How to Say “What time is it now” in Korean: 지금 몇 시예요?

지금 몇 시예요?

jigeum myeot siyeyo?

Situation: Café & daily lifeLevel: Starter (just learning Hangul)

Meaning

What time is it now?

Time uses native Korean numbers for hours and Sino-Korean numbers for minutes, like 세 시 이십 분.

Romanization follows the Revised Romanization system and is a guide to pronunciation.

Ask a stranger or a shop worker for the time. Start with 저기요 or 실례합니다 to get their attention politely before you ask.

Hours use native numbers (세 시) and minutes use Sino-Korean numbers (십 분). Mixing them is a very common mistake.

Syllables: 6 · Words: 3

In natural speech, sounds link and shift across words. The table below reads each word separately, as it sounds when said on its own.

Syllable	Letters (consonant + vowel + final)	Romanization
지금
지	ㅈ+ㅣ	ji
금	ㄱ+ㅡ+ㅁ	geum
몇	ㅁ+ㅕ+ㅊ	[멷] myeot
시예요
시	ㅅ+ㅣ	si
예	ㅇ+ㅖ	ye
요	ㅇ+ㅛ	yo

A ㅇ at the start of a syllable is silent; at the end of a syllable it sounds like “ng”.

Final-sound reduction: every final consonant is pronounced as one of seven sounds — ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ or ㅇ. 몇 → [멷]

Style: Polite (해요체)Sentence type: Question

Ends in -요. The everyday polite style, and a safe choice with shop staff, colleagues, strangers and anyone older than you.

These words from the TOPIK vocabulary lists appear in the phrase (shown in dictionary form).

Korean	Part of speech	Meaning	Level
지금	noun	now	TOPIK level 1

Test yourself before you move on. Tap an answer.

Question 1 What does “지금 몇 시예요?” mean?

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Answer: What time is it now?

Question 2 How do you say “What time is it now?” in Korean?

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Answer: 지금 몇 시예요? jigeum myeot siyeyo?

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