Korean has two ways of saying “third”, and they are not stylistic variants.
| Suffix | Job |
|---|---|
| -째 | The order of things that exist — which one in a set |
| -번째 | The number of times — which occurrence of a repeated event |
Both attach to native numbers.
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 10th | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -째 | 첫째 | 둘째 | 셋째 | 넷째 | 다섯째 | 열째 |
| -번째 | 첫 번째 | 두 번째 | 세 번째 | 네 번째 | 다섯 번째 | 열 번째 |
Two things to notice. 첫째 is irregular — 하나째 is not a word. And in the -번째 row the numbers take their counter form (한, 두, 세, 네), because 번 is a counter, exactly as in 119.
The contrast in use
| -째 — which one in a set | -번째 — which occurrence |
|---|---|
| 첫째 딸 — the eldest daughter | 첫 번째 생일 — the first birthday |
| 둘째 딸 — the second daughter | 두 번째 생일 — the second birthday |
| 셋째 딸 — the third daughter | 세 번째 생일 — the third birthday |
The daughters all exist at once and 째 orders them. The birthdays happen one after another and 번째 counts them. Ask which of the two you mean and the choice is usually obvious.
첫 on its own
첫 also attaches directly to a noun, meaning “first ever”:
| Korean | English |
|---|---|
| 첫사랑 | first love |
| 첫눈 | first snow |
| 첫날 | first day |
| 첫인상 | first impression |
Weeks of the month
The main practical use of -째. A month’s weeks are named by their ordinal, and the last one has an alias.
| Week | Korean |
|---|---|
| first | 첫째 주 |
| second | 둘째 주 |
| third | 셋째 주 |
| fourth | 넷째 주 |
| fifth | 다섯째 주 |
| the last week | 마지막 주 |
Drawing it makes two things clear that the table hides. 마지막 주 is a label, not a sixth ordinal — it names whichever row happens to be last, so it is 다섯째 주 in a month like this one and 넷째 주 in a shorter one. And the first week can be a stub: June 2026 starts on a Monday, so 첫째 주 is six days, and a month starting on a Saturday would have a 첫째 주 of one.
Reading a full date, largest unit first: 2026년 6월 5일 금요일.
| Unit | Korean |
|---|---|
| year | 년 |
| month | 월 |
| week | 주 |
| day | 일 |
Days of the week: 월요일 [워료일] · 화요일 · 수요일 · 목요일 [모교일] · 금요일 [그묘일] · 토요일 · 일요일 [이료일].
The three nouns that take 을/를, not 에
A trap, because all three are places you go:
| Correct | Wrong | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 출장을 가다 ✓ | 출장에 가다 ✗ | to go on a business trip |
| 여행을 가다 ✓ | 여행에 가다 ✗ | to go on a trip |
| 휴가를 가다 ✓ | 휴가에 가다 ✗ | to go on holiday |
The reason is that 출장, 여행 and 휴가 are not places — they are activities. You are not going to a holiday, you are going a holiday, so it takes the object particle. 에 for places comes in 122.
가: 언제 휴가 가요? — When are you going on holiday? 나: 1월 넷째 주에 가요. — In the fourth week of January. 나: 1월 24일 토요일에 가요. — On Saturday 24 January.
Work culture: 공휴일, the public holidays
Twelve public holidays with a full paid day off. Four are on the lunar calendar, so they move every year — which is why 설날 and 추석 are given as ranges here.
| Date | Korean | English |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January | 신정 | New Year’s Day |
| 16–18 February | 설날 [설랄] | Lunar New Year (lunar 1 Jan) |
| 1 March | 삼일절 | Independence Movement Day |
| 1 May | 노동절 / 근로자의 날 | Labour Day |
| 5 May | 어린이날 | Children’s Day |
| 24 May | 부처님 오신 날 | Buddha’s Birthday (lunar 8 Apr) |
| 6 June | 현충일 | Memorial Day |
| 15 August | 광복절 | Liberation Day |
| 24–26 September | 추석 | Korean Thanksgiving (lunar 15 Aug) |
| 3 October | 개천절 | National Foundation Day |
| 9 October | 한글날 | Hangul Day |
| 25 December | 크리스마스 | Christmas |
설날 and 추석 are the two that empty the cities — both are three-day holidays and both involve travelling to family, so the roads and trains are the story every year.
The slide is headed 2025 but the dates listed are 2026. Treat the lunar ones as approximate in any case: they move.
국경일 — national days
Five days of celebration and one of condolence.
Celebration: 삼일절 (3 Mar) · 제헌절 (17 Jul) · 광복절 (15 Aug) · 개천절 (3 Oct) · 한글날 (9 Oct).
Condolence: 현충일, 6 June. A siren sounds nationwide at 10am for one minute to remember those who died in service, and the country stops for it.
개천절 translates as “the day the sky opened” — the mythological founding of Korea. 한글날 is the alphabet’s birthday, which is a national holiday, which tells you something about how Koreans regard what you learned in 101.
Customs
| Korean | English |
|---|---|
| 한국 사람들은 매년 1월 1일에 해돋이를 봐요. | Koreans watch the sunrise on 1 January. |
| 한국 사람들은 설날 아침에 떡국을 먹어요. | Koreans eat 떡국 on Lunar New Year morning. |
| 한국 사람들은 추석에 송편을 먹어요. | Koreans eat 송편 at Chuseok. |
| 한국 사람들은 국경일에 태극기를 달아요. | Koreans fly the flag on national days. |
Each of those is a holiday with a food attached — 떡국 at 설날, 송편 at 추석 — which is picked up again in 127.