Money & Shopping: Prices and Calculations
Learn to read and use Korean won amounts, ask prices, give change, and handle money in everyday situations.
Korean won amounts are read in Sino-Korean using a grouping system based on 만 (10,000) rather than 1,000. This is the same as Japanese 万 and is one of the first concrete advantages Japanese speakers have when handling Korean money. 10,000 won is 만 원 (one 만), 100,000 won is 십만 원 (ten 만), 1,000,000 won is 백만 원 (hundred 만).
In 2026 most Korean payment is cashless, but knowing how to read amounts on receipts, ATMs, and price tags remains essential. Common phrases at the cash register: 얼마예요? (how much?), 카드 되나요? (can I pay by card?), 영수증 주세요 (receipt please), 봉투 필요해요 (I need a bag — note that bags often cost extra in Korea). Practice especially with prices in the 5,000–50,000 won range, which is where most everyday transactions sit.
Korean Number Units: 천, 만, 십만, 백만
Korean groups large numbers by 만(10,000), not 1,000. 천(1,000), 만(10,000), 십만(100,000), 백만(1,000,000), 천만(10,000,000), 억(100,000,000). Example: 35,000 = 삼만 오천 (3-만 5-천).
Asking Price & Negotiating
Key shopping expressions: 얼마예요?(How much?), 깎아 주세요(Please lower the price), 너무 비싸요(Too expensive), 조금 더 싸게 해 주세요(Please make it a bit cheaper), 합계가 얼마예요?(What is the total?).
How It Works
The single thing that makes Korean money hard is the grouping. English groups digits by thousands — thousand, million, billion — while Korean groups by 만, which is ten thousand. The units are 천 (1,000), 만 (10,000), 십만 (100,000), 백만 (1,000,000), 천만 (10,000,000) and 억 (100,000,000).
This means the mental arithmetic is not a translation but a regrouping. 35,000 is read as 삼만 오천 — three 만 plus five 천. 75,000 is 칠만 오천. 500,000 is 오십만. An English speaker instinctively parses 500,000 as 'five hundred thousand' and has to actively convert it to 'fifty 만'.
Japanese speakers have a decisive advantage here, because Japanese groups identically with 万. 삼만 오천 and 三万五千 are the same structure, so the conversion is direct and no regrouping is needed at all.
All amounts use Sino-Korean numbers, consistent with the domain split from Lesson 3-8. One point to note: for 만 alone Koreans say 만 원, not 일만 원, dropping the 일 — though 십만 and above keep their multiplier.
얼마 is the question word for price and behaves like a noun, so it takes the copula: 얼마예요?
Where You'll Hear It
얼마예요? is the question you will ask most often after 어디예요?. It works for a single item, and 두 개에 얼마예요? asks the price for a pair — the 에 here meaning 'for'.
Prices in the 만 range are the everyday case. A meal is often 팔천 원 or 만 이천 원; a jacket might be 오만 원. Since these are the amounts you actually encounter, drilling them is more useful than practising abstract large numbers.
Bargaining is real in traditional markets and largely absent in shops and chains. 조금 더 싸게 해 주세요 works at a market stall in Dongdaemun or Namdaemun but would be out of place in a department store or convenience store, where prices are fixed. Knowing where the phrase belongs matters as much as knowing the phrase.
영수증 ('receipt') is worth having ready, since staff often ask 영수증 필요하세요? at checkout and a simple 네 or 괜찮아요 completes the exchange. 거스름돈 ('change') comes up less often now that card payment dominates, but cash is still common at markets and older establishments.
Cultural & Language Note
Korean groups large numbers in units of 만 (10,000) rather than thousands, which is why 100,000 is 십만 — literally 'ten ten-thousands'. Japanese does exactly the same with 万, so Japanese speakers can convert instantly while English speakers must rebuild their mental grouping. With the won trading in the low thousands to the dollar, everyday prices routinely reach five and six figures.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Koreans say 만 원, never 일만 원 — the 일 is dropped for exactly 10,000, though it returns in 십일만. Learners also apply English grouping and try to say '100 thousand' as 백천, which is meaningless in Korean. Practise reading prices off real menus; the grouping becomes automatic much faster than drilling abstract numbers.
How to Practice This Lesson
Japanese speakers should skip the regrouping drills entirely and spend the time on production speed. Write ten realistic Korean prices in digits, then read each aloud with a timer. The goal is to say 칠만 오천 원 without a pause, which is a mouth skill rather than a maths skill.
Everyone should practise with real material. Find photos of Korean menus or shop shelves online and read every price on them. Realistic amounts cluster in a narrow range, so a few sessions cover most of what you will ever meet.
Then rehearse the full transaction as a script: 이거 얼마예요? — 만 오천 원이에요. — 카드 되나요? — 네. — 영수증 필요하세요? — 괜찮아요. Practising the whole exchange rather than isolated phrases means you are ready for the sequence, which is what actually happens at a till.