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To compare: 비교하다
Comparing with 비해다
Orders of Magnitude: 배
Korean Fractions
Vocabulary
Nouns:
화가 = painter
Examples:
이 작품은 화가가 죽기 전에 출시됐어야 해요
= This creation should have been displayed before the artist passed away
화가가 전체 그림의 4 분의 1 을 벽에 그렸어요
= The painter painted one quarter of the whole painting on the wall
우리는 수업 시간에 이 화가를 옛날 화가하고 비교했어요
= During class, we compared this painter with painters from a long time ago
몇몇 훌륭한 화가들의 작품은 아직도 미완성으로 남아 있어요
= The works of some great artists are still left incomplete
밤중 = the middle of the night
Common Usages:
한 밤중 = in the dead of the night, right in the middle of the night
Examples:
밤중에 택시를 타면 가격은 세 배 더 비싸요
= If you take a taxi in the middle of the night, the price is three times more expensive
한 밤중에 갑자기 누군가가 현관문을 두드려서 깜짝 놀랐어요
= In the dead of the night, somebody knocked on my door and it really surprised me
모음 = vowel
Examples:
한국어는 영어에 비해 모음이 더 많아요
= There are more vowels in the Korean language compared to English
자음과 모음을 먼저 배우면 영어 발음을 더 쉽게 익힐 수 있어요
= If you learn consonants and vowels first you can pick up English pronunciation easier
자음 = consonant
Common Usages:
쌍자음 = double consonant (like ㄲ, ㅃ, ㅆ)
Examples:
한국어 자음 중에 발음하기 어려운 자음은 쌍자음이에요
= The most difficult consonants to pronounce in Korean are the double consonants
자음과 모음을 먼저 배우면 영어 발음을 더 쉽게 익힐 수 있어요
= If you learn consonants and vowels first you can pick up English pronunciation easier
인삼 = ginseng
Examples:
한국 사람들은 체력이 딸릴 때 인삼과 홍삼을 주로 먹어요
= Korean people, when they’re bodies get weak, often eat ginseng and red ginseng
인삼은 사람의 체질에 따라 잘 맞는 사람도 있고 잘 안 맞는 사람도 있으니 주의해야 돼요
= Depending on one’s body type, there are some people who ginseng works well on and some who don’t, so you should be careful
성함 = a high respect way to refer to somebody’s name
Common Usages:
성함이 어떻게 되세요? = What is your name?
Examples:
그 사람의 성함을 몰라서 어떻게 되냐고 물어봤어요
= I didn’t know that person’s name so I asked what it is
많은 사람들이 이 수업에 등록했는데 등록한 사람의 성함의 5 분의 1 은 목록에 없어요
= A lot of people registered for this class, but one fifth of the names of the people who registered aren’t on the list
필통 = pencil case
Examples:
요즘에 학생의 3 분의 1 은 그 필통을 가지고 있어요
= These days, one third of students have that pencil case
각 학생마다 개성에 따라 가지고 다니는 필통도 달라요
= As each students’ personality is different, so is the pencil case that they carry around
베개 = pillow
Notes: Korean people commonly misspell 베개. It is confusing to remember if the correct spelling is 베게, 배게, 베개 or 배개. It happens so often we made a video about it.
