Weekdays in Korean (요일)
In Korean, the days of the week are based on the Sino-Korean system, which assigns each day a different element or celestial body.
This concept is rooted in ancient Chinese philosophy and astrology, which influenced Korean culture as well.
Here's how to say each day:
- 월요일 (Wol-yo-il)Monday (Moon day)
- 화요일 (Hwa-yo-il)Tuesday (Fire day)
- 수요일 (Su-yo-il)Wednesday (Water day)
- 목요일 (Mok-yo-il)Thursday (Wood day)
- 금요일 (Geum-yo-il)Friday (Gold day)
- 토요일 (To-yo-il)Saturday (Earth day)
- 요요일 (Il-yo-il)Sunday (Sun day)
Exemple sentences:
- 오늘은 금요일입니다Today is Friday
- 일요일에 유명한 축체 있어요There is a famous festival on sunday
- 토요일에 비가 와요It rains on saturday
The particle "에" at the end of a word is used as a time marker. It is very important to know that.
Months
Months in Korean are quite easy because they simply follow the numbers (1 to 12) with the word 월 which means "month”.
Contrary to english, they don’t have a specific name like “January”, but only “first month”.
However, you need to know the sino-korean numbers
- 1월January
- 2월February
- 3월March
- 4월April
- 5월May
- 6월June
- 7월July
- 8월August
- 9월September
- 10월October
- 11월November
- 12월December
There is 2 pronounciation exceptions you need to know:
- 6월 is not pronounced 육월 but 유월
- 10월 is not pronounced 십월 but 시월
Then for the day you just use the word 일:
- 1st: 일
- 13th: 13일
Tell the date
In Korean, dates follow the format: year. month. day.
For Example:
- 2024년 9월 8일September 8th, 2024
As you guessed, 년 stands for "year"
- 오늘은 2024년 11월 30일이에요Today is November 30th, 2024
- 제 생일은 4월 5일이에요My birthday is April 5th
- 오늘은 며칠이에요?What day is it today?
- 오늘은 8월 15일입니다.Today is August 15th
Tell the time
To tell the time, use 시 for the hour and 분 for the minute.
Now what is tricky and might seem weird at first is that for telling time you need to use both of the number systems you learned in the previous lessons.
The native-korean numbers are used for the hours, and the sino-korean numbers are used for the minutes
Do not worry, it will become quite easy with some practice!
- 3시 12분3:12
- 2시 45분2:45
If you explicitly want to express AM/PM you can use 오전 (morning) or 오후 (afternoon).
- 지금은 오전 11시 27분이에요 It is 11:27 AM right now
- 우리 회의는 오후 2시에 시작해요Our meeting starts at 2 PM
Expressions for time
Here are some very useful time-related expressions:
- 지금Right now
- 나중에Later
- 주말Weekend
- 오늘Today
- 내일Tomorrow
- 어제Yesterday
- 이번 주This week
- 다음 주Next week
- 지난 주Last week
- 이번 달This month
- 다음 달Next month
- 지난 달Last month
- 올해This year
- 작년Last year
- 내년Next year