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HOW TO WRITE KOREAN DATES
Writing the date in Korean may be a bit different than in your native language.
Not only the order of day/month/year might be different, but you have to be aware of the two Korean numbering systems as well.
KOREAN DATE FORMAT
In Korean, the date is written in the following order:
PATTERN
Year + Month + Day
| YEAR | MONTH | DAY |
|---|---|---|
| 년 nyeon | 월 wol | 일 il |
For example, April 14th, 2024 in Korean would be 2024년 4월 14일.
YEARS IN KOREAN
In Korean, there are two types of number system: 1) Native Korean Numbers (Korean System) and 2) Sino-Korean Numbers (Chinese System).
The year in Korean is expressed in Sino-Korean numbers.
The table below provides useful Sino-Korean numbers to know to say years in Korean:
| NUMERAL | SINO KOREAN | NUMERAL | SINO KOREAN | NUMERAL | SINO KOREAN | NUMERAL | SINO KOREAN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000 | 천 cheon | 100 | 백 baek | 10 | 십 sip | 1 | 일 il |
| 2000 | 이천 icheon | 200 | 이백 ibaek | 20 | 이십 isip | 2 | 이 i |
| 300 | 삼백 sam baek | 30 | 삼십 samsip | 3 | 삼 sam | ||
| 400 | 사백 sa baek | 40 | 사십 sasip | 4 | 사 sa | ||
| 500 | 오백 obaek | 50 | 오십 osip | 5 | 오 o | ||
| 600 | 육백 yukbaek | 60 | 육십 yuksip | 6 | 육 yuk | ||
| 700 | 칠백 chilbaek | 70 | 칠십 chilsip | 7 | 칠 chil | ||
| 800 | 팔백 palbaek | 80 | 팔십 palsip | 8 | 팔 pal | ||
| 900 | 구백 gubaek | 90 | 구십 gusip | 9 | 구 gu |
Examples:
Year 1998: 천 구백 구십 팔 년
Year 2020: 이천 이십 년
MONTHS & DATES IN KOREAN
Let’s see what comes next. Saying the months and dates in Korean is very simple:
| MONTHS | DAYS |
|---|---|
| The Sino-Korean number of the month + 월 (wol) | The Sino-Korean number of the days + 일 (il) |
Following this simple rule, January to December can be written in Korean as following:
| January | 1월 | 일월 (ilwol) |
| February | 2월 | 이월 (iwol) |
| March | 3월 | 삼월 (samwol) |
| April | 4월 | 사월 (sawol) |
| May | 5월 | 오월 (owol) |
| June | 6월 | 유월 (yuwol) |
| July | 7월 | 칠월 (chilwol) |
| August | 8월 | 팔월 (palwol) |
| September | 9월 | 구월 (guwol) |
| October | 10월 | 시월 (siwol) |
| November | 11월 | 십일월 (sibilwol) |
| December | 12월 | 십이월 (sibiwol) |
Adding month and year together, the dates can be written in Korean as following examples:
| January 3, 2002 | 이천이년 일월 삼일 |
| February 24, 1999 | 천구백구십년 이월 이십사일 |
| March 18, 2020 | 이천이십년 삼월 십팔일 |
ASKING ABOUT THE DATE
There are typically two ways to ask questions about dates in Korean.
- What date is it today?
- What month and date is it today?
To ask questions about dates in Korean, the question word ‘몇 (=how many/how much) is used.
| WHAT DATE IS IT TODAY? | WHAT MONTH AND DATE IS IT TODAY? |
|---|---|
| 오늘은 몇 일 입니까? | 오늘은 몇 월 몇 일 입니까? |
Answering the question about dates is straightforward. You simply have to follow the rules described above on how to say month and date in Korean!
| IT’S 23RD TODAY. | IT’S MARCH 27TH TODAY. |
|---|---|
| 오늘은 이십삼일 입니다. | 오늘은 삼월 이십칠일 입니다. |
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MORE RESOURCES
Want to learn more? Check out these other free resources:
- Learn how to write dates in Mandarin
- Learn how to write dates in Japanese
- Learn how to write dates in Vietnamese
FAQs
What is the Korean date format?
The Korean date format is Year (년) / Month (월) / Day (일).
For example, April 14th, 2023 in Korean would be 2023년 4월 14일.
How to write the date in Korean?
First of all the date in Korean is written with Sino-Korean numbers, so make sure to brush up your knowledge here.
The Korean dates follow the pattern (년) / Month (월) / Day (일).
For example, April 14th, 2023 in Korean would be 2023년 4월 14일.
How to ask for the date in Korean?
There is two ways to ask for the date in Korean:
What date is it today? 오늘은 몇 일 입니까?
What month and date is it today? 오늘은 몇 월 몇 일 입니까?
What are the two Korean numbering systems?
There are two different numbering systems in Korean – native Korean and Sino-Korean.
Native Korean numbering originates from Korea, while Sino-Korean numbering derives from China.
Both systems are commonly used, though in different contexts.
For example, when telling the time, the hour is spoken in native Korean, while the minutes are in Sino-Korean! Confusing right?!
Where to get more free Korean lessons?
You can get more free Korean lessons on our Korean Grammar Bank.
We regularly add more lessons, so make sure to bookmark this page and come back to see what’s new.
Can I learn Korean with LTL Language School?
Yes!
Learn Korean with a professional live teacher online on Flexi Classes, or in person in Seoul, for both group and individual classes.
Feel free to contact us if you need to speak directly with a LTL Student Advisor.
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MORE FREE LESSONS
-
Basic sentence structure
Subject + Verb -
Present Tense
Verb + 아요 -
Present progressive tense in Korean
Verb stem + -고 있다 -
Past Tense
Verb + 았어요 -
Past progressive tense in Korean
Verb Stem + 고 있었다 -
Future Tense
Verb + -ㄹ거예요 -
Negative Form
안 + Verb / Adjective -
Korean plurals with 들
Noun + 들 -
Adjectives in Korean
Subject (은/는/이/가) + Infinitive Adjective -
Irregular adjectives in Korean
ㅂ Irregular: 쉽다 → 쉬워요 -
Korean particles (은/는, 이/가, 을/를)
Noun + 은 / 는 -
Place & time particles 에 and 에서
Noun + 에 -
Direction particle -로 and -으로
Noun + (으)로 -
Possessive Particle 의
Noun + 의 -
Common Korean prepositions
안, 밖, 앞, 위, 아래, 왼쪽, 오른쪽 + article -
Writing dates in Korean
Year + Month + Day -
Telling time in Korean
Hour + Minute (+Half) -
Writing dates in Korean
Year + Month + Day -
Asking questions in Korean
누구, 언제, 어디 etc -
Age in Korean
*몇 년* 생이세요? -
Sequential actions in Korean
Verb Stem + -고 나서 + Next Action -
Expressing "but" in Korean
Phrase 1 + 하지만 + Phrase 2 -
Expressing "because" in Korean
Verb / adjective ending with 아 + 서 -
Expressing "too/also" in Korean
Subject + Object + 도 -
Expressing "or" in Korean
Noun + (이)나 + Noun -
Korean measure words for general objects
Object + Number + Measure Word -
Korean measure words for living beings
Object + Number + Measure Word -
Korean measure words for specific items
Object + Number + Measure Word -
Expressing capacity in Korean
Verb + ᄅ/을 수 있다 -
Expressing acts of service in Korean
Verb Stem + -아/어 주다 -
Expressing desire in Korean
Verb + ~하기를 원하다 -
Expressing confirmation in Korean
Verb / Adjective / Noun + (이)지요