Learning How to Talk About Time in Korean

Learning a new language can be a daunting task, especially when you come across new concepts like telling time in a foreign language. This blog article aims to help you with the process of speaking and understanding Korean time, so that you can talk about time with ease.

Subtitle 1: Understanding Korean Time

When speaking about time in Korean, it is important to first know how it is structured. In Korea, the 24-hour clock or military time is used, meaning that the day is divided into two 12-hour parts. The first 12 hours begins at midnight and ends at noon. The second half is the evening, which starts at noon and goes until midnight. If it is evening,ending with midnight, the hour hand points backwards.

Subtitle 2: Expressing Time

When expressing time in Korean, you can use both the 24-hour clock and the 12-hour clock, depending on the preference of the speaker. For example, to say “It is 10 o’clock” in the 24-hour clock, you would say “십시” (shipshee). In the 12-hour clock, you would say “오전십시” (om-shin-shipshee).

In order to express time more precisely, such as 10:15, you would say “십시분틱시“ (shipshee-boon-teeg-shipshee) in the 24-hour clock and “오전십시분틱시” (om-shin-shipshee-boon-teeg-shipshee) in the 12-hour clock.

Subtitle 3: Discussing Time

The Korean language also has various words to discuss the passage of time. For example, if you want to discuss the past, you can say “지난” (jee-nan), which literally means “last night.” To talk about the present, you can say “지금” (jee-geum), which means “now.” And to discuss the future, you can say “내일” (ne-il), which literally means “tomorrow.”

Learning how to talk about time in Korean is a great skill to have and can help you converse with native speakers. With practice and perseverance, you can become more and more comfortable talking about time in Korean.