짜리, 어치, 치 – Can I have 5 dollars worth of

This post has been updated on my new site here.

These words are very useful in practical situations, and I haven’t seen them covered in any textbooks or online resources so I decided to write a post about it. All three words mean ‘worth’ but all used in different contexts.

짜리

1. 만원짜리 지폐. A 만원 note. This can be shortened to 만원 지폐
2. 만원짜리 것 있어요? Do you have one worth 만원?
3. 네 살짜리 아이. 4 year old child. Only suitable for young children
4. 방 두 개짜리의 아파트. An apartment with two rooms/bedrooms

This word can be thought of as equating a number, amount or value to something.

어치

1. 시금치 3천원어치 주세요. Please give me 3천원 worth of spinach
2. 사탕 3킬로어치  주세요. Please give me 3 kilogram worth candy

Generally used for things that can’t be, or would be difficult to count individually like buying spinach, candy, flour, etc.

치

1. 일주일치 식사비 드릴게요. Let me give you one week’s worth of meal cost
2. 하루치 얼마예요? How much is it for one day?
3. 헬스장 한달치 요금 얼마예요? How much is it for one month membership?

Same concept as 어치 but when used in the context of saying some period’s worth you use 치 instead of 어치. Can be extended out to months and years (2달치, 2년치)