Common Usages:
베갯잇 = pillow case
베개를 베다 = to put one’s head on a pillow
Examples:
이 베개를 베는 것은 찝찝해요
= I feel uncomfortable using this pillow
새로운 침대를 사는 김에 새로운 베개도 사자
= While we are buying a new bed let’s buy some new pillows too
이 베개를 저것과 비교하면 이 베개가 훨씬 부드러워요
= If you compare this pillow with that one, this pillow is much softer
강당 = lecture hall, auditorium
Examples:
학생들이 그때 학년별로 강당에서 나올 거예요
= Students will leave the auditorium in the order of grade
우리 학교 강당은 제가 다녔던 중학교 강당에 비해 두 배 더 넓어요
= Our school’s auditorium is twice as big/wide as the auditorium of the middle school I used to attend
저는 오바마 대통령이 한국에서 연설을 하는 것을 보고 싶지만 강당이 이미 가득 찼어요
= I want to see President Obama’s speech in Korean but the lecture hall is already completely full
일종 = one type of…
Examples:
몇몇 사람들은 사랑을 일종의 화학 반응일 뿐이라고 생각한다
= Some people think that love is nothing but a type of chemical reaction
아이폰이 일종의 컴퓨터인데 사람의 3 분의 1 이 핸드폰으로만 써요
= The iPhone is a (one) type of computer, but one third of people use it only as a phone
성분 = ingredients, components
Common Usages:
전성분 = all ingredients
천연성분 = natural ingredients
화학성분 = chemical ingredients
Examples:
우유의 성분의 1/5 은 물이에요
= One fifth of the components/ingredients of milk is water
화장품을 살 때 꼼꼼히 전성분을 살펴보고 사야 피부 트러블을 줄일 수 있어요
= When you buy cosmetics, if you look closely at all the ingredients in them, you can decrease your skin problems
앞니 = front teeth
Common Usages:
앞니가 깨지다 = to get a front tooth chipped
Examples:
동물의 어금니가 앞니에 비해 더 강해요
= The molars of animals are stronger compared to their front teeth
우리 아버지가 앞니 사이가 벌어져 있어요
= Our dad has a gap in his front teeth
어금니 = molars
Common Usages:
어금니를 뽑다 = to pull out a molar
Examples:
치과의사가 저의 어금니에 충치가 생겼대요
= The dentist says that I have a cavity on a molar
동물의 어금니가 앞니에 비해 더 강해요
= The molars of animals are stronger compared to their front teeth
자판기 = vending machine
Examples:
우리 학교에 자판기가 있어서 학생들이 항상 콜라를 마시고 다녀요
= Our school has a vending machine, so students are always drinking cola
이 자판기가 편의점보다 식품을 세 배 더 비싸게 팔아요
= This vending machine sells food products for three times the price of a convenience store
이민자 = immigrant
Common Usages:
이민자 정책 = immigration policies
Examples:
한국은 다른 나라보다 이민자가 적어요
= Korea doesn’t have that many immigrants compared to other countries
캐나다가 특이한 게 인구의 1/4 은 이민자예요
= The unique thing about Canada is that the population is one-quarter immigrants
연락처 = one’s contact information
Examples:
저의 친구 연락처의 10 분의 1 을 잃어버렸어요
= I lost one-tenth of my friends’ contact information
명단을 잃어버려서 친구 연락처를 하나씩 찾을 수밖에 없어요
= I have no choice but to add/find my friend’s contacts one by one (now that I) because I lost my contact list
핸드폰에 연락처 기능이 있어서 요즘에 사람들은 기억력이 좋지 않아도 돼요
= Cell phones have contact functions in them so these days people don’t need to have a good memory
시아버지 = a woman’s father in law
Notes: Traditionally, parents in law would have very high expectations for their daughter in law. These days, this is usually seen on main holidays like 설날 and 추석, where people often go to the male’s parent’s home (called the 시집). Unfortunately, the daughter-in-law is often “expected” to spend most of her time preparing meals. Luckily, this is slowly changing, but this expectation still remains in many families. As such, women don’t often have the warmest feelings towards their mother- and father-in-laws. They are sometimes jokingly referred to as “C-words,” which comes from the “시” in 시아버지 and 시어머니.
Common Usages:
시아버님 = A more formal way to refer to one’s father in law
Examples:
오늘 처음으로 시아버지 되실 분을 만나는 날이라 매우 떨려요
= Today is the day that I will meet my father in law to-be, so I am very nervous
이번 주에 시아버님 생신이라 주말에 모여 함께 식사를 하기로 했어요
= It is my father in law’s birthday this week so we are going to get together and have a meal on the weekend
시어머니 = a woman’s mother in law
Notes: See note about “C-words” in 시아버지.
