas."

3. 곱하기 (gopagi) "times"

In Korean, the way to read the number and something between is the same in English. For example,

삼 곱하기 사 (sam gopagi sa) is for “three times four”, or 오 곱하기 오 (o gopagi o) means "five times five”. So you can just replace “times” with 곱하기 (gopagi), and then read the numbers in Korean way when you have to give that kind of formulas.

4. 나누기 (nanugi) "divide"

So 나누기 (nanugi) is the same way just say the number, and then 나누기 (nanugi), the number. For example, “ten divided by two” is 십 나누기 이 (sip nanugi i).

And you can say that “eight divided by two" is 팔 나누기 이 (pal nanugi i).

5. 더하기 (deohagi) "plus"

You can find 더하기 (deohagi) as in 이 더하기 오 (i deohagi o) “two plus five”.

삼 더하기 십 (sam deohagi sip) "three plus ten”.

6. 빼기 (ppaegi) "minus"

So for example, you can use it as, 삼 빼기 일 (sam ppaegi il) “three minus one”.

Or, 사 빼기 이 (sa ppaegi i) "four minus two”.

7. (이)다 ((i)da) "equal"

So when you read numbers and formulas for the math, you can just say something something 이다(ida) to mean “equal”. So for example,

삼 더하기 이는 오다. (Sam deohagi ineun oda.) “Three plus two equals five.”

Because we have a different sentence structure, you have to put “equals” to the end of the sentence and say 이다(ida) as in 이 더하기 오는 칠이다. (I deohagi oneun chirida.) “Two plus five equals seven."

8. 소수점 (sosujeom) "point"

For math, when you want to mean decimal point, you can just say 소수점 (sosujeom), but when you read it with numbers you can just say 점(jeom). So for example, “three point two (3.2)” is 삼 점 이 (sam jeom i), “five point seven (5.7)“ is 오 점 칠 (o jeom chil).

So you don't have to say 소수점 (sosujeom) when you read point with numbers.

9. 백분율 (baekbunyul) "percent"

When you read the percent as it is, you can just say 백분율 (baekbunyul); but when you read percent with numbers, you can just say 퍼센트(peosenteu). For example, “10 percent” is 십 퍼센트 (sip peosenteu), “20 percent” is 이십 퍼센트 (isip peosenteu).

So, for example, when something is on sale, you can find some places saying

십 퍼센트 세일 중 (sip peosenteu seil jung) "sale for 10%” (10% off).

10. 수학 (suhak) "math"

There are actually two words to mean “math”, like 산수(sansu) and 수학(suhak).

수학(suhak) means “math” in general.

산수(sansu) sounds like some simple math that you can learn from the elementary school. So when you see a textbook for elementary school students, it says 산수(sansu); but for junior or junior high school students it says 수학(suhak). So when you teach English to elementary school students, make sure you use the word 산수(sansu), not 수학(suhak). For example, we can say

수학은 언제나 어렵습니다. (suhak-eun eonjena eolyeobseubnida.) “Math is always difficult."

Ok, that’s all 10 Must Know Math Words. If you want to know more words about math or other subjects, make sure to visit KoreanClass101.com. I’ll see you next time. 다음 시간에 뵙겠습니다 (Daeum sigane boepgetsseumnida) 안녕히 계세요 (annyeonghi gyeseyo).

Comments

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5 Comments

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KoreanClass101.com

2016-09-12 18:30:00

Which word do you like the most?

KoreanClass101.com

2022-06-10 17:48:36

Hello Loco roco,

You can read it as -에서 -까지. For example, 1.5~2 = 1.5에서 2까지.

Thanks for posting!

Enjoy your study and feel free to let us know if you have any inquiries!

Kind regards,

Hyeon Yeong Seo

Team KoreanClass101.com

Loco roco

2022-06-07 01:29:02

I sometimes see a ~ , how to read this? For example 1.5~2

KoreanClass101.com

2020-10-15 03:12:23

Hi Kon,

Thank you for posting. Koreans use 퍼센트 or 프로 for percentage.

So if you want to ask "what percentage of the population is vegetarian?" you could say:

인구의 몇 프로가 베지테리언이에요/채식주의자예요?

인구의 몇 퍼센트가 베지테리언이에요/채식주의자예요?

vegetarian=베지테리언(borrowed word), 채식주의자

Hope this was of help.

Cheers,

Lyn

Team KoreanClass101.com

Kon

2020-10-12 04:37:21

Hello,

Great class! I have a question though!

What if I want to use the word "percentage"?

For example in a sentence like this one: "what percentage of the population is vegetarian?"

Thank you in advance!

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