Korean word

켤레

Pronunciation

Romanizationkyeolle

Meaning

  • nounpair

Example

구두를 한 켤레 샀어요.ku du reul han kyeol le sa sseo yo

I bought a pair of shoes.

Illustration for 켤레 (pair)

More examples

양말을 한 켤레 빨았어요.yang ma reul han kyeol le ppa ra sseo yo

I washed one pair of socks.

Core concept

Two companion items, one for each side, counted together as a single unit for footwear or socks.

Common phrases

  • 양말 한 켤레yang mal han kyeol le

    a pair of socks

  • 구두 두 켤레ku du tu kyeol le

    two pairs of shoes

Similar words

짝jjak: A partner or matching item that joins with another to make a pair.
쌍ssang: A pair of matching people or things counted as one complete set.
벌peol: A complete set of clothing worn together as one outfit.

Definition in Korean

신발·양말 등 좌우가 한 쌍인 물건을 세는 명사로, 수를 셀 때 단위 역할을 함sin bal yang mal teung chwa u ga han ssang in mul geo neul se neun myeong sa ro su reul sel ttae ta nwi yeo ka reul ham

Word origin

No reliable decomposition is established for this noun, which is best learned as the Korean counter for items that naturally come as left-and-right sets.

Usage tips

  • This counter is tied to objects with a left and a right, so it is not a general counting word for every kind of matched object.

Opposites

  • 낱개natkkaesingle itemnoun

Word lists with this word