Common Usages:
시어머님 = A more formal way to refer to one’s mother in law
Examples:
갑자기 밤중에 시어머님께 전화가 와서 깜짝 놀랐어요
= Suddenly we got a call from my mother in law in the middle of the night so I was surprised
우리 시어머니는 음식하시는 것을 좋아하셔서 매주 반찬을 갖다 주세요
= My mother in law likes cooking, so every week she brings us some side dishes
식품 = food products
Common Usages:
수입식품 = imported food
식품 위생 = food sanitation
건강식품 = health foods
Examples:
다른 건강 식품과 비교하면 인삼이 몸에 더 좋아요
= If compared to other health products ginseng is better for your body
저의 와이프가 그 식품을 한국에 최초로 수입했어요
= My wife was the first person to import that (food) product to Korea
이 자판기가 편의점보다 식품을 세 배 더 비싸게 팔아요
= This vending machine sells food products for three times the price (three times more expensively) of a convenience store
재해를 대비하여 잘 안 상하는 식품을 조금씩 사기 시작하고 있어요
= To prepare for disaster, little by little I am starting to buy food products that don’t go bad easily
Verbs:
비하다 = to compare to
작년에 비해 올해 2kg 가 쪘어요
= I gained 2 kilograms this year compared to last year
우리 아들은 또래에 비해 훨씬 똑똑해요
= Our son is much smarter compared to his peers
한국어는 영어에 비해 모음이 더 많아요
= There are more vowels in the Korean language compared to English
동물의 어금니가 앞니에 비해 더 강해요
= The molars of animals are stronger compared to their front teeth
한국 인구는 캐나다 인구에 비해 조금 많아요
= The population of Korea is a little bit higher compared to the population of Canada
우리 학교는 다른 학교에 비해 영어 선생님이 많아요
= Our school has more English teachers compared to other schools
하철기에는 보통 가스비가 동절기에 비해 훨씬 적게 나와요
= The gas bill is usually much lower in the summer compared to winter
대체로 중학교 학생들이 고등학교 학생들에 비해 키가 작아요
= Usually, middle school students are shorter (in height) than high school students
이곳은 다른 곳에 비해 공기가 맑고 깨끗해서 더 쾌적하게 느껴져요
= Compared to other places, the air is clearer and cleaner, so this place feels nicer
그 선수는 다른 선수들에 비해 실력이 월등해서 모든 게임을 이겼어요
= That athlete’s skills are much better than other athletes, so he won all of the games
끼어들다 = to cut in-front of, to bud-in
This word follows the ㄹ irregular.
