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How much is it?

Day 10 of 90~10 minAsk prices and understand won
Romanisation help

Today day 8's numbers go to work on prices. The one hard idea is that Korean counts large numbers in units of ten thousand rather than thousands. By the end you can ask what something costs, follow the answer, and ask whether you can pay by card.

How much is it?

One question word, 얼마 (eolma), and answers built on 원:

eolmayeyo?
How much is it?
얼마 is how much. It ends in a vowel, so 예요.
igeo eolmayeyo?
How much is this?
Day 4's 이거, marker dropped as usual in speech, with a finger on the thing.
jeonbu eolmayeyo?
How much is it altogether?
전부 means all of it. Useful at a till with several things.
ocheon wonieyo.
It is 5,000 won.
원 is the won. It ends in ㄴ, so 이에요, said wo-ni-e-yo.
Why it works

얼마예요? has the same frame as day 4's 이게 뭐예요?: a question word followed by 'is', and the answer drops the price into the same slot. Prices are always Sino-Korean, day 8's set, because money is measured rather than counted item by item. 원 ends in a consonant, so every price you hear ends in 원이에요, whatever the number. That gives you a fixed landmark at the end of the sentence while you are still working out the figure.

Thousands and ten thousands

The two units you hear in every price:

cheon won
1,000 won
천 is a thousand. As with 백 on day 8, there is no 일 in front: just 천.
man won
10,000 won
만 is ten thousand, a unit in its own right, and again there is no 일 in front.
samman won
30,000 won
Three 만. 오만 원 (oman won), five 만, is 50,000, the largest note.
man icheon won
12,000 won
One 만 and two 천. Written out in Hangul, a number gets a space after its 만 group.
Why it works

English groups big numbers in threes, thousands and then millions, and the commas follow suit. Korean groups them in fours, and 만, ten thousand, is the unit it builds on: 50,000 is 오만, five 만, and 100,000 is 십만 (simman), ten 만. The trick for reading a price is to move the comma one place to the left in your head, so 50,000 becomes 5,0000 and the 5 is the number of 만. Expect this to feel slow for weeks, because English habit keeps splitting the number at the thousand.

Too dear, and paying

What to say once you know the price:

bissayo.
It is expensive.
Said of a thing or a place. With a sigh, it doubles as a hint.
ssayo.
It is cheap.
The ㅆ is tense, with no puff of air. Cheap is praise here, not an insult.
jom kkakka juseyo.
Could you knock a bit off?
좀 is a little, and 깎아 comes from 깎다, to cut down. Traditional markets only, never in shops with price tags.
kadeu dwaeyo?
Can I pay by card?
Literally 'does card work?'. The answer is nearly always 네, 돼요.
Why it works

좀 깎아 주세요 is the 주세요 pattern from day 6: 'cut it down a little for me'. 깎다 means to pare or shave, as you would an apple, and bargaining is pictured as paring the price. 좀 softens the whole request, like just or a bit, and without it the sentence sounds like an order. 카드 돼요? uses 되다, a verb meaning to become or to work, so rather than asking permission you ask whether card works here, which is how Koreans ask about almost any service.

isip
twenty
han gae
one (thing)
myeot gaeyeyo?
How many are there?
igeo isseoyo?
Do you have this?

📋 Today’s words 12

eolmayeyo?
How much is it?
igeo eolmayeyo?
How much is this?
jeonbu eolmayeyo?
How much is it altogether?
ocheon wonieyo.
It is 5,000 won.
cheon won
1,000 won
man won
10,000 won
samman won
30,000 won
man icheon won
12,000 won
bissayo.
It is expensive.
ssayo.
It is cheap.
jom kkakka juseyo.
Could you knock a bit off?
kadeu dwaeyo?
Can I pay by card?

Check yourself

8 questions. Get 5 right to finish the day.

🖌 Writing practice optional