Vocabulary

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

여러분, 안녕하세요? 에이미에요. Hi, everybody! I’m Amy.
Welcome back to KoreanClass101.com’s 삼분 한국어, the fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Korean.
In the last three lessons we learned how to count in Korean. In this lesson we’ll learn how to ask the prices of things. Which number system shall we use? Because the name of the Korean currency, the won, is based on a Chinese character, we will use Chinese numbers while doing this.
The phrase "How much is this?" is
이거 얼마에요?
[slowly] 이거 얼마에요?
Are you ready to do some shopping in Korea? Let’s practice together!
You can get a shop clerk's attention with 저기요, 여기요, or, if you're feeling more polite, 실례합니다.
Then hold up the item you want to ask about and say
여기요, 이거 얼마예요?
얼마 means "how much." 이거 literally means "this thing”: 이 means “this,” and 거 means “thing.”
What if you don’t want to ask about *this* thing, you want to ask about *that* thing
If the item is near the shopkeeper, point at it and say
그거 얼마에요?
그 means “that [near you]” and 거 means “thing,” so 그거 means "that thing near you."
If the item is far from both you and the shopkeeper, point and say
저거 얼마에요?
저 means “that [over there]” and 거 means “thing,” so 저거 means "that thing over there."
Notice how Korean has two different words for “that”? You need to use a different word depending on how far away the object is from the listener.
At this point the shop clerk will say the price. When you count money, you can use the counting unit 원, the name of the Korean currency.
So if the clerk tells you, "구백원이에요," how much is the item?
As you remember, 구 means nine, and 백 means one hundred. So 구백 means nine hundred.
이에요 is the verb meaning ‘to be’. So 구백원이에요 means “it costs 900 won.”
Now it’s time for Amy’s insights.
What if it turns out that the item you're asking about is free? Hey, it could happen! In Korean there are two ways to say "free of charge." The standard way is 무료. A more casual way is 공짜. Remember that 공 is one way to say "zero"? Makes sense, right?
Finally, note that while we say “one hundred” in English, we wouldn’t say 일백 in Korean. We just say 백.
The same goes for other counting units. So, you can say One hundred won in Korean as 백원, not 일백원.
Now when you ask the cost of things, you can understand any price up to 999 won! But that's not a lot of money in Korea; most things cost a lot more than that. So in the next lesson we'll learn more about the won and how to count above 1000.
I'll be waiting for you in our next 삼분 한국어 lesson.
다음에 또 만나요!

Comments

Hide