Beginner's Guide To The Korean Alphabet (Hangul)
Author
When I meet new students starting Korean, I always tell them the exact same thing: You can learn the Korean alphabet in a day.
If you’re a native English speaker, Korean writing might look completely unfamiliar at first glance. But unlike languages that take years just to learn how to read, you can actually learn the Korean alphabet - called Hangul (한글) - in just a few hours.
King Sejong the Great invented Hangul in 1443.
Before then, Koreans used complicated Chinese characters to write, which meant only the wealthy and highly educated could read. King Sejong wanted an alphabet so simple and logical that anyone could learn it in a single morning.
And he succeeded!
Hangul is widely considered by linguists to be the most logical writing system in the world.
Here’s my simple, step-by-step guide to mastering Hangul.
Table of Contents:
What is hangul?
Hangul is a phonetic alphabet, just like the English alphabet. This means that each letter represents a specific sound.
There are 14 basic consonants and 10 basic vowels in Korean.
However, there’s one major difference between English and Korean writing. In English, we write letters in a straight, horizontal line (l-i-k-e t-h-i-s). In Korean, letters are grouped together into little square blocks.
Each block represents exactly one syllable. Once you learn the individual letters and the rules for stacking them into blocks, you’ll be able to read any Korean word you see.
The basic consonants
Let’s start with the 14 basic consonants.
A fun fact about Korean consonants: the shapes of the letters were actually designed to mimic the shape your tongue, mouth, and throat make when you pronounce them!
Here’s a chart of the basic consonants and their approximate English sounds.
| Consonant | Korean Name | Approximate Sound |
|---|---|---|
| ㄱ | Giyeok (기역) | g / k |
| ㄴ | Nieun (니은) | n |
| ㄷ | Digeut (디귿) | d / t |
| ㄹ | Rieul (리을) | r / l (a soft flap, like the “tt” in “butter”) |
| ㅁ | Mieum (미음) | m |
| ㅂ | Bieup (비읍) | b / p |
| ㅅ | Siot (시옷) | s / sh |
| ㅇ | Ieung (이응) | Silent (at the start of a block) / “ng” (at the bottom) |
| ㅈ | Jieut (지읒) | j / ch |
| ㅊ | Chieut (치읓) | ch (with a puff of air) |
| ㅋ | Kieuk (키읔) | k (with a puff of air) |
| ㅌ | Tieut (티읕) | t (with a puff of air) |
| ㅍ | Pieup (피읖) | p (with a puff of air) |
| ㅎ | Hieut (히읗) | h |
You’ll notice the letter ㅇ is a bit unique. If it’s placed at the beginning of a syllable block, it makes absolutely no sound. It simply acts as a placeholder. But if it’s at the bottom of a block, it makes an “ng” sound, like at the end of the English word “song”.
The basic vowels
Next, we have the 10 basic vowels.
Vowels in Hangul are made up of straight horizontal and vertical lines, sometimes with tiny short lines branching off them.
| Vowel | Approximate Sound |
|---|---|
| ㅏ | a (like in “father”) |
| ㅑ | ya (like in “yacht”) |
| ㅓ | eo (like the “uh” in “up” or “run”) |
| ㅕ | yeo (like “yuh” in “yummy”) |
| ㅗ | o (like in “home”) |
| ㅛ | yo (like in “yo-yo”) |
| ㅜ | u (like in “moon”) |
| ㅠ | yu (like in “you”) |
| ㅡ | eu (like the “oo” in “good”, smiled tightly) |
| ㅣ | i (like the “ee” in “see”) |
How to build syllable blocks
Now that you know the basic letters, it’s time to put them together.
As I mentioned earlier, Korean letters are arranged into syllable blocks. There are two very important rules you must remember:
Every syllable block must start with a consonant. Every syllable block must contain at least one vowel.
How you arrange the block depends entirely on the shape of the vowel you’re using.
1. Vertical vowels (left to right)
If the vowel is long and vertical (like ㅏ, ㅓ, ㅣ), you place the consonant on the left and the vowel on the right.
- ㅂ (b) + ㅏ (a) = 바 (ba)
- ㄴ (n) + ㅣ (i) = 니 (ni)
바나나
2. Horizontal vowels (top to bottom)
If the vowel is long and horizontal (like ㅗ, ㅜ, ㅡ), you place the consonant on top and the vowel underneath it.
- ㅅ (s) + ㅗ (o) = 소 (so)
- ㅁ (m) + ㅜ (u) = 무 (mu)
나무
What if a syllable starts with a vowel sound?
Because of our first rule (every block must start with a consonant), we can’t just write a vowel by itself.
This is where our silent consonant ㅇ comes in to save the day! You just place ㅇ in the consonant spot as a silent placeholder.
- ㅇ (silent) + ㅏ (a) = 아 (a)
- ㅇ (silent) + ㅜ (u) = 우 (u)
아이
Double consonants and complex vowels
Once you know the basics, the rest of Hangul is just combining what you already know.
There are 5 “double consonants” which are just basic consonants written twice. You pronounce these with a tighter, more tense sound.
| Double Consonant | Approximate Sound |
|---|---|
| ㄲ | kk (tense k) |
| ㄸ | tt (tense t) |
| ㅃ | pp (tense p) |
| ㅆ | ss (tense s) |
| ㅉ | jj (tense j) |
There are also 11 “complex vowels”. These are just basic vowels mashed together to create “w” sounds or slightly different “eh” sounds. For example:
- ㅗ (o) + ㅏ (a) = ㅘ (wa)
- ㅜ (u) + ㅓ (eo) = ㅝ (wo)
- ㅏ (a) + ㅣ (i) = ㅐ (ae/eh)
사과
Batchim (bottom consonants)
We’ve talked about consonants and vowels, but what happens if a syllable ends in a consonant?
For example, the word “Kim” (a very common Korean name). It starts with K, has an I in the middle, and ends with M.
In Korean, this final consonant is called batchim (받침), which literally translates to “support” or “prop”. It goes at the very bottom of the syllable block, supporting the letters above it.
Let’s look at how “Kim” is built:
- ㄱ (k) goes on the left.
- ㅣ (i) goes on the right.
- ㅁ (m) goes on the bottom.
Put them all together, and you get: 김 (kim).
Here are a few more examples of words that use batchim:
물
학생
한국
Next steps for practicing
And that’s the core of Hangul.
While there are some slight pronunciation rules and sound-change exceptions you’ll learn as you progress in your studies, you now have the foundational knowledge to read Korean.
Look around your house and try to sound out the English names of objects using Hangul blocks (for example, try writing “so-pa” for sofa: 소파). Look up menus for your favorite Korean restaurants and try sounding out the dishes.
It’ll feel slow at first, like when you were a young child learning to read, but with just a few days of consistent practice, your brain will start recognizing the blocks.
