Lesson 12
After studying with this lesson, you will be able to say and identify the months of the year and the days in a month in Korean. You will also be able to answer questions regarding the date as well as ask questions related to dates.
Names of the months
In Korean, the names for the 12 months in a year are very simple. Just add the
word 월 [wol], which means “month”, after every corresponding sino-Korean number.
January: 1월 [i-rwol]
February: 2월 [i-wol]
March: 3월 [sa-mwol]
April: 4월 [sa-wol]
May: 5월 [o-wol]
June: 6월 [yu-wol]
July: 7월 [chi-rwol]
August: 8월 [pa-rwol]
September: 9월 [gu-wol]
October: 10월 [si-wol]
November: 11월 [si-bi-rwol]
December: 12월 [si-bi-wol]
Which month: 몇 월 [myeot wol = myeo-dwol]
Days in a month
Simply add the sino-Korean number to the Korean word 일 [il], which means “day”.
Ex)
1 + 일 = 1일 [i-ril]
2 + 일 = 2일 [i-il]
.
.
.
29 + 일 = 29일 [i-sip-gu-il]
30 + 일 = 30일 [sam-si-bil]
What date: 며칠 [myeo-chil]
* The expression몇 월 is a simple combination of 몇 (which, how many) and 월 (month), whereas 며칠 doesn’t use 일 as a component. It’s often misunderstood as a mix of 몇 and 일 (day), so you will see a lot of Korean speakers writing it as 몇 일, too.
What month and what date: 몇 월 며칠 [myeo-dwol myeo-chil]
Sample Sentences
몇 월 며칠이에요? [myeo-dwol myeo-chi-ri-e-yo?] = What is the date?
오늘 몇 월 며칠이에요? [o-neul] = What is today’s date?
생일이 몇 월 며칠이에요? [saeng-i-ri] = What date is your birthday?
When mentioning a specific day, 언제 [eon-je], which means “when”, can also be used.
생일이 언제예요? [eon-je-ye-yo?] = When is your birthday?