Learn about Korean classifiers
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Intro |
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| Michael: What are Korean classifiers? |
| Kyejin: And how are they used? |
| Michael: At KoreanClass101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following scenario: Mark Morris needs to buy some stationery. He goes to a store, and says, |
| "Three pencils and four sheets of paper, please." |
| Mark Morris: 연필 세 자루랑 종이 네 장 주세요. (Yeonpil se jarurang jongi ne jang juseyo.) |
| Dialogue |
| Mark Morris: 연필 세 자루랑 종이 네 장 주세요. (Yeonpil se jarurang jongi ne jang juseyo.) |
| Gi-su Gwon: 여기 있습니다. (Yeogi itseumnida.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Mark Morris: 연필 세 자루랑 종이 네 장 주세요. (Yeonpil se jarurang jongi ne jang juseyo.) |
| Michael: "Three pencils and four sheets of paper, please." |
| Gi-su Gwon: 여기 있습니다. (Yeogi itseumnida.) |
| Michael: "Here you go." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Today, we will take a look at a very important topic: Korean measure or counting words, also called classifiers. Counters are special words used with numbers to count different things. You might have noticed that Mark Morris uses different words to count pencils and sheets of paper. To say "three pencils," he says |
| Kyejin: 연필 세 자루 (Yeonpil se jaru) |
| Michael: And to ask for "four sheets of paper," he says, |
| Kyejin: 종이 네 장 (jongi ne jang) |
| Michael: In both instances, Mark uses numerals. The difference, however, are the counters he used for "pencil" and "paper." For "pencil," he used |
| Kyejin: 자루 (jaru) |
| Michael: and, for "paper," he used, |
| Kyejin: 장 (jang) |
| Michael: This shows us that using numerals in Korean alone is not enough, but numerals are usually followed by counters. And, yes, counters are placed right after the numeral. Korean uses many different classifiers, which change depending on the type of object being quantified. If you're counting animals, for instance, the classifier you must use is |
| Kyejin: 마리 (mari) |
| Michael: This is similar to using counters in English. For instance, it's not right to say "two meats" in English, since "meat" is uncountable. Instead, we say, "Two slices of meat." In English, classifiers are only used with mass nouns, but, in Korean, classifiers are required almost always when attaching a quantity to a noun. We already know that the counter used for paper-like objects or any thin object is |
| Kyejin: 장 (jang) |
| Michael: Kyejin, could you please give us other examples that we can count using this measure word? |
| Kyejin: 콘서트 티켓 (konseoteu tiket) |
| Michael: "Concert tickets." That's right. Tickets are made of very thin material. What else? |
| Kyejin: 유리 (yuli) |
| Michael: "Glass." Yes, even in English, we say "a sheet of glass," instead of "one glass," when referring to glass used in windows and mirrors. Now, let's try another measure word, this time, for counting items of clothing, as in |
| Kyejin: 셔츠 (syeocheu) |
| Michael: This means "shirt." For sets of clothing, we use the counter, |
| Kyejin: 벌 (beol) |
| Michael: Use this counter when you're describing sets of apparel like shirts, jeans, or jackets. You can also use this for |
| Kyejin: 젓가락 (jeotgalag), |
| Michael: referring to a pair of "chopsticks," |
| Kyejin: 공구 (gonggu), |
| Michael: a set of "tools," and |
| Kyejin: 식기 (sikgi), |
| Michael: Dinnerware set. Here's another useful classifier, |
| Kyejin: 명 (myeong) |
| Michael: This is the classifier you use when you're counting people, as in |
| Kyejin: 학생 두 명 (haksaeng du myeong) |
| Michael: "Two students." |
| Kyejin: "의사 세 명." (uisa se myeong) |
| Michael: "Three doctors." |
| Kyejin: 교사 다섯 명 (gyosa daseot myeong) |
| Michael: "Five teachers." It's important to note that similar categories of objects may use various classifiers. For instance, we mentioned a moment ago that |
| Kyejin: 마리 (mari) |
| Michael: is used as the classifier for animals, but we may also use |
| Kyejin: 필 (pil) |
| Michael: When counting horses or cows, we can also think of another classifier used for counting the number of papers and photos, |
| Kyejin: 매 (mae), |
| Michael: which is similar to |
| Kyejin: 장 (jang) |
| Michael: and used like this: |
| Kyejin: 사진 세 매 (sajin sae mae) |
| Michael: "three pictures," and |
| Kyejin: 종이 이십 매 (jongyi isip mae) |
| Michael: "20 sheets of paper." On the other hand, some classifiers have a wide range of usage. For example, the classifier |
| Kyejin: 점 (jeom). |
| Michael: has the following usages: 1) to represent performance or score like |
| Kyejin: 백 점 (baek jeom). |
