Korean measure words Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Like Japanese and Chinese, Korean uses special measure or counting words to enumerate objects.In English, one might say, "two sheets of paper" rather than "two papers". In Korean, the term jang (장) is used to count sheets, or paper-like material in general. So "ten bus tickets" would be bbus pyo yeol jang (뻐스 표 열장), literally, "bus ticket ten 'sheets'".
There are two systems of numerals in Korean, Sino-Korean numbers and Native Korean numbers. Each counter word takes numerals from one of these systems. For instance, we say sip gwa (십 과) for 'ten lessons', but yeol jang (열 대) for 'ten vehicles'. To say yeol gwa (열 과), or sip dae (십 대) would be incorrect.
A few counting words:
- gae (개) -- 'things' in general, can be used if you're not sure which specific counting word to use.
- ma-ri (마리) -- animals
- bun (분) -- people (polite),
- myeong (명),sa-ram (사람) -- people (informal)
- cheung (층) -- floors (of a building)
- gwa (과) -- lessons
- dae (대) -- vehicles, cars
- jan (잔) -- cups and glasses
- byeong (병) -- bottles