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Plurals
Korean nouns do not change for number. 책 is a book or books; 사람 is a person or people. The plural marker exists and is used far less than an English speaker expects.
들: optional, and mostly for people
The suffix 들 marks a plural, and it is added when the plurality matters or when the noun is human:
| Korean | gloss |
|---|---|
| 사람 | a person, people |
| 사람들 | people (as individuals, a group of them) |
| 학생들 | the students |
| 아이들 | the children |
| 책 / 책들 | books — 들 is possible, and unusual |
With a number or a quantity word, 들 is left off: 학생 세 명 "three students", 많은 사람 "many people" (사람들 is heard too, but not needed).
들 also attaches to other words to spread a plural over the sentence — 빨리들 오세요 "come quickly, all of you" — which no European plural can do.
Counting: noun + number + classifier
The noun stays singular; the number and its classifier follow:
커피 두 잔 — two coffees · 고양이 세 마리 — three cats · 사람 네 명 — four people
See Nouns & gender for the two number systems and the classifiers.
Quantity words
| word | meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| 여러 | several | 여러 나라 — several countries |
| 많은 | many | 많은 사람 — many people |
| 몇 | some, a few (and "how many?") | 몇 개 — a few, how many |
| 모든 | all, every | 모든 학생 — every student |
| 다 | all (adverb) | 다 먹었어요 — (I) ate it all |
Pronouns
| singular | plural |
|---|---|
| 나 / 저 (I) | 우리 / 저희 (we; 저희 is humble) |
| 너 (you, plain) | 너희 (you all, plain) |
| 그 / 그녀 (he / she, written) | 그들 (they) |
우리 also means "our" and is used where English says "my" for anything shared — 우리 집 our house, 우리 나라 our country, 우리 엄마 our mum (even an only child says it).
If you speak Vietnamese
들 is các / những, used even more sparingly, and the same instinct — no plural once a number or the context supplies it — is correct in both. 우리 is chúng ta and chúng tôi at once; Korean does not mark whether "we" includes you.
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