백만
baengman[pɛŋma̠n]
The English phrase 'million' is 백만 (baengman) in Korean.
Meaning: cardinal number (num)
How does it change in a sentence?
Unlike English, which groups numbers by thousands, Korean uses a base-10,000 system, so a million is expressed as one hundred units of ten thousand.
How do you pronounce it?
baengman
Did you know?
- While 백만 is the number, the phrase 백만불 ('one million dollars') is a common slang expression used to describe something that looks incredibly dazzling or high-class.
- The word 백만 is a Sino-Korean term, meaning it is derived from Chinese characters rather than being a native Korean root.
- When writing 백만 in digits, Koreans still use the Western three-digit comma system (1,000,000) in modern banking, even though they speak and think in four-digit groups.
Examples in context
- 백만 원1 million won
- 이백만 명2 million people
- 오백오십만 조회수5.5 million views
- 천만 달러10 million dollars
- 백만 팔로워1 million followers
- 삼백만 구독자3 million subscribers
- 칠백팔십만 좋아요7.8 million likes
- 백만 명의 사람들이 왔어요.baekman myeong-ui saram-deul-i wass-eoyo.One million people came.
- 그 회사는 백만 달러를 벌었어요.geu hoe-sa-neun baekman dalla-reul beoreoss-eoyo.That company earned one million dollars.
Example conversation
Minji and Minjun are discussing the price of a prize.
- 민지 Min-ji상금이 얼마예요?sang-geum-i eol-ma-ye-yo?How much is the prize money?
- 민준 Min-jun백만 원이에요.baekman won-ie-yo.It is one million won.
- 민지 Min-ji정말 큰 금액이네요!jeong-mal keun geum-aek-i-ne-yo!That is a really large amount!
- 민준 Min-jun맞아요, 민지 씨.maj-a-yo, Minji ssi.That's right, Minji.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “million” translations and entries 백만, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 백만, CC BY-SA 4.0.
