1 · Hangul and the sound rules
The letters and the syllable block
the Korean alphabet
Fourteen consonants and ten vowels, stacked into one square block per syllable.
Hangul is an alphabet: each letter stands for one consonant or one vowel. What makes it look unlike any alphabet an English speaker knows is that the letters are not written in a row but packed into square blocks, one block per syllable. 한 is three letters — h, a and n — stacked into one square, and 한국 (Korea) is two blocks, han and guk. A word is read block by block, and each block from the top left to the bottom.
There are fourteen basic consonants: ㄱ g/k, ㄴ n, ㄷ d/t, ㄹ r/l, ㅁ m, ㅂ b/p, ㅅ s, ㅇ (silent at the start of a block, ng at the end), ㅈ j, ㅊ ch, ㅋ k, ㅌ t, ㅍ p and ㅎ h. There are ten basic vowels: ㅏ a, ㅑ ya, ㅓ eo, ㅕ yeo, ㅗ o, ㅛ yo, ㅜ u, ㅠ yu, ㅡ eu and ㅣ i. A y-vowel is the plain vowel with a second short stroke, so the ten are really four pairs, plus ㅡ and ㅣ.
A block is built by fixed rules. It always begins with a consonant; a syllable that begins with a vowel puts the silent ㅇ in front, so the vowel a on its own is written 아. Vowels with a long vertical stroke (ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅣ) stand to the right of the consonant: 가, 너, 미. Vowels with a long horizontal stroke (ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ) stand underneath it: 고, 누, 스. A consonant that closes the syllable, the batchim, goes at the bottom: 각, 문, 밥.
Two vowels cause English speakers the most trouble, and the romanisation makes it worse by spelling each with two letters. ㅓ (eo) is one sound, an open vowel between the u of “up” and the o of British “hot”, said without rounding the lips. ㅡ (eu) is one sound too: an “oo” said with the lips spread flat, as in a smile. And ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ and ㅈ at the start of a word are neither quite English g, d, b, j nor k, t, p, ch: they have a light breath after them, and between two vowels they become fully voiced, so 고기 (meat) sounds roughly like ko-gi. The romanisation writes them g, d, b and j before a vowel in every position.
The form
| a consonant with a vowel beside it | 가 나 다 라 마 |
| a consonant with a vowel underneath | 고 노 도 로 모 |
| a vowel alone: the silent circle in front | 아 어 오 우 이 |
| a final consonant at the bottom | 각 난 달 밤 집 |
| a word of two blocks: h-a-n, g-u-k | 한국 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
Every block begins with a consonant; when a syllable begins with a vowel, the silent ㅇ takes the consonant’s place.
아이가 우유를 마셔요.The child is drinking milk.
A vowel with a long vertical stroke stands to the right of the consonant.
머리가 아파요.I have a headache.
A vowel with a long horizontal stroke stands underneath the consonant.
오후에 도서관에 가요.In the afternoon I go to the library.
A final consonant goes at the bottom of the block, under the consonant and the vowel.
한국 음식을 먹어요.I eat Korean food.
A second short stroke on a vowel puts a y in front of it.
야구하고 요리를 좋아해요.I like baseball and cooking.
A closer look
Why the letters look the way they do
Hangul was designed rather than inherited, and the shapes show it. The five basic consonants draw the mouth that makes them: ㄱ is the back of the tongue raised against the soft palate, ㄴ the tip of the tongue touching the ridge behind the teeth, ㅁ the closed lips, ㅅ a tooth, and ㅇ the open throat. Most of the others are built from these by adding strokes, and each stroke means more air or more force: ㄱ and ㅋ; ㄴ, ㄷ and ㅌ; ㅁ, ㅂ and ㅍ; ㅅ, ㅈ and ㅊ; ㅇ and ㅎ.
The vowels are built from three elements: a dot, today written as a short stroke, a horizontal line and a vertical line. With the short stroke to the right of or above the line you get the bright vowels ㅏ and ㅗ; to the left or below, the dark vowels ㅓ and ㅜ. The difference between bright and dark is not a curiosity: it decides the polite ending of every verb, 가요 but 먹어요.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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ㅇ stands at the bottom of a block
it is said ng, as in 강 gang (river) and 방 bang (room).
강에서 수영해요.I swim in the river.
There were once two letters: an empty circle for “no consonant” and a circle with a small stroke for ng. Their shapes merged into one, and since no Korean syllable begins with ng any more, the position alone tells you which one you are reading.
How to spot it
- 가
- 아
- 한
- 한글
- 받침
Example sentences
이름을 한글로 써 보세요.Try writing your name in Hangul.
한글의 기본 자음은 열네 개예요.Hangul has fourteen basic consonants.
기본 모음은 열 개예요.There are ten basic vowels.
받침은 글자 아래에 써요.The final consonant is written at the bottom of the block.
이 글자는 "가"라고 읽어요.This block is read “ga”.
어머니가 오이를 사요.My mother is buying cucumbers.
7 more example sentences
저는 한글을 매일 연습해요.I practise Hangul every day.
이 글자는 어떻게 읽어요?How do you read this block?
한국은 두 글자예요.The word for Korea is two blocks.
우리 아이는 벌써 한글을 읽어요.Our child can already read Hangul.
나무 아래에 개가 있어요.There is a dog under the tree.
바다가 정말 파래요.The sea is really blue.
모자를 두 개 샀어요.I bought two hats.
Worth knowing (2)
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One letter for r and l
ㄹ is said as a quick tap of the tongue, close to the r in Spanish pero, at the start of a syllable, and as an l at the end of one. The romanisation follows the sound: 오리 (duck) is ori, 물 (water) is mul. Two ㄹ in a row are a long l: 빨리 (quickly) is ppalli.
오리 한 마리가 물 위에 있어요.A duck is on the water.
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The order of a dictionary
Korean dictionaries sort the basic consonants in the order ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ and the basic vowels ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ. Koreans name the order after its first three blocks, 가나다, the way English speakers say “ABC”.
사전에서는 단어가 가나다순으로 나와요.In a dictionary the words come in ga-na-da order.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The English word “coffee” has an o in it, so learners reach for ㅗ. But Korean borrowed the word with ㅓ, the open, unrounded vowel, and 코피 means a nosebleed. When a word sounds like it has an o, check whether it is written ㅗ or ㅓ: the two are the commonest pair of vowels to mix up.
A block always begins with a consonant; when the syllable begins with a vowel, the silent circle stands in.
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.