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Do you know the special counter for bags of rice? Find out at the end of this video!
Hi everybody! I'm Alisha.
안녕하세요. 노경진입니다.
Welcome to Korean Counters for Beginners, where you'll learn how to count all sorts of different objects in Korean! Seonsaeng-nim (선생님), what counter will we learn in this lesson?
(pause) 개 (gae)
First, let's take a look at what sorts of objects can be counted with the counter.
When counting inanimate objects in general, you can use this counter.
개 (gae)
This counter can be translated as "thing" in English. Although it's better to use the specific counters that we're going to learn in the following lessons, you can use this counter for any inanimate object in general. For example, you can count apples with this counter as well as pens. When you're not sure which counters to use for inanimate objects, you can simply use this one. But you can't use it when you're counting animate objects such as dogs or people.
Okay, let's count from 1 to 10 with this counter. Seonsaeng-nim will give you the numbers one by one. Repeat after her.
한 개
두 개
세 개
네 개
다섯 개
여섯 개
일곱 개
여덟 개
아홉 개
열 개
Did you notice that the counter sounded different when she read it for the numbers 5 to 10? Those numbers have the batchim, or the final consonant in a Korean syllable, so it makes the counters sound stronger, a process that is called fortis. Let's hear them once again.
"For number 5, it's dasseo kke (다섯 깨) not dasseo gae(다섯 개)
For number 6, it's yeseokkae (여섯 깨) not yeseot gae (여섯 개)
For number 7, it's ilgopkkae (일곱 깨) not ilgopgae (일곱 개)
For number 8, it's yeodeol kkae (여덟 깨) not yeodeol gae(여덟 개)
For number 9, it's ahop kkae (아홉 깨) not ahop gae (아홉 개)
For number 10, it's yeol kkae (열 깨) not yeol gae(열 개)"
Okay. Now let's take a look at some sample sentences using this counter.
사과 세 개를 살 겁니다. (sagwa se gaereul sal geomnida.)
I'll buy 3 apples.
펜 다섯개 주세요. (pen daseot kkae juseyo.)
Can you give me 5 pens, please?
건물이 열 개 있습니다. (geonmuri yeol gae isseumnida.)
There are 10 buildings.
It's now time for a quiz. I'm going to ask you a question in English. Answer the question in Korean. Are you ready? Make sure to use the right counter.
How many umbrellas are there?
우산이 열 개 있습니다. (usani yeol gae isseumnida.)
How many computers do you have?
컴퓨터를 두 개 갖고 있습니다. (keompyuteoreul du gae gakko isseumnida.)
Do you know the special counter for bags of rice? Rice is the main ingredient in Korean dishes, so it has a special counter just for the bags. The answer is...
가마 (gama)
You need to use this counter to specify how many bags of rice. If you say...
쌀 한 가마 주세요. (ssal han gama juseyo.)
It means, "Please give me one bag of rice". When you count a grain of rice, you can use the counter 톨(tol) instead.
Okay, everyone. That's it for this lesson. I'll see you next time!

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