Common Usages:
잽싸게 끼어들다 = to swiftly cut in-front of
차선에 끼어들다 = to cut somebody off while driving
Examples:
고속도로에서 깜빡이를 키지 않고 옆 차선에 끼어들다 사고가 날 뻔 했어요
= An accident almost happened on the highway when a car didn’t turn its blinkers on and cut in-front of a car
이 줄이 다른 줄보다 두 배 더 빨리 움직여서 사람들이 자꾸 이 줄에 끼어들어요
= This line is moving twice as fast as other lines, so people keep budding into this line
이민하다 = to immigrate
The noun form of this word “이민” translates to “immigration”
Common Usages:
이민자 = immigrant
이민을 가다 = to immigrate
Examples:
한국으로 이민하는 과정은 복잡해요
= The process of immigrating to Korea is complicated
한국은 다른 나라보다 이민자가 적어요
= Korea doesn’t have that many immigrants compared to other countries
이민을 가는 게 최선의 선택일 것 같아요
= Immigrating will probably be the best choice
저희 부모님은 오랫동안 해온 사업을 접고 캐나다로 이민을 갔어요
= My parents closed their business they had been running for a long time and immigrated to Canada
Adjectives:
특이하다 = to be unusual, to be unique
Examples:
캐나다가 특이한 게 인구의 1/4 은 이민자예요
= The unique thing about Canada is that the population is one-quarter immigrants
한국 사람들이 영어로 말할 때는 특이한 억양이 있어요
= When Korean people speak in English, they have a unique accent
Adverbs and Other Words:
생전 = in one’s whole life
Examples:
캐나다 사람들은 그 나라 사람들보다 생전에 돈을 두 배 더 벌 수 있어요
= Canadians can earn twice as much money in their lives as people of that country
아버님 생전에 꼭 유럽 여행을 보내드리고 싶었는데 그러지 못해서 마음이 아파요
= I’ve wanted to send my father to Europe my whole life, but I was never able to so I’m upset
재작년 = two years ago, the year before last
Examples:
재작년에 그 회사의 수익은 십억 원이었어요
= That company’s profit two years ago was one billion won
저는 재작년에 비해 돈을 두 배 더 벌고 있어요
= I am earning twice as much as I did the year before last
For help memorizing these words, try using our mobile app.
Introduction
In this lesson, you will learn a variety of new words and grammatical principles that you can use in comparative sentences. Previously, way back in Lesson 19, you learned how to make comparisons in sentences by using ~보다. In this lesson, you will learn how 비교하다 and ~에 비해 can also be used to make comparisons. In addition, you will learn how to compare situations using orders of magnitude and fractions. Let’s get started!
To compare: 비교하다
Before we get into anything too complicated, I want to talk about the word “비교하다” briefly. 비교하다 is an actual verb that means “to compare,” which makes it different than ~보다. Where ~보다 is a particle that is attached directly to a noun that is being compared, 비교하다 is a verb that is conjugated at the end of a clause or sentence. 비교하다 can be used simply in sentences to mean “to compare.” For example:
저를 그 사람과 비교하지 마세요
= Don’t compare me with that person
저의 시어머니가 저를 자기 딸과 항상 비교해요
= My mother-in-law always compares me to her daughter
우리는 수업 시간에 이 화가를 옛날 화가하고 비교했어요
= During class, we compared this painter with painters from a long time ago
Notice that ~와, ~과, ~랑, ~이랑 or ~하고 should be attached to the noun that the object is being compared with.
You can use the grammatical principles that you learned in Lesson 43 to create sentences that say “if/when one compares.” For example:
저는 그 사람과 비교하면 더 똑똑해 보여요
= If you compare me to that person, I look smarter
이 차를 BMW와 비교하면 이 차는 훨씬 싸요
= If you compare this car with a BMW, this car is much cheaper
이 베개를 저것과 비교하면 이 베개가 훨씬 부드러워요
= If you compare this pillow with that one, this pillow is much softer
다른 건강 식품과 비교하면 인삼이 몸에 더 좋아요
= If you compare ginseng to other health products, ginseng is better for your body
You could use ~보다 (from Lesson 19) to create essentially the same meaning as these sentences. For example:
저는 그 사람보다 더 똑똑해 보여요 = I look smarter than that person
이 차는 BMW보다 훨씬 싸요 = This car is much cheaper than a BMW
The “비” in “비교하다” originates from the Chinese (Hanja) character 比 which refers to a comparison. Another Korean word where you can find this character is 비하다 (比하다), which can be used to create sentences similar in meaning (and structure) to those with ~보다. I will talk about this in the following section.
