Observe the following examples:
- 일찍 떠났지만, 그래도 사십분이나 늦었습니다.
He departed early, but nonetheless he was [as much as] 40 minutes late. - 어제 파티에 백명이나 왔어요.
[As many as] a hundred people came to the party yesterday.
In sentences like the above, the particle (이)나 attached to a number or numeral expression implies that the speaker believes the amount to be a high one, or at least finds tha amount higher than expected. Thus, in number (10) above, the speaker is implying that he or she thinks being late by 40 minutes is quite a lot. Likewise, in sentence (11), the speaker implies that, for her, three letters is a lot. Here are some more examples:
- 어제는 열시간이나 잤어요.
Yesterday I slept for [as many as] 10 hours. - 사장님은 하루에 커피를 열 잔이나 드세요.
The boss drinks [as many as] 10 cups of coffee a day. - 맥주를 열병이나 마셨어요.
I drank [as many as] 10 bottles of beer. - 두시간이나 늦게 도착했습니다.
I arrived [as many as] two hours late.