1 · Hangul and the sound rules
Plain, aspirated, tense: 가, 카, 까
the three-way consonant contrast and the compound vowels
Korean sorts its consonants by breath and tension, not by voice — and builds new vowels by joining two.
English sorts its stops into pairs by voice: g and k, d and t, b and p. Korean ignores voice and sorts them into threes by breath and tension. A plain consonant — ㄱ ㄷ ㅂ ㅈ — has a light breath after it. An aspirated one — ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅊ — has a strong puff of air, stronger than the k in English “kit”. A tense one — ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅉ — has no puff at all: the throat tightens, and the sound is short and hard, like the k in “skin” said with force. 가, 카 and 까 are three different syllables, and the words 불 (fire), 풀 (grass) and 뿔 (horn) differ in nothing else.
The tense letters are the plain ones written twice, and the aspirated ones are the plain ones with an extra stroke. ㅅ has only two members, plain ㅅ and tense ㅆ, as in 사요 (I buy) and 싸요 (it is cheap), and ㅎ has no partner at all. The romanisation writes the tense consonants double (kk, tt, pp, ss, jj) and the aspirated ones k, t, p and ch — which is why a g and a k in a romanised Korean word are not the g and k an English speaker expects.
The compound vowels are built from the basic ones. ㅐ and ㅔ, ae and e, were once two sounds; in Seoul speech today they are one, an e as in “bed”, and the spelling of each word has to be learnt: 개 (dog) and 게 (crab) sound alike. ㅒ and ㅖ are the same with a y in front. The w-vowels join ㅗ or ㅜ to a second vowel: ㅘ wa, ㅙ wae, ㅚ oe, ㅝ wo, ㅞ we and ㅟ wi. ㅢ ui joins ㅡ and ㅣ.
The joining follows a pattern that comes back in the grammar. ㅗ, a bright vowel, joins only the bright ㅏ and ㅐ and the neutral ㅣ; ㅜ, a dark vowel, joins only the dark ㅓ and ㅔ and the neutral ㅣ. So there is ㅘ and ㅝ, but no letter that joins ㅗ and ㅓ. The same bright and dark halves decide between the endings -아요 and -어요, which is why 오다 (to come) becomes 와요 and 주다 (to give) becomes 줘요.
The form
| plain: a light breath | 가 다 바 사 자 |
| aspirated: a strong puff | 카 타 파 차 |
| tense: tight, no puff | 까 따 빠 싸 짜 |
| ae and e: one sound in Seoul | 개 게 |
| the w-vowels | 와 왜 외 워 웨 위 |
| y in front, and ui | 얘 예 의 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
An aspirated consonant comes with a strong puff of air; the romanisation writes it k, t, p or ch.
커피가 차가워요.The coffee is cold.
A tense consonant has a tight throat and no puff; the romanisation writes its letter twice.
이 사과는 싸요.These apples are cheap.
ㅗ joins only ㅏ, ㅐ and ㅣ; ㅜ joins only ㅓ, ㅔ and ㅣ.
과자는 뭐가 있어요?What snacks do you have?
ㅐ and ㅔ sound the same in Seoul today, so the spelling of each word has to be learnt.
개가 게를 봐요.The dog is looking at the crab.
A closer look
Hearing the difference
Hold a sheet of paper in front of your mouth. On 카 it should move clearly, on 가 a little, on 까 not at all. That is the whole contrast, and an English speaker already makes two of the three sounds without knowing it: the k of “kit” is close to ㅋ, and the k of “skit”, which has no puff, is close to ㄲ.
In Seoul speech there is a second clue, and many listeners rely on it more than on the breath. A word that begins with an aspirated or a tense consonant starts on a higher pitch than a word that begins with a plain one: 달 (moon) starts low, 탈 (mask) and 딸 (daughter) start high. Copying the pitch along with the consonant makes all three easier to hear and to say.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
-
you read ㅚ or ㅟ
say ㅚ like we and ㅟ like wi: 외국 (abroad) sounds close to weguk, although the romanisation writes oeguk.
외국에서 왔어요?Did you come from abroad?
Both were once single vowels with rounded lips, like German ö and ü. Most speakers now glide from a w instead, and the standard pronunciation accepts both.
How to spot it
- 까
- 카
- 싸
- 와
- 워
- 의
Example sentences
제 딸이 달을 봐요.My daughter is looking at the moon.
소가 풀을 먹어요.The cow is eating grass.
김치가 너무 짜요.The kimchi is too salty.
저는 밤 열한 시에 자요.I go to bed at eleven at night.
주말에는 집에서 쉬어요.At the weekend I rest at home.
이 의자에 앉으세요.Please sit on this chair.
8 more example sentences
토요일에 쉬어요.I rest on Saturday.
이 가방은 너무 비싸요.This bag is too expensive.
빵을 사요.I am buying bread.
코가 커요.He has a big nose.
뿔이 있는 동물이에요.It is an animal with horns.
친구가 우리 집에 와요.My friend is coming to our house.
오늘은 날씨가 추워요.It is cold today.
왜 웃어요?Why are you laughing?
Worth knowing (2)
-
ye after a consonant
After a consonant other than ㅇ or ㄹ, ㅖ is usually said simply as e: 시계 (clock) sounds like sige. The spelling keeps what is written, and so does the romanisation: sigye.
시계가 어디에 있어요?Where is the clock?
-
jyeo, chyeo and jjyeo
After ㅈ, ㅊ and ㅉ there is no y to hear, because these consonants already end in one: 가져요 (takes) is said [가저요]. The romanisation on this site still writes the y, gajyeoyo: here it keeps to the spelling.
우산을 가져왔어요.I have brought an umbrella.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
자요 means “sleeps”, 짜요 means “is salty”. An English ear files both under j and hears no difference, but a Korean ear hears two words. Say the tense one with a tight throat, no breath, and a slightly higher pitch.
Plain, aspirated, tense — ga, ka, kka: three sounds where English hears two.
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.