Korean Months: The Surprisingly Simple System (And the Two Weird Exceptions)

You're trying to figure out Korean months, and you probably ran into the same confusion most learners hit: why are there two different words for "month"? Why do June and October sound weird? And what's with needing to know two completely different number systems just to talk about dates?

Here's the thing—Korean months are actually way easier than you think. Like, genuinely simple once you get past the initial "wait, what?" moment.

The Pattern That Makes Everything Click

Korean months follow one basic rule: Sino-Korean number + 월 (wol).

That's it. January is 1월 (일월, il-wol). February is 2월 (이월, i-wol). March is 3월 (삼월, sam-wol). You get the idea.

If you can count to twelve in Sino-Korean numbers, you already know all twelve months. It's the kind of logical system that makes you wonder why English decided to name months after Roman emperors and gods instead.

The full list:

Notice anything weird about June and October? Yeah, they don't follow the pattern exactly.

The Two Pronunciation Quirks You Need to Memorize

June should technically be 육월 (yuk-wol) if we're following the rules. But try saying that out loud a few times. It's awkward as hell. The ㄱ consonant at the end of 육 crashes into 월 and just sounds clunky.

So Koreans dropped the final consonant. June is 유월 (yu-wol).

Same deal with October. Ten is 십 (sip), so October should be 십월 (sip-wol). But again, that final consonant makes it tough to pronounce naturally. It became 시월 (si-wol).

That's it. Those are the only two exceptions. Everything else follows the number + 월 pattern perfectly.

If you're just starting to learn Korean, these pronunciation quirks make way more sense once you've spent some time with Hangeul. The Korean writing system is actually pretty logical about why certain sounds shift around—it's all about making things easier to say. If you haven't learned Hangul yet, check out our guide on learning Korean Hangul first. It'll make everything about Korean pronunciation click into place.

Why There Are Two Words for "Month" (And When to Use Each)

This trips up everyone at first. You see 월 (wol) in month names, but then you also see 달 (dal) used for months. What gives?

월 (wol) is for specific calendar months. Use it when you're naming months (January, February) or writing dates (March 15th). It comes from Chinese, which is why it pairs with Sino-Korean numbers.

달 (dal) is for counting months or talking about time periods. It's native Korean, so it pairs with native Korean numbers. You use it when saying things like:

Think of it this way: 월 labels the month on your calendar. 달 measures time passing.

There's also 개월 (gaewol), which is specifically for duration. Like when you say a baby is 6 months old (6개월) or you studied Korean for 3 months (3개월). It uses Sino-Korean numbers even though it's a counter word, which is kind of the exception that proves the rule about Korean being logical.

The distinction matters because saying 1월 when you mean "one month" sounds wrong to Korean speakers. It's like saying "January" when you meant to say "a month." Different contexts, different words.

The Number System Thing (Yeah, It's Annoying at First)

Look, Korean has two number systems, and you need both. There's no way around it.

Sino-Korean numbers (일, 이, 삼...) are for dates, money, phone numbers, addresses, and anything over 100. They came from Chinese. This is what you use for months.

Native Korean numbers (하나, 둘, 셋...) are for counting objects, telling age, and saying hours. They only go up to 99. This is what you use with 달 when counting months as duration.

Is it weird having two completely separate number systems? Yeah. Does it make sense once you use it for a few weeks? Also yeah.

The good news: month names exclusively use Sino-Korean. So you only need to learn one number system to handle all twelve months. Once you've got those Sino-Korean numbers down, months are basically free vocabulary.

Understanding basic Korean grammar patterns helps this all make sense faster—the more you see how counters and number systems work together in different contexts, the less random it feels. Our basic Korean grammar guide breaks down these patterns in a way that actually sticks.

Writing Dates the Korean Way

Korean dates go: Year → Month → Day.

Format: Year년 (nyeon) + Month월 (wol) + Day일 (il)

So January 26, 2019 is: 2019년 1월 26일 (icheonsipgunyeon irwol isibyugil)

년 (nyeon) means "year" and comes from Chinese. There's also 해 (hae), which is the native Korean word for year, but you typically use 년 for dates.

일 (il) means "day" in this context. Same character as "one," different usage.

Once you know the pattern, dates are straightforward. The hard part is remembering to put the year first, which feels backward if you're used to American-style dates.

The Cultural Calendar Situation

Korea uses the regular Gregorian calendar for everyday stuff—work, school, appointments, all that. But traditional holidays follow the lunar calendar, which shifts every year.

The big ones:

Korean calendars often show lunar dates in smaller numbers under the main Gregorian date. It's actually pretty useful once you know what you're looking at.

You don't need to stress about the lunar calendar as a beginner. Just know that if you're planning to visit Korea, check both calendars before booking travel during major holidays—everything shuts down and transportation gets insane.

What Actually Helps You Remember This Stuff

Honestly? Seeing months in context is what makes them stick.

You can drill flashcards all day, but month vocabulary clicks way faster when you're reading Korean content and seeing dates in the wild. Korean variety shows flash dates on screen constantly. Korean news articles put dates in headlines. Korean YouTube videos put upload dates right there in Korean.

When you're watching something you actually care about and you see 5월 pop up, your brain makes the connection: "Oh, that's May." Do that a hundred times across different shows and articles, and suddenly you're not thinking about it anymore—you just know.

Same goes for Korean days of the week. Learn them together with months and you'll start recognizing full dates naturally instead of having to translate each piece.

The traditional "study the list, make flashcards, drill until you're bored" approach works, but it's slow as hell compared to picking this stuff up from actual content you want to consume anyway.

That's the real advantage of learning from Korean content instead of grinding through textbook exercises. Migaku's browser extension lets you look up any word instantly while watching Korean shows or reading Korean articles—so when you see a date and can't quite remember if 8월 is July or August, one click and you've got it. Add it to your deck if you want, or just keep watching.

The flashcards you create from real content stick better because they come with context. You're not memorizing "9월 = September" in isolation. You're remembering it from that Korean cooking show where they mentioned Chuseok happening in 9월, or from that news article about something happening in 구월.

Plus, Migaku handles all the Korean conjugations and grammar variations automatically when you're adding words. You see 9월에 (in September) in a sentence, click it, and Migaku knows you want 월, not some weird conjugated form. It's just faster.

The mobile app syncs everything, so you can review those month names (and whatever else you're learning) during your commute or whenever. Ten minutes here and there adds up fast.

Want to see how it works? There's a 10-day free trial. Try learning months the way that actually makes sense—from Korean content you're watching anyway, not from repetitive drills that put you to sleep.