Korean Lessons ᚛ Level 1 - My First Steps in Korean (Lessons 1 to 30) ᚛ Lesson 2 - Learn Hangul (part 2) - Simple consonants

Learn Hangul (part 2) - Simple consonants

Learning Hangeul

• Simple vowels
• Simple consonants
• Combined vowels
• Double consonants
• Final consonant combinations

List of Basic Korean Consonants

Hangeul is made up of 14 basic consonants.

ㄱ

• At the beginning of a syllable: halfway between [g] and [k] -  가
• At the end of a syllable: blocked [k] sound -  악

ㄴ

• At the beginning of a syllable: [n] sound -  나
• At the end of a syllable: blocked [n] sound -  안

ㄷ

• At the beginning of a syllable: halfway between [d] and [t] -  다
• At the end of a syllable: blocked [t] sound -  앋

ㄹ

• At the beginning of a syllable: close to [l] or a soft flap [r] -  라
• At the end of a syllable: blocked [l] sound -  알

ㅁ

• At the beginning of a syllable: [m] sound -  마
• At the end of a syllable: blocked [m] sound -  암

ㅂ

• At the beginning of a syllable: halfway between [b] and [p] -  바
• At the end of a syllable: blocked [p] sound -  압

ㅅ

• At the beginning of a syllable: [s] sound -  사
• At the end of a syllable: blocked [t] sound -  앗

Note: Before “i”-sounding vowels (ㅣ, ㅑ, ㅕ, ㅛ…), ㅅ is pronounced [sh]. - 시

ㅇ

• At the beginning of a syllable: silent -  아
• At the end of a syllable: blocked [ng] sound -  앙

ㅈ

• At the beginning of a syllable: halfway between [j] and [ch] -  자
• At the end of a syllable: blocked [t] sound -  앚

ㅊ

• At the beginning of a syllable: [ch] sound (exhaling more air) -  차
• At the end of a syllable: blocked [t] sound -  앛

ㅋ

• At the beginning of a syllable: [k] sound (exhaling more air) -  카
• At the end of a syllable: blocked [k] sound -  앜

ㅌ

• At the beginning of a syllable: [t] sound (exhaling more air) -  타
• At the end of a syllable: blocked [t] sound -  앝

ㅍ

• At the beginning of a syllable: [p] sound (exhaling more air) -  파
• At the end of a syllable: blocked [p] sound -  앞

ㅎ

• At the beginning of a syllable: [h] sound -  하
• At the end of a syllable: blocked [t] sound -  앟

Summary Table

Jamo	Initial Sound	Final Sound
ㄱ	g / k	k
ㄴ	n	n
ㄷ	d / t	t
ㄹ	r / l	l
ㅁ	m	m
ㅂ	b / p	p
ㅅ	s	t
ㅇ	-	ng
ㅈ	j / ch	t
ㅊ	ch (aspirated)	t
ㅋ	k (aspirated)	k
ㅌ	t (aspirated)	t
ㅍ	p (aspirated)	p
ㅎ	h	t

 

Final Consonant Blocking

In Korean, when a consonant appears at the end of a syllable, it is not released.  The airflow is stopped at the point of articulation, whether it’s the lips, tongue, or throat, and the consonant remains tense and cut off. This gives Korean final sounds a distinct, closed-off quality. They are often less audible than in other languages, especially to beginners.

Try saying the word "yak".
Even though it ends with a [k] sound, you probably release it slightly with a bit of extra sound, like “yak-keu”, where the [k] escapes with a small puff or vowel-like ending.

In Korean, this never happens. The [k] sound in 약 is cut off sharply, with no breath and no release. The sound stays blocked.

•  yak
• 약 (= medicine)

This applies to all final consonants in Korean: none of them are released.

Also, only seven different final sounds are allowed in Korean syllables:

Final Sound	Representative Jamo	Also includes
[k]	ㄱ	ㅋ
[n]	ㄴ
[t]	ㄷ	ㅅㅈㅊㅌㅎ
[l]	ㄹ
[m]	ㅁ
[p]	ㅂ	ㅍ
[ng]	ㅇ

This means that:

• 악 and 앜 are pronounced the same.
• 앋, 앗, 앛, and 앝 all sound the same.
• You can’t distinguish 압 and 앞 just by hearing them. Only vocabulary knowledge will let you write the correct form.

But don’t worry! This kind of ambiguity exists in English too.
When you hear the word “write” you can’t tell if it’s spelled "write", "right", "rite" or "wright" unless you already know the word.
Korean works the same way: some words sound the same, but are spelled differently.

Aspirated Consonants

Hangeul includes five aspirated consonants. These require you to release more air than you would in English.

It’s important to pronounce this burst of air. Otherwise, aspirated and plain consonants may sound the same to native speakers.

Don’t confuse:

• 가 and 카
• 다 and 타
• 바 and 파
• 자 and 차
• 아 and 하

These are not interchangeable. They form completely different words, and Koreans clearly distinguish them.

It may take some time for your ear to adapt, and that’s normal!

Why do ㄴ sometimes sound like [d] and ㅁ like [b]?

One of the first things learners notice is:
Why does 네 (= yes) sometimes sound like [de] instead of [ne]?
And why does 미 in 미안해 (= sorry) sometimes sound like [bi]?

Exercises

 

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