Comparing with 비하다
비하다 is a verb that is similar in function to verbs like 대하다 (Lesson 13), 위하다 (Lesson 13) and 관하다 (Lesson 34). Let’s look at how these words are used:
그 회계사는 정부에 대해 나쁜 말을 했어요
= That accountant said bad things about the government
저는 친구를 위해 빵을 만들었어요
= I made bread for my friend
이 문제에 관해 회의가 있을 것이다
= There will be a meeting relating to this problem
비하다 is often used like these words. If you attach ~에 to a noun and place 비해(서) after it, you can compare that noun to something else. For example:
우리 아들은 또래에 비해 훨씬 똑똑해요
= Our son is much smarter compared to his peers
한국어는 영어에 비해 모음이 더 많아요
= There are more vowels in the Korean language compared to English
동물의 어금니가 앞니에 비해 더 강해요
= The molars of animals are stronger compared to their front teeth
한국 인구는 캐나다 인구에 비해 조금 많아요
= The population of Korea is a little bit higher compared to the population of Canada
우리 학교는 다른 학교에 비해 영어 선생님이 많아요
= Our school has more English teachers compared to other schools
Orders of Magnitude: 배
Now that you know how to use ~보다, ~에 비해 and 비교하다 to make comparisons, I want to teach you how to compare things by orders of magnitude. For example, you already know how to create a sentence like this:
I am stronger than you
But you haven’t been able to state that you are stronger by a certain order of magnitude. For example, to create these types of sentences:
I am twice as strong as you, or
I am three times stronger than you
To create these types of sentences, “배” acts a counter of orders of magnitude. Note that because we are counting things (we are counting orders of magnitudes), the number before “배” should be a pure Korean number – just like any other counter.
For example:
두 배 = twice (two times)
세 배 = three times
네 배 = four times
You can use these constructions in sentences to compare things by a certain order of magnitude. For example:
두 배 더 강하다 = two times stronger (twice as strong)
다섯 배 더 똑똑하다 = five times smarter
These constructions can then go into sentences where appropriate. For example:
저는 저의 남동생보다 두 배 더 강해요
= I am twice as strong as my younger brother
저는 재작년에 비해 돈을 두 배 더 벌고 있어요
= I am earning twice as much as I did the year before last
이 자판기가 편의점보다 식품을 세 배 더 비싸게 팔아요
= This vending machine sells food products for three times the price (three times more expensively) of a convenience store
우리 학교 강당은 제가 다녔던 중학교 강당에 비해 두 배 더 넓어요
= Our school’s auditorium is twice as big/wide as the auditorium of the middle school I used to attend
캐나다 사람들은 그 나라 사람들보다 생전에 돈을 두 배 더 벌 수 있어요
= Canadians can earn twice as much money in their lives as people of that country
우리 학교 학생들은 같은 나이에 다른 학교 학생들보다 다섯 배 더 똑똑해요
= The students at our school are five times smarter than students of the same age at different schools
이 줄이 다른 줄보다 두 배 더 빨리 움직여서 사람들이 자꾸 이 줄에 끼어들어요
= This line is moving twice as fast as other lines, so people keep budding into this line
In practice (in English and Korean), you don’t need to state what you are comparing to – as often times constructions like “twice as much” or “ten times as much” are compared to the implied present or original situation. For example:
그 동안 집값은 열 배 비싸졌어요
= During that time the price of went up ten fold
우리는 두 배 더 빨리 가고 싶어요
= We want to go twice as fast
밤중에 택시를 타면 가격은 세 배 더 비싸요
= If you take a taxi in the middle of the night, the price is three times more expensive
지난 10년 동안 한국 생활 수준은 두 배 높아졌어요
= Over the past ten years, the standard of living in Korea doubled
