Korean Counters: 개, 명, 마리 and Friends
Written and reviewed by Jun and Jin, native Korean speakers
Published · Updated · How we write & review
After this page, you can count people, things, animals and drinks with the right counter word in the right order.
10-second answer
The short answer
Korean doesn't say "two coffees" — it says "coffee two CUPS" (커피 두 잔, keopi du jan). Between a number and the thing counted, Korean inserts a counter word matched to the category: 개 (gae) for objects, 명 (myeong) for people, 마리 (mari) for animals, 잔 for drinks. The pattern is always NOUN + NUMBER + COUNTER, using native Korean numbers in their shortened forms (한/두/세/네, han/du/se/ne).
Quick check — did that land?
1. What's the correct word order for "two coffees, please"?
Why can’t you simply say “three people” in Korean?
The Core Counter Set
| Counter | Counts | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 개 (gae) | Things, objects (the general default) | 사과 두 개 — two apples |
| 명 (myeong) | People | 친구 세 명 — three friends |
| 분 (bun) | People (honorific) | 손님 두 분 — two guests (respectful) |
| 마리 (mari) | Animals | 고양이 한 마리 — one cat |
| 잔 (jan) | Cups, glasses of drinks | 커피 두 잔 — two coffees |
| 병 (byeong) | Bottles | 물 한 병 — one bottle of water |
| 권 (gwon) | Books | 책 네 권 — four books |
| 대 (dae) | Machines, vehicles | 차 한 대 — one car |
| 번 (beon) | Times, occurrences | 한 번 더 — one more time |
| 살 (sal) | Years of age | 스무 살 — twenty years old |
Don't panic at the list — 개 is the safety net. If you don't know the right counter for an object, 개 will be understood (though 명/마리 for people/animals are worth learning early, since 개 there sounds odd).
Umbrellas: no special counter
Umbrellas don't have a counter of their own — you simply count them with the plain native numbers: 우산 하나, 둘, 셋 (usan hana, dul, set).
See also: Korean Numbers 1 to 10
The Word Order
The pattern is NOUN + NUMBER + COUNTER — the reverse of English's "two cups of coffee." The numbers are native Korean, and 하나/둘/셋/넷 shorten to 한/두/세/네 before a counter, exactly as covered on the numbers drill page.
맥주 두 병 주세요.
maekju du byeong juseyo.
Two bottles of beer, please.
Noun (맥주) + number (두) + counter (병) + 주세요.
몇 명이에요?
myeot myeong-ieyo?
How many people?
몇 + counter asks "how many." At a restaurant door, staff used to ask 몇 명인가요? (myeot myeongingayo?), but today they almost always ask 몇 분이세요? (myeot buniseyo?) — using 분, the honorific counter for people, in step with the trend toward extra-polite service language. Correct, but restaurant and café staff usually ask more politely: 몇 분이세요? (myeot buniseyo?) or 몇 명이서 오셨어요? (myeot myeongiseo osyeosseoyo?). 몇 명 is what you hear when people count heads elsewhere — booking a table for a work dinner (참석자 몇 명이에요?, chamseokja myeot myeongieyo?) or checking who's arrived in a group (지금 몇 명 왔어?, jigeum myeot myeong wasseo?).
Korean rarely marks plurals — 친구 세 명 already says 'three friends' — which is why 들 (deul) is optional.
Sino-Korean Counters
A smaller group of counters uses Sino-Korean numbers instead: 인분 (servings — 삼겹살 이 인분), 원 (won, money), 분 (minutes), 층 (floors — 삼 층). As a rough rule, measurements, money, and anything felt as a "unit on a scale" lean Sino-Korean.
Common Mistakes
Mistake #1 — Counting without any counter
커피 둘 주세요 is understood but unnatural — 커피 두 잔 주세요 is the real pattern.
Mistake #2 — Using full 하나/둘/셋/넷 before counters
They must shorten: 한 개, 두 명, 세 마리, 네 권 — never 하나 개.
Mini Quiz
2. Which counter counts animals?
3. If you don't know the right counter for an object, which is the safest fallback?
Related Knowledge
Learn Next
Counters handle "how many" — next, the vocabulary for "when": the seven days and the planets hiding inside them.
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