LEARN THE KOREAN ALPHABET

We’ll start by learning all the consonant characters in the Korean alphabet. Every Hangul letter has a
name and it’s own sound. Some characters even have multiple sounds depending on whether or not
they’re at the beginning of a word, beginning of a syllable or the end of a word.

Here are the Hangul consonants, their names and the sounds they make.

Giyok (기역):
Start of word: k like in kite

Start of a syllable: g like in go

End of a word: k like in talk

Nieun (니은):
Start of a word: n like in no

Start of a syllable: n like in no

End of a word: n like in no

Digeut (디귿):
Start of a word: t like in talk

Start of a syllable: d like in find

End of a word: t like in not

 Rieul (리을 ):
Start of a word: r like in run

Start of a syllable: r like in run

End of a word: l like in feel

Mieum (미음):
Start of a word: m like in mom

Start of a syllable: m like in mom

End of a word: m like in hum

Bieup (비읍):
Start of a word: p like in pool

Start of a syllable: b like in back

End of a word: p like in lap

Siot (시옷):
Start of a word: s like in show

Start of a syllable: s like in show

End of a word: t like in not

 Ieung (이응):
Start of a word: no sound

Start of a syllable:no sound

End of a word: ng like in king

Jieut (지읒):
Start of a word: ch like in chop

Start of a syllable: j like in jar

End of a word: t like in not

Chieut (치읓):
Start of a word: ch like in itch

Start of a syllable: ch like in itch

End of a word: t like in not

Kieuk (키읔):
Start of a word: kh like in khaki

Start of a syllable: kh like in khaki

End of a word: kh like in khaki

 Tieut (티읕):
Start of a word: t like in tip

Start of a syllable: t like in tip

End of a word: t like in not

Pieup (피읖):
Start of word: p like in pit

Start of a syllable: p like in pit

End of a word: p like in nap

Hieut (히읕):
Start of word: h like in hot

Start of a syllable: h like in hot

End of a word: no sound

There are also a couple of double Hangul consonants in the Korean alphabet. They are as follows:

Ssang Giyok (쌍기역):

Start of word: g like in gone

Start of a syllable: g like in gone End of a word: g like in gone

 Ssang Digeut (쌍디귿):
Start of word: d like in dog

Start of a syllable: d like in dog

End of a word: d like in dog

Ssang Bieup (쌍비읍):

Start of word: b like in bird

Start of a syllable: b like in bird

End of a word: b like in bird

Ssang Siot (쌍시옷):

Start of word: s like in some

Start of a syllable: s like in some

End of a word: t like in not

Ssang Jieut (쌍지읒):

Start of word: j like in Jim

Start of a syllable: j like in Jim

End of a word: t like in not

The vowels in Hangul, the Korean alphabet don’t have names like the consonants do, instead they
just have one sort of simple sound. A lot of the vowels have very similar sounds so do your best to
try to figure out the difference. You’ll notice that adding another line to it essentially ads a y to the
sound and adding a ㅗ or a ㅜ is like adding a w sound to the vowel.

a
like in hah

eo
like in run

o
like in dough

u
like in moon

eu
like in good

i
like in meet

ae
like in at

e
like in get

ya
like in yawn

yeo
like in yum

yo
like in yoke

yu
like in view
 yae
like in yak

ye
like in yes

wa
like in wand

wae
like in wax

wo
like in wonder

we
like in wet
 oe
like in wait

wi
like in week

ui
like in quey

Now that you’ve had an introduction to the Korean alphabet you’re ready to start combining these
characters into syllables and start writing words!

WRITING IN HANGUL
In the Korean alphabet the different Hangul letters aren’t written one after another like in English.
Instead they’re stacked into little blocks for each syllable.

For example, the word Hangul isn’t written like:

It’s instead written as two syllable blocks like:

Consonants Plus Vowels
Combining the different Hangul letters together is easy. The first common type of combination is
simply one consonant and one vowel.

Here are some examples:

Ka
The consonant here is “k” and the vowel is “a” which gives this syllable a “ka” sound.

Sa
The consonant here is “s” and the vowel is “a” which gives this syllable a “sa” sound.

Mo
The consonant here is “m” and the vowel is “o” which gives this syllable a “mo” sound.

Ri
The consonant here is “r” and the vowel is “i” which gives this syllable a “ri” sound.
Consonants Plus Vowels Plus Another
Consonant
Next we have syllables made up of three Hangul letters. These are simply consonant plus vowel plus
consonant.

Here are some examples:

Tal
The first consonant here is “t” followed by the vowel “a” and ending with the consonant “l” for a
“tal” sound.

Neun
The first consonant here is “n” followed by the vowel “eu” and ending with the consonant “n” for a
“neun” sound.

Ram
The first consonant here is “r” followed by the vowel “a” and ending with the consonant “m” for a
“ram” sound.

Mot
The first consonant here is “m” followed by the vowel “o” and ending with the consonant “t” for a
“mot” sound.
When writing these 3 character syllables you have to remember to pay attention to the sounds of the
consonants. Many Hangul consonants have a different sound if they’re at the start of a syllable and a
different sound at the end of a syllable.

You’ll also notice that these characters are read from left to right and top to bottom.

Sometimes you write the characters in a vertical stack of three Hangul letters and some times you
write two beside each other with the third one below them.

As you get more familiar with writing the Korean alphabet you’ll start to get a feel for how the letters
fit together properly.

Hangul Syllables Starting with Vowels

The next type of syllable you’ll encounter in Korean is a syllable that begins with a vowel. These
can be either just one vowel or a vowel followed by a consonant.

However things are a little different for characters that start with vowels.

You can’t have a syllable block starting with a vowel for some reason so instead you have to put the
silent character ieung (ㅇ) before the vowel.

Here are some examples:

a
This is simply the silent ieung character plus the vowel “a” and the sound of this syllable is “a”

yo
This is simply the silent ieung character plus the vowel “yo” and the sound of this syllable is “yo”

eum
This has the silent ieung character, then the vowel “eu” and it ends with the consonant “m”. The
sound of this syllable is “eum”

yeok
This has the silent ieung character, then the vowel yeo and it ends with the consonant “k”. The sound
of this syllable is “yeok”

Hangul Syllables with 4 Characters

In some cases you’ll even see syllable blocks written with 4 Hangul characters although these are not
as common as the 2 or 3 character blocks.

Examples of Words Written in the Korean

Alphabet
Here are some examples of Korean words written in Hangul. You should be able to read or sound
them out easily now.
If you were able to read these words then congratulations, you’re well on your way to becoming
fluent in Korean!