| Michael: "The perfect score 100." 2) To count the number of artworks such as paintings or ceramics as |
| Kyejin: 그림 한 점 (geurim han jeom). |
| Michael: "A piece of artwork. 3) To represent a very little amount, like wisps of |
| Kyejin: 바람 (balam) |
| Michael: "wind" or |
| Kyejin: 구름 (guleum) |
| Michael: "clouds." |
| Kyejin: 점 (jeom) |
| Michael: is also used 4) To count the number of pieces of meat, for instance, |
| Kyejin: 고기 두 점 (gogi du jeom). |
| Michael: "Two slices of meat" and 5) to count the number of falling water drops like |
| Kyejin: 눈물 (nunmul) |
| Michael: "tears," or |
| Kyejin: 빗방울 (bitbangul) |
| Michael: "raindrops." There's also an interesting classifier |
| Kyejin: 자루 (jaru) |
| Michael: which is used for counting the number of longish writing instruments, tools, weapons, etc, like |
| Kyejin: 칼 (kal) |
| Michae: "sword," |
| Kyejin: 삽 (sab) |
| Michael: "shovel," |
| Kyejin: 총 (chong) |
| Michael: and "rifle." We may also consider |
| jKyejin: 수 (su) |
| Michael: which is used to classify |
| Kyejin: 시 (si) |
| Michael: "poems" and also |
| Kyejin: 노래 (norae) |
| Michael: "songs." |
| Michael: What if you're referring to a book or number of books? In that case, you use the classifier, |
| Kyejin: 권 (gwon), |
| Michael: such as when you say, |
| Kyejin: 책 한 권 (chaeg han gwon), |
| Michael: "A book." Now, when you're at a restaurant and you want to ask for a cup of water, you say, |
| Kyejin: 물 한 컵 (mul han keob) |
| Michael: "A cup of water." If you want to drink from a bottle, you say, |
| Kyejin: 물 한 병 (mul han byeong) |
| Michael: "A bottle of water." And, if you want more than just water, you can say, |
| Kyejin: 소주 한 잔 (soju han jan), 와인 한 잔 (wain han jan) |
| Michael: "A glass of soju" and "a glass of wine." Thinking about giving someone a bunch of roses? For clusters or bunches of flowers, you can use the classifier, |
| Kyejin: 송이 (song-i) |
| Michael: such as when you say, |
| Kyejin: 장미 여섯 송이 (jangmi yeoseot song-i) |
| Michael: "Six roses." You can also use this classifier for bunches of fruits like |
| Kyejin: 포도 (podo) |
| Michael: "grapes." And, finally, there's a universal classifier used for when the specific count is unknown. It's the classifier |
| Kyejin: 개 (gae) |
| Review and Practice |
| Michael: Truly, there are so many Korean classifiers to memorize, so why don't we review what we've learned so far? Again, when counting things in Korean, it's important to always use classifiers, also known as measure words or counters. And, as we've discussed, there are different counters for different types of items. Do you still remember what classifier to use for very thin, paper-like objects, such as leaves and sheets of paper? |
| Kyejin: 장 (jang) |
| Michael: And how about for sets of clothing? |
| Kyejin: 벌 (beol) |
| Michael: What if you're counting people? |
| Kyejin: 명 (myeong) |
| Michael: For long objects, such as swords, knives, and shovels? |
| Kyejin: 자루 (jaru) |
| Michael: And what classifier should we use when counting sheep and other animals? |
| Kyejin: 마리 (mari) |
| Michael: Yes, and let's not forget that there's another classifier we can use for thin items like paper, photos, and stamps, it's the classifier, |
| Kyejin: 매 (mae) |
| Michael: For book lovers out there, don't forget that the classifier used for books is, |
| Kyejin: 권 (gwon), for example, 책 한 권 (chaeg han gwon) |
| Michael: "A book." Now, what classifiers can we use for water? We can use, |
| Kyejin: 컵 (keob), as in 물 한 컵 (mul han keob) |
| Michael: "A cup of water." We've learned that we can also say, |
| Kyejin: 물 한 병 (mul han byeong) |
| Michael: "A bottle of water," or |
| Kyejin: 소주 한 잔 (soju han jan) |
| Michael: "A bottle of soju." And, if you want to classify flowers or fruits in clusters, and the like, you can use, |
| Kyejin: 송이 (song-i), as in 장미 여섯 송이 (jangmi yeoseot song-i) |
| Michael: Now, let's review the classifier used for handcrafts, very small amounts or tiny pieces of items, and etc... |
| Kyejin: 점 (jeom) |
| Michael: Again, use this when talking about items of very small amounts, drops of rain, strands of meat, or wisps of wind or clouds. And, finally, the universal classifier to use when the specific count of things is unknown is |
| Kyejin: 개 (gae) |
| Michael: Yes, I know that's a lot of classifiers to familiarize yourself with, but, trust me, you'll know exactly how to use them the more you take time in practicing them one by one. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Kyejin: 안녕히 계세요. (annyeonghi gyeseyo.) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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