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Lesson 10

Lesson 10. Measuring in Korean

Learn how to use and understand common measurements in Korean, including weight, length, volume, area, and cooking-specific units.

Note that for most measurements where numbers can get rather big, you use Sino-Korean numbers. Korea uses the metric system for most measurements (meters, kilograms, liters) except for some older units like 평 [pyeong] for area.

Length and distance

Key vocabulary

  • height = 길이 [gi-ri]
  • distance = 거리 [geo-ri]
  • thickness = 두께 [du-kke]
  • meter = 미터 [mi-teo]
  • centimeter = 센티미터 [sen-ti-mi-teo] = 센티
  • kilometer = 킬로미터 [kil-lo-mi-teo] = 킬로 (*often pronounced as 키로 [ki-ro] in spoken Korean)
  • millimeter = 밀리미터 [mil-li-mi-teo] = 밀리 (*often pronounced as 미리 [mi-ri] in spoken Korean)
  • inch = 인치 [in-chi]
  • feet = 피트 [pi-teu]
  • mile = 마일 [ma-il]

When you want to describe the length of something, you can use the structure of “[number] + unit + -이에요/예요”.

  • 이 침대는 2미터예요. [i chim-dae-neun i-mi-teo-ye-yo.] = This bed is two meters long.

But if you’d like to make the “long/length” part clearer, you can say 이 침대는 길이가 2미터예요. (As for this bed, the length is 2 meters.) In this case, the sentence takes the structure of A는 B가 C예요.

A = object/person
B = measured element (height, distance, thickness, etc.)
C = number

More examples

  • 저는 키가 180센티미터예요. [jeo-neun ki-ga baek-pal-ssip-ssen-ti-mi-teo-ye-yo.] = I’m 180 centimeters tall. / My height is 180 centimeters. / As for me, the height is 180 centimeters.
  • 서울에서 부산까지는 거리가 352킬로미터예요. [seo-u-re-seo bu-san-kka-ji-neun geo-ri-ga sam-bae-go-si-bi-kil-lo-mi-teo-ye-yo.] = The distance from Seoul to Busan is 352 kilometers.
  • 이 책은 두께가 5센티미터예요. [i chae-geun du-kke-ga o-ssen-ti-mi-teo-ye-yo.] = As for this book, the thickness is 5 centimeters. / This book is 5 centimeters thick.

Weight and volume

The sentence structure of “A는 B가 C예요” introduced above also applies to weight and volume.

Key vocabulary

  • weight = 무게 [mu-ge]
  • volume = 부피 [bu-pi]
  • gram = 그램 [geu-raem]
  • kilogram = 킬로그램 [kil-lo-geu-raem] = 킬로 (*often pronounced as 키로 [ki-ro] in spoken Korean)
  • milligram = 밀리그램 [mil-li-geu-raem] = 밀리 (*often pronounced as 미리 [mi-ri] in spoken Korean)
  • liter = 리터 [ri-teo]
  • milliliter = 밀리리터 [mil-li-ri-teo] = 밀리 (*often pronounced as 미리 in spoken Korean)

Examples

  • 이 상자는 5킬로그램이에요. [i sang-ja-neun o-kil-lo-geu-rae-mi-e-yo.] = This box weighs 5 kilograms.
  • 이 상자는 무게가 5킬로그램이에요. [i sang-ja-neun mu-ge-ga o-kil-lo-geu-rae-mi-e-yo.] = This box weighs 5 kilograms. / As for this box, the weight is 5 kilograms.
  • 물 2리터가 필요해요. [mul i-ri-teo-ga pi-ryo-hae-yo.] = I need two liters of water.

Area and space

Key vocabulary

  • square meter = 제곱미터 [je-gom-mi-teo] (제곱 means “squared” in math.)
  • area size = 면적 [myeon-jeok]
  • width = 폭 [pok], 너비 [neo-bi] (how wide something is horizontally)
  • length = 길이

In addition to the metric system (meters, square meters) and the U.S. customary system (inches, square feet), the unit 평 is also still commonly used in Korea.

1평 [일평] = 3.3058 square meters (m²) or 35.58 square feet (ft²)
20평 [이십평] = 66.12 m² or 711.6 ft²
30평 [삼십평] = 99.17 m² or 1,067.4 ft²

The 평 is still commonly used for real estate (apartments, houses, and land), even though the official standard is the metric system. So a lot of apps and online services offer units in both 평 and meters.

Cooking measurements

Key vocabulary for units

  • 큰 술 [keun sul] = tablespoon (술 here doesn’t mean “alcohol”. It means “spoon” or a “spoonful” of something.)
  • 작은 술 [ja-geun sul] = teaspoon
  • 컵 = cup
  • 장 = slice or sheet (seaweed, sliced cheese, etc.)
  • 줌 [jum] = a handful (bean sprouts, chives, spinach, etc.) (a pinch of salt or sugar is often expressed with 꼬집, but it is not a word in the dictionary.)

For these cooking units, you usually native Korean numbers, except for when you talk about grams or liters, because those numbers can easily be in the hundreds. (한 큰 술, 두 작은 술, 한 컵, etc.)

And these verbs are commonly used together with measurement units.

  • 섞다 [seok-tta] = to mix
  • 붓다 [but-tta] = to pour
  • 넣다 [neo-ta] = to add

Examples

  • 간장 한 큰 술을 넣으세요. [gan-jang han keun su-reul neo-eu-se-yo.] = Add one tablespoon of soy sauce.
  • 밀가루 삼백 그램과 물을 섞으세요. [mil-kka-ru sam-baek geu-raem-gwa mu-reul seo-kkeu-se-yo.] = Mix 300 grams of flour with water.
  • 올리브 오일을 50 밀리그램 부으세요. [ol-li-beu o-i-reul o-sip mil-li-geu-raem bu-eu-se-yo.] = Pour 50 milligrams of olive oil.

Questions about measurements

In practical scenarios, knowing how to ask questions about measurements is also important. Practice with these sentence structures.

  • 몇 + unit + -이에요/예요?
    • 몇 그램이에요? = How many grams is it?
    • 몇 미터예요? = How many meters is it?
  • 얼마나 [eol-ma-na] + verb (= How much)
    • 얼마나 필요해요? = How much do you need?
    • 얼마나 넣어요? = How much do I add?
  • element + 어떻게[eo-tteo-kke]/얼마나 돼요? (= What’s the …?)
    • 크기가 어떻게 돼요? = What’s the size? / How big is it?
    • 거리가 얼마나 돼요? = What’s the distance? / How far is it?