Korean pronunciation rules take some practice when you first start reading words aloud.

The Korean alphabet is perfectly logical, but spoken Korean often sounds slightly different from how it’s written.

Learning a few core rules will instantly make your spoken Korean sound more natural.

I’ll explain the most important sound changes that happen when Korean letters meet each other.

The foundation: batchim (final consonants)

A batchim is the final consonant at the bottom of a Korean syllable block.

When a consonant is in this bottom position, its pronunciation is strictly limited.

Korean only allows seven actual sounds at the end of a syllable block.

If a word ends in a consonant that isn’t one of these seven, it shifts to the closest matching sound.

Here’s how the bottom consonants are actually pronounced when they stand alone:

Rule 1: liaison (carrying sounds over)

This is the most common pronunciation rule in the entire Korean language.

When a syllable ends in a consonant and the next syllable starts with a vowel, the bottom consonant moves over.

It takes the empty space of the ㅇ (placeholder consonant) to make your speech flow faster.

You don’t pause between the two syllables.

Rule 2: nasal assimilation (softening sounds)

Korean flows very smoothly, so harsh sounds often soften when they meet nasal sounds like ㄴ (n) or ㅁ (m).

If a hard bottom consonant like ㅂ (p/b) sits right before an ㄴ (n), the ㅂ changes to an ㅁ (m) sound.

If a ㄱ (k/g) meets an ㄴ or ㅁ, the ㄱ changes to an ㅇ (ng) sound.

You’ll see this constantly in formal Korean verbs that end in -습니다.

Rule 3: tensification (making sounds harder)

Sometimes two soft, flat consonants crash into each other and create a hard, tense sound.

When standard consonants like ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅅ, or ㅈ meet each other, the second consonant becomes doubled.

The second letter transforms into its double version (ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ).

This makes the second syllable sound sharper and much more forceful.

Rule 4: aspiration (adding an air burst)

The letter ㅎ (h) is a weak sound that easily merges with other consonants.

When ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, or ㅈ meets an ㅎ, they combine to form their airy equivalents: ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, and ㅊ.

It doesn’t matter if the ㅎ comes right before or right after the consonant.

They merge together into one single, strong sound.

Rule 5: the liquid ㄹ (r/l) sound

The Korean letter ㄹ can sound like an “r” or an “l” depending on where it sits in a word.

When two ㄹ letters are next to each other, they always combine to create a strong “L” sound.

If an ㄴ (n) meets an ㄹ (r/l), the ㄴ is overpowered by the liquid sound.

The ㄴ transforms into an ㄹ, resulting in a double “L” sound.