Days & Time

Korean Basic Conversation 1

Chapter 7 · Days, Dates & Telling the Time

📅 Days, Dates & Telling the Time — 요일, 날짜, 시간

This chapter has three parts: Part 1 days of the week, months and dates; Part 2 telling the time; Part 3 making plans. The key rule is the one from Chapter 3: dates and minutes use Sino-Korean numbers, but hours use native Korean numbers (Korean Grammar 1, chapter 9).

Part 1 · Days, Months & Dates — 요일, 월, 일

Days of the week — 요일

Each day is a one-syllable word plus 요일 ("day of the week"). Remember the two sound changes in the Say it column: the final consonant of the first syllable links to 요일.

Months — 월

Sino-Korean number + 월. Two months are irregular: June is 유월 (not 육월) and October is 시월 (not 십월).

Dates — 일

The day of the month is a Sino-Korean number + 일: 오 일 (5th), 십오 일 (15th), 이십삼 일 (23rd). Ask "which month" with 몇 월 and "which day of the month" with 며칠 (never 몇일). Korean dates go from big to small: year → month → day, so 10 October 2026 is 이천이십육 년 시월 십 일.

Part 2 · Telling the Time — 시간

Hours — native numbers + 시

Four native numbers shorten before 시: 한, 두, 세, 네. So 1 o'clock is 한 시, not 하나 시.

Minutes — Sino-Korean numbers + 분

반 means "half", so 세 시 반 is "half past three". Add 오전 (morning, a.m.) or 오후 (afternoon/evening, p.m.) in front when it is not clear from context: 오전 열 시 = 10 a.m., 오후 일곱 시 = 7 p.m. To say at a time, add 에: 세 시에 만나요.

Part 3 · Making Plans — 약속

🗝️ Key Phrases — 중요한 표현

🔤 Three Verbs You Can Already Use — 동사

📖 Vocabulary — 어휘

✍️ Try It Yourself — 연습

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.