Grammar
N째
Meaning
IntermediateN jjae
A suffix that turns a number into an ordinal, used in Korean news in two related ways. Counting things or events, it names a position in a tally that is still running — 세 번째 우승 is a third title, 8승째 an eighth win, with more expected — which is what separates it from 제8회 or a position fixed in a finished list. Counting time, it says how far into a stretch something now is: 사흘째 is day three of something still going on, 3년째 means it is now in its third year. Both readings share one idea: the count stands at N and has not stopped.
Form
째 is a suffix and attaches with no space. On a bare native numeral it forms the ordinal itself, with an irregular first member: 첫째, 둘째, 셋째, 넷째 (never 하나째). With a counter in between, 째 goes on the counter and the number follows whichever system that counter takes — native for 두 번째 and 세 잔째, Sino-Korean for 8승째 and 5회째. On an expression of time it attaches straight to the unit: 이틀째, 사흘째, 10일째, 3년째, 일주일째. Whatever it attaches to, the result is a noun phrase and behaves like one in the sentence (사흘째 이어지고 있습니다, 둘째는 비용입니다).
Examples
올해 세 번째 우승이자 통산 열 번째입니다.
It is a third title this year and a tenth in all.
Common mistakes & nuance
The time reading is where readers slip. 사흘 동안 계속됐습니다 says the stoppage lasted three days and the counting is over; 사흘째 계속되고 있습니다 says today is day three and it is still going. Korean news reaches for 째 exactly when the story is unresolved, so a 째 figure in a headline is a signal that tomorrow there will be another one. Two smaller points. 첫째 is irregular, so 하나째 does not exist. And 첫째, 둘째, 셋째 are also the ordinary words for listing points in an argument, which is why a sentence opening 첫째 is often enumerating reasons rather than counting days.
Similar grammar
- N개월 연속
A position against a run. 3개월째 하락 means the fall is in its third month and is counted forward from where it began; 3개월 연속 하락 asserts that three separate monthly figures all fell, and the claim is that none of them broke the pattern. 째 describes an ongoing situation, 연속 tallies completed periods.
- N 동안
동안 measures a length that is being looked at as a whole; 째 marks where an open-ended count currently stands. 이틀 동안 멈췄습니다 says the stoppage ran two days, 이틀째 멈춰 있습니다 says it has been stopped for two days now and still is. Because 동안 needs a length rather than a point, the two are not interchangeable even when the number is the same.