번째

Korean

Etymology

From 번(番) (beon, counter for occurrences) +‎ -째 (-jjae, ordinal suffix).

Compare Japanese 番目 (-banme).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [pʌ̹ɲt͡ɕ͈ɛ] ~ [pʌ̹ɲt͡ɕ͈e̞]
• Phonetic hangul: [번째/번쩨]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	beonjjae
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	beon'jjae
McCune–Reischauer?	pŏntchae
Yale Romanization?	pen.ccay

Dependent noun

번째 • (beonjjae)

1. a dependent noun used to express the order or relative position of an object; a construction equivalent to ordinal numbers.

   첫 번째 ― cheot beonjjae ― first

   일곱 번째 ― ilgop beonjjae ― seventh

Usage notes

It is proscribed to have a space between the adjective and 번째, as bound nouns and adjectives must be spaced. However, there is an exception for numerals, so some consider constructions such as 첫번째 to be acceptable, much like 오학년 (ohangnyeon, “fifth grade”).