A block is one syllable: a consonant and a vowel, plus an optional final consonant called the 받침 (batchim). Example: ㅂ (b) + ㅏ (a) + ㅁ (m) = 밤.
Where the vowel sits:
goes right
goes below
below + right
의 actually has three sounds · context decides
| "ui" 의 | first syllable, no consonant | 의사 doctor |
| "e" 에 | the possessive "of" | 나의→나에 (my) |
| "i" 이 | anywhere elsemost cases | 희망→히망 · 회의→회이 |
Five plain consonants each gain a tense twin; four also gain an aspirated cousin. Same mouth shape, different force.
| Plain | Tense | Aspirated | |
|---|---|---|---|
| k-family | ㄱg / k | ㄲkk | ㅋk |
| t-family | ㄷd / t | ㄸtt | ㅌt |
| p-family | ㅂb / p | ㅃpp | ㅍp |
| s-family | ㅅs / t | ㅆss | – |
| j-family | ㅈj / t | ㅉjj | ㅊch |
Romanization is writing Korean sounds with English letters. But English and Korean sounds aren't the same, so these spellings are only rough approximations, and they quietly train an English accent that's hard to unlearn.
For example:
Use it to learn 한글 more quickly, then drop it as soon as you can.
Same letter, two jobs. A consonant's sound at the start of a block can differ from its sound at the end.
| Initial | Final | |
|---|---|---|
| ㄱ | g | k |
| ㄴ | n | n |
| ㄷ | d | t |
| ㄹ | r | l |
| ㅁ | m | m |
| ㅂ | b | p |
| ㅅ | s* | t |
| ㅇ | silent | ng |
| ㅈ | j | t |
| ㅎ | h | t |
* ㅅ → "sh" before an i/y vowel
No matter what's written, every block-final consonant lands on just one of 7 sounds.
| ㄱ [k] | ㄱ · ㅋ · ㄲ |
| ㄴ [n] | ㄴ |
| ㄷ [t] | ㄷ · ㅌ · ㅅ · ㅆ · ㅈ · ㅊ · ㅎ |
| ㄹ [l] | ㄹ |
| ㅁ [m] | ㅁ |
| ㅂ [p] | ㅂ · ㅍ |
| ㅇ [ŋ] | ㅇ |
Compound finals (겹받침): 11 double endings, one sound each
Which letter wins isn't always obvious, so learn these as you meet them.
You've now got the letters and their core sounds. Unfortunately, Korean has a lot of pronunciation rules: once letters sit next to each other, the sounds often shift in ways the spelling won't predict. No need to learn them yet, but here are a few common ones you'll meet early:
There are dozens more. Don't memorize them now. You'll absorb them word by word, rule by rule, as you progress through our curriculum. More on how the app pinpoints these in our note on real Korean pronunciation feedback.