Grammar
N 넘게
Meaning
IntermediateN neomge
Attaches after a number or amount to show that the real figure is greater than it — 'more than N', 'over N'. It is most often used with lengths of time and with counted quantities.
Form
Put 넘게 after a quantity expression, with a space before it: 백 명 넘게, 세 시간 넘게, 십 년 넘게. It comes from the verb 넘다 ('to exceed') in its -게 adverb form, so it modifies the verb rather than acting as a noun — that is why 백 명 넘게 왔습니다 takes no particle after 넘게. When the amount has to sit in front of a noun instead, use the modifier form 넘는: 백 명이 넘는 사람들. It follows numbers and amounts only, not bare nouns like 사람 or 학생.
Examples
사람이 백 명 넘게 왔습니다.
More than a hundred people came.
저는 세 시간 넘게 기다렸습니다.
I waited for more than three hours.
저는 이 회사에서 십 년 넘게 일했습니다.
I have worked at this company for more than ten years.
표 값이 만 원 넘게 올랐습니다.
The ticket price went up by more than ten thousand won.
Common mistakes & nuance
넘게 and 이상 are not the same: 이상 includes the number itself ('N or more'), while 넘게 excludes it and means strictly above N. So 백 명 이상 can be exactly a hundred people, but 백 명 넘게 cannot. Remember the space — 백 명 넘게, not 백 명넘게 — and do not add a particle after it, since 넘게 is already an adverb.
Similar grammar
- N보다
N보다 compares two things and needs both sides to be present (어제보다 춥습니다, 'colder than yesterday'). N 넘게 does not compare anything — it just reports that one quantity exceeds a stated round number.