Basic Consonants

한글 Romanization Pronunciation

ㅁ m /m/

ㄴ n /n/

ㅇ ng /ŋ/ (no sound at start of syllable)

ㄱ g /g/ or /k/

ㅂ b /b/ or /p/

ㄷ d /d/ or /t/

ㄹ l/r /ɾ/or /l/

ㅈ j /ʨ/ jam

ㅅ s /s/ or /ɕ/
ㄱ, ㅂ, and ㄷ represent both voiced and unvoiced sounds (g/k, b/p, and d/t), depending on the surrounding sounds. With
these sounds, there should be no air coming from your mouth.

ㄹ is like Spanish r, where the tip of the tongue strikes the palate very briefly. When it is a final consonant introduced
below, it is pronounced like an l.

ㅅ in most situations sounds like an s, but before ㅣ or "iotized" vowels it sounds more like "sh".

Aspirants
한글 Romanization Pronunciation

ㅋ k /kʰ/

ㅍ p /pʰ/

ㅌ t /tʰ/

ㅊ ch /tɕʰ/

ㅎ h /h/

Aspirants are consonants followed by a puff of air. Hold a small sheet of paper in front of your mouth. Notice that the
paper moves when you pronounce the English words ‘pen’ and touch’ due to the aspiration.
Tense Consonants

한글 Romanization Pronunciation

ㄲ kk

ㅃ pp p

ㄸ tt t

ㅉ jj tɕ/

ㅆ ss s

Tense consonants are pronounced with extra emphasis. Sometimes regular ㄱ, ㅂ, ㅈ, ㅅ, and ㄷ sound become tense
in the middle of words, especially for younger speakers.

Final Consonants
Korean only have a few possible sounds at the end of a syllable, so many consonants' pronunciations change.

Final Sound Letters

ㄱ ㄱㅋㄲ

ㄷ ㄷㅌㅅㅆㅈㅊㅎ

ㅂ ㅂㅍ

ㄴ ㄴ

ㅁ ㅁ

ㅇ ㅇ

ㄹ ㄹ
When two consonants appear in the final position, only one of them is pronounced:

Final Sound Letter Pairs

ㄱ ㄳㄺ

ㄴ ㄵㄶ

ㄹ ㄼㄽㄾㅀ

ㅁ ㄻ

ㅂ ㄿㅄ

When followed by a vowel, final consonants (except ㅇ and ㅎ) move to the start of the next syllable. Consonants revert
back to their original pronunciations and pairs are split, allowing both to be pronounced. ㅇ does not move, and ㅎ
disappears before a vowel. Tense consonants (ㄲ, ㅆ) are not pairs.

Written Pronunciation

독일 도길

웃음 우슴

영어 영어

관용어 과뇽어

놓이다 노이다

닭이 달기

많이 마니

엮음 여끔
Assimilation
Many consonants change their pronunciations when a consonant at the end of one syllable influences or is influenced by
the consonant at the start of the next.

Situation Pronunciation Example

ㄱ ㅋ ㄲ+nasal ㅇ+nasal 국물 [궁물]

ㄱ ㅋ ㄲ+ㄹ ㅇ+ㄴ 낙뢰 [낭뇌]

ㄷ ㅌ ㅅ ㅆ ㅈ ㅊ ㅎ+nasal ㄴ+nasal 꽃말 [꼰말]

ㅂ ㅍ+nasal ㅁ+nasal 입니다 [임니다], 없는 [엄는]

ㅂ+ㄹ ㅁ+ㄴ 법률 [범뉼]

ㄹ+ㄴ ㄹ+ㄹ 실내 [실래]

ㄴ+ㄹ ㄹ+ㄹ 신라 [실라], 물난리[물랄리]

nasal (except ㄴ)+ㄹ nasal+ㄴ 성립 [성닙]

Nasal sounds: ㄴ, ㅁ, final ㅇ