Sometimes you will see ~(으)로 added to 배. My wife feels that the example sentences above (without ~(으)로) are equivalent in meaning to the sentences below (with ~(으)로). If anything, she says that the sentences above would be more common. Nonetheless, these are grammatically possible:
저는 재작년에 비해 돈을 두 배로 더 벌고 있어요
이 자판기가 편의점보다 식품을 세 배로 더 비싸게 팔아요
우리 학교 강당은 제가 다녔던 중학교 강당에 비해 두 배로 더 넓어요
우리 학교 학생들은 같은 나이에 다른 학교 학생들보다 다섯 배로 더 똑똑해요
캐나다 사람들은 그 나라 사람들보다 생전에 돈을 두 배로 더 벌 수 있어요
이 줄이 다른 줄보다 두 배로 더 빨리 움직여서 사람들이 자꾸 이 줄에 끼어들어요
우리는 두 배로 더 빨리 가고 싶어요
그 동안 집값은 열 배로 비싸졌어요
밤중에 택시를 타면 가격은 세 배로 더 비싸요
지난 10년 동안 한국 생활수준은 두 배로 높아졌어요
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If you want to use a number with a decimal, you can use the word “점” in Korean which literally translates to a “point” or “spot.” Take note of how the numbers below would be pronounced:
2.5 = “이 점 오”
3.6 = “삼 점 육”
10.4 = “십 점 사”
We can compare things by orders of magnitude using numbers with decimals. The numeral is typically written instead of the words (for example, writing 2.5 instead of 이 점 오) when writing numbers containing a decimal. For example:
그 주식 가격은 2.5배로 올랐어요
= That stock’s price went up 2.5 fold
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Now that you know how to compare things by orders of magnitude of whole numbers, it would be good to learn how to do this with fractions. I will talk about this in the next section.
Korean Fractions
Using fractions to say “one half,” “one third” or “one quarter” in Korean is counter-intuitive as an English speaker. When creating a fraction in Korean, the denominator (the number on the bottom) is said first, and the numerator (the number on the top) is said last. Between the two, “분의” should be said. For example:
2분의 1 = one half
4분의 1 = one quarter
5분의 2 = two fifths
3분의 1 = one third
“분” comes from the Chinese character 分 which (if you have been keeping up with your Hanja studies, you should know) refers to a part or division. Essentially, when you say something like “4분의 1,” you are literally saying “one part of four.”
A few things to note before we move on:
1) The Chinese numbers (일, 이, 삼, 사, etc..) are used when speaking these numbers. For example:
1/4 is read as “사 분의 일”
2/5 is read as “오 분의 이”
1/3 is read as “삼 분의 일”
2) “의” is typically pronounced as “에” in these constructions. You might want to check out our pronunciation notes of 의 to learn more about this phenomenon. Korean people get confused about this as well, and often think that “~에” should be attached to 분 when they write it because that’s the way they pronounce it.
3) The constructions above show how those fractions would be spoken in Korean. When writing those fractions, it could also be possible to write the fraction.
4) When referring to a portion of some noun as a fraction, the fraction is most commonly placed after the noun with ~의 attached to the noun to describe the fraction. I talk about this function of ~의 as a way to describe things in Lesson 23. For example:
“사람의 2분의 1” = one half of people
“저의 친구의 3분의 1” = one third of (my) friends
“이민자의 10분의 1” = one tenth of immigrants
Grammatically, it is also possible to place the fraction before the noun. In these cases, ~의 is typically added to the fraction so that it can describe the noun. For example:
“2분의 1의 사람” = one half of people
“3 분의 1의 친구” = one third of (my) friends
“10 분의 1의 이민자” = one tenth of immigrants
Now that we know this, let’s look at ways that fractions can be used in sentences.
