Grammar
N 가운데
Meaning
Intermediategaunde
After a noun (often a total or a group), N 가운데 picks out a subset of it: 3,089명 가운데 1,038명 = '1,038 out of 3,089'. 이 가운데 ('of these') is the fixed form used to continue from the number in the previous sentence, which is why statistics articles repeat it. 중에 is the everyday equivalent; 가운데 is the written, formal one.
Form
Attaches directly to a noun phrase, usually one carrying a total: N + 가운데. The subset follows it. 이 가운데 is the fixed continuation form, standing in for the whole quantity named in the previous sentence, and 가운데서 / 가운데에서 appear when a location-like sense is wanted.
Examples
응답자 500명 가운데 절반이 찬성했습니다.
Half out of the 500 respondents were in favour.
지원자 100명 가운데 20명이 합격했습니다.
Twenty out of the 100 applicants passed.
우리 반 학생 가운데 키가 가장 큽니다.
He is the tallest among the students in our class.
Common mistakes & nuance
가운데 also means 'the middle' in ordinary use, and that sense is unrelated — 방 가운데 is the middle of the room, not 'among rooms'. Which one is meant is decided by whether a subset follows. In statistics writing, watch that the number before 가운데 is the denominator: reading it as the numerator inverts the whole sentence.
Similar grammar
- N 중에
The same meaning. 중에 is the everyday, spoken form and 가운데 the written, formal one, so news articles and official notices prefer 가운데.
- N 가운데 하나
The fixed phrase for 'one of the ~'. It is worth learning whole, since Korean does not build it the way English builds 'one of' plus a plural.