{"id":79579,"date":"2022-07-11T17:44:34","date_gmt":"2022-07-11T21:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/time-in-korean\/"},"modified":"2025-06-09T12:16:22","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T16:16:22","slug":"time-in-korean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/korean\/time-in-korean\/","title":{"rendered":"The Quick Guide to Telling Time in Korean"},"content":{"rendered":"

Racing against the clock to achieve Korean fluency<\/a>?<\/p>\n

That’s great, but remember, you have to learn how to read the clock, too.<\/p>\n

In this guide, I’ll explain how to easily tell the time in Korean, including which number system to use, useful time-related phrases, and how to ask someone else for the time.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]
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How to Tell The Time in Korean: A Quick Overview<\/h2>\n

To tell the time in Korean, you use the native Korean number system (\ud558\ub098, \ub458, \uc14b) for the hour, and the Sino-Korean number system (\uc77c, \uc774, \uc0bc) for the minute.<\/p>\n

After the hour, you put \uc2dc, and after the minute you put \ubd84. So for example, if you wanted to say 1:45, you would say \ud55c \uc2dc<\/strong> \uc0ac\uc2ed\uc624 \ubd84<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

To learn more about native Korean numbers vs. Sino-Korean numbers, check out this video:<\/p>\n

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Keep reading to learn more about how to talk about the time, including how to put it into a sentence, and specify the time of day.<\/p>\n

How to Say The Hour in Korean <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Let’s start with the big hand of the clock first: the hour.<\/p>\n

Use native Korean numbers for the hour
\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When talking about the hour of the day, you use native Korean numbers (the \ud558\ub098, \ub458, \uc14b system).<\/p>\n

Luckily, you only need to focus on numbers one to twelve<\/strong> to go around the clock!<\/p>\n

But you might be wondering\u2014what about the 24-hour clock?<\/p>\n

The 24-hour system<\/strong>, also known as military time, isn’t as commonly used as the 12-hour system. It’s used within the military (naturally) and sometimes for transit schedules like bus or plane timetables.<\/p>\n

So the most likely scenario where you’ll encounter the 24-hour system is traveling around Korea<\/a> and taking public transport<\/a> (which will probably be inevitable, especially in the busy Seoul city).<\/p>\n

Even then, the 24-hour system is typically written in text and not spoken in everyday conversation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The one major difference is that the 24-hour clock only uses Sino-Korean numbers. <\/strong>Remember this if you’re set on using this system, whether you’re an army enlistee<\/a> or just think that military time sounds cooler.<\/p>\n

Follow the hour number with \uc2dc<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Once you’ve got down the hour number, there’s one more step: adding the word \uc2dc after it.<\/p>\n

\uc2dc is actually a counter word used for denoting the hour. It can essentially translate to “o’clock.” Without \uc2dc, you might sound as if you’re just sounding off numbers.<\/p>\n

So let’s spin the big hand of the clock, Korean-style.<\/p>\n