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Imagine your friend gives you a massive plate of food, and you know that you won’t be able to eat it all. You want to ask him to only give you a portion of the original amount of food. You could say that you will only eat a fraction of that amount by saying the following:
나는 그것의 3분의 1만 먹을 건데
= (but…) I’m only going to eat one-third of that
Notice here that the fraction we created is actually the object of the sentence. Below are more examples where the fraction is the object of a sentence – where the verb acts on the fraction:
저는 그 영화의 3분의 1을 봤어요
= I watched one third of that movie
화가가 전체 그림의 4분의 1을 벽에 그렸어요
= The painter painted one quarter of the whole painting on the wall
저의 친구 연락처의 10분의 1을 잃어버렸어요
= I lost one-tenth of my friends’ contact information
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Imagine you want to state that a certain fraction of something is made up of one thing in particular. For example, if you want to state that there are a lot of immigrants in Canada, you can indicate the amount of people specifically using a fraction. For example:
캐나다가 특이한 게 인구의 1/4은 이민자예요
= The unique thing about Canada is that the population is one-quarter immigrants
Notice here that the fraction we created is actually the subject of the sentence. Below are more examples where the fraction is the subject of a sentence:
우유의 성분의 1/5은 물이에요
= One fifth of the components/ingredients of milk is water
요즘에 학생의 3분의 1은 그 필통을 가지고 있어요
= These days, one third of students have that pencil case
아이폰이 일종의 컴퓨터인데 사람의 3분의 1이 핸드폰으로만 써요
= The iPhone is a (one) type of computer, but one third of people use it only as a phone
많은 사람들이 이 수업에 등록했는데 등록한 사람의 성함의 5분의 일은 목록에 없어요
= A lot of people registered for this class, but one fifth of the names of the people who registered aren’t on the list
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If you want to compare something by a fraction of an order of magnitude, you can describe the fraction with the thing that is being compared with ~의. Following that construction, you can attach ~만큼 (which you learned about in Lesson 72) to the fraction. For example:
저는 제 친구 용돈의 1/2만큼 받아요
= I get half the amount of allowance as my friend
When saying “1/2,” it would be more natural to simply use the word “반” meaning “half.” However, in this lesson I am focusing on fractions.
It would also be acceptable to change the style of the sentence and use one of the types of sentences that you have learned previously. For example:
제가 받는 용돈은 제 친구가 받는 용돈의 2분의 1이에요
= The allowance that I receive is half of that of what my friend receives
It would also be natural to simply create the opposite of this sentence and change the fraction to “two times” using 배. For example:
저의 친구는 저보다 용돈을 두 배 더 받아요
= My friend gets twice the (amount of) allowance that I get
Below are more examples:
우리 집은 강남에 있는 집의 4분의 1만큼 싸요
= Our house is a quarter cheaper than the houses in 강남
우리 집값은 강남에 있는 집값의 4분의 3이에요
= The price of our house is three-quarters that of the price of houses in Gangnam
This is math-related, and is confusing. Notice that I had to use different fractions to refer to the same thing in the two examples above. In the first example, I am using the adjective 싸다, which means I am indicating that our house is 25% cheaper than houses in Gangnam. In the second example, if I used the fraction “4분의 1” that would translate to “the price of our house is one quarter the price of houses in Gangnam” – meaning our house is 75% cheaper than houses in Gangnam. However, by using the fraction “4분의3” in the second example, I am indicating that it is 75% of the price, but 25% cheaper – which is the same meaning as the sentence above. Confusing, I know.–
제가 외국 사람이라서 친구들이 낸 돈의 1/3만큼 냈어요
= Because I am a foreigner, I paid one third (of the amount of) the money that my friends paid
제가 외국 사람이라서 제가 낸 돈은 친구들이 낸 돈의 1/3이에요
= Because I am a foreigner, the amount (money) that I paid is one third the amount (money) of that of my friends
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Korean people would usually not use a fraction when talking about distance. If referring to a distance in kilometers and the measurement was smaller than one kilometer, instead of using a fraction they would refer to it in meters. For example:
Half a kilometer = 500 미터 (“오백 미터”)
For distances between whole numbers of kilometers, they would use a decimal. For example:
1.5 kilometers = 1.5킬로미터 (“일 점 오 킬로미터”)
For example:
우리는 어제 가게까지 1.5킬로미터를 걸었어요
= We walked 1.5km to the store yesterday
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That’s it for this lesson!
Click here for a Workbook to go along with this lesson.
Click here for Korean Short Stories specifically tailored to learners at this level.