Telling Time, Days and Dates
Tell the time with native hours and Sino-Korean minutes, name the days of the week, and say full dates in Korean order: year, month, day.
Mr. Gaon · Grammar, vocabulary & TOPIKWhat you will learn in this lesson
- Ask and tell the time: 몇 시예요?
- Combine native hours (시) and Sino-Korean minutes (분)
- Name the seven days of the week
- Say dates in the order year–month–day and ask 며칠이에요?
Today we use both number systems together. It may feel strange at first that one time needs two kinds of numbers, but there is a clear rule. Let’s look at it step by step.
Hours are native, minutes are Sino-Korean
When you tell the time in Korean:
Hours (시) use native numbers in their short counter forms: 한 시, 두 시, 세 시, 네 시… 열두 시.
Minutes (분) and seconds (초) use Sino-Korean numbers: 오 분, 십 분, 삼십 분.
So 3:15 is 세 시 십오 분. There is no exception to this rule for the clock, so once you know it, you can say any time of day.
Thirty minutes past the hour can also be said with 반 (half): 두 시 반 means 2:30.
The hours
| Time | Korean | Time | Korean |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1:00 | 한 시 | 7:00 | 일곱 시 |
| 2:00 | 두 시 | 8:00 | 여덟 시 |
| 3:00 | 세 시 | 9:00 | 아홉 시 |
| 4:00 | 네 시 | 10:00 | 열 시 |
| 5:00 | 다섯 시 | 11:00 | 열한 시 |
| 6:00 | 여섯 시 | 12:00 | 열두 시 |
Korean usually uses the 12-hour clock in speech, with 오전 (a.m.) and 오후 (p.m.).
telling the time
- Ask: 지금 몇 시예요? “What time is it now?”
- Answer: hour + 시 + minutes + 분 + 이에요/예요.
- Use 반 for half past: 다섯 시 반.
- Add 오전 (a.m.) or 오후 (p.m.) before the time when needed.
- Use 에 for “at”: 일곱 시에 일어나요 “I get up at seven.”
- 지금 몇 시예요? [지금 멷 씨예요] jigeum myeot siyeyo?What time is it now?
- 세 시 십오 분이에요. [세 시 시보 부니에요] se si sibo bunieyo.It’s 3:15.
- 두 시 반이에요. [두 시 바니에요] du si banieyo.It’s 2:30.
- 오후 여섯 시 사십 분이에요. [오후 여섣 씨 사십 뿌니에요] ohu yeoseot si sasip bunieyo.It’s 6:40 p.m.
- 아침 일곱 시에 일어나요. [아침 일곱 씨에 이러나요] achim ilgop sie ireonayo.I get up at 7 in the morning.
- 몇 시에 만나요? [멷 씨에 만나요] myeot sie mannayo?What time shall we meet?
A quick memory aid: the hour is like counting things, so it uses native numbers. Minutes are measured, like money, so they use Sino-Korean numbers. If you ever say 삼 시, people will understand, but it sounds like a beginner mistake.
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Parts of the day
Koreans often use a part of the day instead of 오전 or 오후.
새벽 — early morning, before sunrise (about 1–5 a.m.)
아침 — morning
점심 — noon / lunchtime
저녁 — evening
밤 — night
아침, 점심 and 저녁 also mean breakfast, lunch and dinner. 아침 먹었어요? means “Did you have breakfast?”
Days of the week
| Day | Korean | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 월요일 | [워료일] |
| Tuesday | 화요일 | [화요일] |
| Wednesday | 수요일 | [수요일] |
| Thursday | 목요일 | [모교일] |
| Friday | 금요일 | [그묘일] |
| Saturday | 토요일 | [토요일] |
| Sunday | 일요일 | [이료일] |
The first syllables mean moon, fire, water, wood, metal, earth and sun. Ask 무슨 요일이에요? “What day is it?”
dates: year, month, day (all Sino-Korean)
- Korean dates go from big to small: year → month → day.
- All three use Sino-Korean numbers: 이천이십육 년 시월 십이 일.
- Remember the irregular months 유월 and 시월.
- Ask the date with 며칠이에요? The spelling is 며칠, never 몇 일.
- Ask the month with 몇 월이에요? [며둴].
- 오늘이 며칠이에요? [오느리 며치리에요] oneuri myeochirieyo?What’s the date today?
- 시월 십이 일이에요. [시월 시비이리에요] siwol sibi irieyo.It’s October 12th.
- 생일이 언제예요? [생이리 언제예요] saengiri eonjeyeyo?When is your birthday?
- 유월 이십 일이에요. [유월 이시비리에요] yuwol isip irieyo.It’s June 20th.
- 이천십 년에 태어났어요. [이천심녀네 태어나써요] icheonsip nyeone taeeonasseoyo.I was born in 2010.
Time words
- 어제 eoje yesterday
- 오늘 oneul today
- 내일 naeil tomorrow
- 모레 more the day after tomorrow
- 지난주 jinanju last week
- 이번 주 [이번 쭈] ibeon ju this week
- 다음 주 [다음 쭈] daeum ju next week
- 주말 jumal weekend
- 평일 pyeongil weekday
- 오전 ojeon a.m., morning
- 오후 ohu p.m., afternoon
- 생일 saengil birthday
When to use 에
- 세 시에 만나요. se sie mannayo. Let’s meet at three. Clock times take 에.
- 금요일에 영화를 봐요. [그묘이레 영화를 봐요] geumyoire yeonghwareul bwayo. I watch a movie on Friday. Days and dates take 에.
- 내일 만나요. naeil mannayo. See you tomorrow. 어제, 오늘, 내일 and 지금 do NOT take 에.
Making plans
Useful time expressions
Here are a few more expressions you will hear often. 정각 means “exactly on the hour”: 세 시 정각 is exactly three o’clock. 쯤 means “about”: 일곱 시쯤 is around seven. 전 means “before” and 후 means “after”: 수업 전에 (before class), 수업 후에 (after class).
To say minutes before the hour, Koreans use 전: 다섯 시 오 분 전 means “five minutes to five” (4:55). In formal settings like train stations and TV schedules, you will also hear the 24-hour clock with Sino-Korean numbers, but in daily conversation the 12-hour clock with native hours is much more common.
Check quiz
Q1. How do you say 4:10?
Q2. What does 일곱 시 반 mean?
Q3. Which is the correct spelling for “what date”?
Q4. What day is 목요일?
Q5. Which sentence is NOT natural?
Q6. How do you say June 6th?
Great job! Each morning this week, say the date, the day and the time in Korean. For example: 오늘은 시월 십이 일, 월요일이에요. 지금 여덟 시예요. Small daily habits make a big difference.
Key points
- Hours use native numbers (세 시); minutes use Sino-Korean (십오 분).
- 반 = half past; 오전 = a.m.; 오후 = p.m.
- Days: 월, 화, 수, 목, 금, 토, 일 + 요일.
- Dates go year → month → day with Sino-Korean numbers.
- Ask the date with 며칠이에요? (never 몇 일).
- Times and days take 에, but 어제, 오늘, 내일 do not.
Recommended official free resources
- Korean Basic Dictionary (11 languages) — National Institute of Korean Language
- TOPIK — Test of Proficiency in Korean — TOPIK official site (NIIED)
🔢 Number and unit reference table and reading converter →
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