Learn Korean Hangul

Hangul is the Korean alphabet created by King Sejong the Great in 1443. Unlike many writing systems, Hangul was intentionally designed for ease of learning. Characters are organized into syllable blocks, typically with a beginning consonant, a middle vowel, and an optional final consonant.

Syllable Builder

[ga]

Hangul Syllable Formation Rules

Vertical Vowels (ㅏ, ㅑ, ㅓ, ㅕ...)

Consonant + Vertical Vowel

Horizontal Vowels (ㅗ, ㅛ, ㅜ, ㅠ...)

Consonant + Horizontal Vowel

Learning Tips

  • Learn the basic vowels and consonants first before moving to compound forms
  • Practice forming syllables with one consonant and all vowels before moving to the next consonant
  • Consonants often relate to the shape of the mouth when pronouncing them (ㄱ resembles the back of the tongue touching the roof of the mouth)
  • Use color-coding: consonants in one color, vowels in another to help with visual memory
  • Write each character multiple times to build muscle memory

Basic Consonants (초성, Choseong)

g/k

giyeok

n

nieun

d/t

digeut

r/l

rieul

m

mieum

b/p

bieup

s

siot

ng/silent

ieung

j

jieut

ch

chieut

k

kieuk

t

tieut

p

pieup

h

hieut

Double Consonants (쌍자음)

kk

ssang-giyeok

tt

ssang-digeut

pp

ssang-bieup

ss

ssang-siot

jj

ssang-jieut

Basic Vowels (중성, Jungseong)

a

a

ya

ya

eo

eo

yeo

yeo

o

o

yo

yo

u

u

yu

yu

eu

eu

i

i

Compound Vowels (복합 모음)

ae

ae

yae

yae

e

e

ye

ye

wa

wa

wae

wae

oe

oe

wo

wo

we

we

wi

wi

ui

ui

Key Pronunciation Rules

Batchim Neutralization

Final consonants ㄷ, ㅌ, ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅎ are all pronounced as [t̚]

Example: 꽃 [kkot̚]

Liaison

When a syllable ending with a consonant is followed by a syllable beginning with ㅇ, the final consonant moves to the next syllable

Example: 꽃이 → [kko-chi]

Assimilation

When ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ are followed by ㄴ or ㅁ, they change to [ㅇ], [ㄴ], [ㅁ]

Example: 학년 [항-nyeon]

Palatalization

When ㄷ or ㅌ are followed by ㅣ, they change to [ㅈ] or [ㅊ]

Example: 같이 [ga-chi]

Final Consonants (종성, Jongseong)

-g

final giyeok

-n

final nieun

-d

final digeut

-l

final rieul

-m

final mieum

-b

final bieup

-t

final siot

-ng

final ieung

-j

final jieut

-ch

final chieut

-k

final kieuk

-t

final tieut

-p

final pieup

-h

final hieut

Complex Final Consonants (복합 종성)

-gs

giyeok-siot

-nj

nieun-jieut

-nh

nieun-hieut

-lg

rieul-giyeok

-lm

rieul-mieum

-lb

rieul-bieup

-ls

rieul-siot

-lt

rieul-tieut

-lp

rieul-pieup

-lh

rieul-hieut

-bs

bieup-siot

Basic Syllables (기본 음절)

ga

ㄱ + ㅏ

na

ㄴ + ㅏ

da

ㄷ + ㅏ

ma

ㅁ + ㅏ

ba

ㅂ + ㅏ

sa

ㅅ + ㅏ

a

ㅇ + ㅏ

ja

ㅈ + ㅏ

cha

ㅊ + ㅏ

ka

ㅋ + ㅏ

ta

ㅌ + ㅏ

pa

ㅍ + ㅏ

ha

ㅎ + ㅏ

Syllables with Final Consonants (받침 있는 음절)

gak

ㄱ + ㅏ + ㄱ

gan

ㄱ + ㅏ + ㄴ

dal

ㄷ + ㅏ + ㄹ

bam

ㅂ + ㅏ + ㅁ

bap

ㅂ + ㅏ + ㅂ

bit

ㅂ + ㅣ + ㅊ

an

ㅇ + ㅏ + ㄴ

ilg

ㅇ + ㅣ + ㄺ

jal

ㅈ + ㅏ + ㄹ

jang

ㅈ + ㅏ + ㅇ

chaek

ㅊ + ㅐ + ㄱ

hak

ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄱ

Syllables with Compound Vowels (복합 모음 음절)

gae

ㄱ + ㅐ

gwae

ㄱ + ㅘ + ㅣ

gwi

ㄱ + ㅜ + ㅣ

ne

ㄴ + ㅔ

noe

ㄴ + ㅚ

dwae

ㄷ + ㅙ

mwo

ㅁ + ㅝ

bwae

ㅂ + ㅚ

shwe

ㅅ + ㅞ

oe

ㅇ + ㅚ

ui

ㅇ + ㅢ

wae

ㅇ + ㅙ

Common Korean Words (자주 쓰는 한국어)

이름
ireum

Name

한국
hanguk

Korea

음식
eumsik

Food

학교
hakgyo

School

친구
chingu

Friend

가족
gajok

Family

시간
sigan

Time

About Hangul Pronunciation

Hangul pronunciation can change depending on position and surrounding sounds:

  • Final consonants are often unreleased or modified when followed by another consonant
  • Some consonants become voiced between vowels
  • Adjacent consonants can affect each other`'s pronunciation
  • The ㅇ is silent at the beginning of a syllable but pronounced as `'ng`' at the end
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Disclaimer

Public Alpha version Open Source (GitHub). This site is currently undergoing active development. You may (will) encounter bugs, inconsistencies, or limited functionality. Lots of sentences might not sound natural. We are progressively addressing these issues with native speakers.


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