Two Words for Zero: 영 vs 공

Korean has two words for zero — 영 and 공 — and they are not interchangeable. English lets you say "zero," "oh," or "nought" more or less by habit; Korean assigns its two zeros by function. 영 is the value zero: a real numeric quantity, the kind that shows up in math, on a thermometer, in a score, or after a decimal point. 공 is the digit zero: the one you recite when reading a string of numerals aloud, like a phone number or a room number. Picking the wrong one instantly marks a sentence as non-native, and it's an easy fix once you know the split. Both belong to the Sino-Korean number system.

Why there are two — and why the split makes sense

The two words come from two different Chinese characters, and their original meanings are the key to the whole distinction. 영 is 零, the character that means the number zero (nil, none). 공 is 空, the character that means empty — the same 공 you see in 공기 (air), 공간 (space), and 공백 (a blank). Once you know that, the division of labor is no longer arbitrary at all: when zero is a real amount you're measuring or computing, you use the "number-zero" word 영; when zero is just an empty slot in a string of digits — a placeholder with no quantity behind it — you use the "empty" word 공. A phone number's 0 isn't zero of anything; it's a blank position, so it's 공. A temperature of 0° is a genuine point on the scale, so it's 영. English hides this logic under one careless word; Korean wears it on its sleeve.

영 — the value zero

Use 영 whenever the zero is a genuine numeric amount — something you could plot on a number line or compute with. That covers math results, test scores, temperatures (including below zero), and the digits after a decimal point.

Notice 영하 in the second one: "below zero" is literally below-zero, 영하, built on the value zero 영 (its opposite, "above zero," is 영상 — 영상 삼 도 is "three degrees above zero"). A sports score is also a value — two to zero — so it too takes 영. Percentages and probabilities are values too:

(Listen to 확률 in the reading: it's voiced [황뉼] — hwangnyul — with a nasalization chain, even though you write 확률.)

Decimals live on 영

A decimal point is read with 점 ("point"), and the digits after it are read one by one as ordinary Sino numbers. When the whole-number part is zero, that zero is 영.

공 — the recited-digit zero

Use 공 when you are reading out a string of individual digits — where each numeral is spoken on its own rather than as part of a single quantity. Phone numbers, room numbers, bus numbers, apartment and building numbers, PINs, card numbers, and cohort/ID years all work this way.

The giveaway is that in all of these you're reading each digit separately — 삼-공-일, not "three hundred one." Room 301 is a label, not a count of 301 things, so it's a recited string, and its 0 is 공.

A colloquial aside: 빵 and 제로

In casual speech, especially about sports scores, you'll also hear 빵 (literally the sound of a "goose egg" zero) and the English loanword 제로 (jero, "zero"). These are informal alternatives to 영 in the score context, not replacements for it in math or measurement.

(Register: 빵 and 제로 are informal/colloquial. In writing, a report, or any neutral context, use 영 for a score.)

Common Mistakes

1. Reading a phone-number 0 as 영. A recited digit is always 공.

• ✗ 영일영 ...
• ✓ 공일공 ...

2. Reading a score or temperature 0 as 공. These are values, so they take 영.

• ✗ 이 대 공 / ✗ 지금 공 도예요.
• ✓ 이 대 영 / ✓ 지금 영 도예요.

3. Using 공 in math or decimals. A computed value or a decimal's whole part is 영.

• ✗ 공 점 오
• ✓ 영 점 오

4. Using 영 for a room or PIN number. A label read digit-by-digit takes 공.

• ✗ 삼영일 호
• ✓ 삼공일 호

Key Takeaways

• Korean's two zeros split by function, not by formality: 영 = a real numeric value; 공 = a recited digit.
• 영 covers math, scores (이 대 영), temperatures (영하 / 영상), and decimals (영 점 오).
• 공 covers phone numbers, room/bus/building numbers, PINs, card numbers, and cohort years — anything read one digit at a time.
• Casual score-talk also uses 빵 and 제로 (informal), but never in math or measurement.