Want the good news about learning Korean? Compared to other Asian languages, Korean is relatively easy to learn. That’s because you can master reading and writing in just a few short hours.
What’s also nice is that Korean is mostly regular. That means aside from some exceptions here and there; Korean pronunciation is fairly easy.
Korean has a phonetic alphabet of twenty-four basic characters. This includes fourteen consonants and ten vowels.
Here’s a quick breakdown of how you pronounce each letter. I'll also include a few tips on how to work through a few of the trickier letters you might stumble upon at first but can get the hang of in no time.
By the time you’re done reading this, you’ll be well on your way native-sounding Korean pronunciation.
By the way, if you want to learn Korean fast and have fun while doing it, my top recommendation is Korean Uncovered which teaches you through my fun, unique and effective StoryLearning® method.
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Korean Letters
Korean has 24 letters in total:
- 14 consonant letters (ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ)
- 10 vowel letters (ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ)
The most important thing to remember is that there is no direct translation between Korean and English letters. It’s better to consider them approximations of each other.
For example, rather than thinking of it directly as “ㄱ=g,” it’s better to think of it as “ㄱ sounds like “gah as in garden.” The same goes for the remainder of the Korean letters.
Be sure to use the letter guide below accordingly:
Consonants:
- ㄱ = G
- ㄴ = N
- ㄷ = D
- ㄹ = L
- ㅁ = M
- ㅂ = B
- ㅅ = S
- ㅇ= null/placeholder consonant, but sounds like “ng” as in “sign” when on bottom, also paired with individual vowels
- ㅈ = J like jeans
- ㅊ = CH like cheese
- ㅋ = K
- ㅌ = T
- ㅍ = P
- ㅎ= H
Vowel:
- ㅏ = a (ah
- ㅑ = ya (yah)
- ㅓ = eo (sounds like uh)
- ㅕ = yeo (sounds like yuh)
- ㅗ = o
- ㅛ = yo
- ㅜ = oo (as in woo)
- ㅠ = yoo (as in you)
- ㅡ = eu (as in “gul” like Hangul)
- ㅣ= e (as in we)
*Remember you never write vowels by themselves. They must always be paired with the placeholder consonant ㅇ. So ㅏ should be written as 아, ㅑ as 야, and so on.
The best way to practice is by memorizing how all the consonants and vowels sound together.
For example:
- 가, 갸, 거, 겨, 고,교, 구, 규,그 ,기 = ka, kya, keo, kyeo, ko, kyo, koo, kyoo, keu, kee
- 나,냐,너, 녀,노, 뇨,누, 뉴, 느, 니 = na, nya, neo, nyeo, no, nyo, noo, nyoo, neu, nee
Now do the same for the remaining consonants on the list above.
Korean Letter Combinations
Korean may have 24 letters, but you'll often see several “letters” that aren't on the list above. That's because some letters are combined into one.
Here's the thing—if you read each one individually, you'll still be understood. But if you want to sound fluent, you'll need to recognize and master the pronunciations of these letter combinations.
They come in two forms: double consonants and mixed vowels. And they're actually pretty common. You'll see them daily when you start speaking and reading Korean a lot.
But the more familiar you are with the alphabet above, the more they'll make sense and flow more easily from you.
Double consonants: all double consonants make a strong consonant sound. Simply put extra emphasis on the original consonant. Think of it like “DDog” instead of “dog.” As your practice, you’ll hear the subtle difference between single and double consonants.
- ㄲ = strong g like “gate” or “go”
- ㄸ = strong d like “dog” or “day”
- ㅃ= strong b like “bank”
- ㅆ= strong s like “snake”
- ㅉ= strong j like j “John”
A famous word you've likely seen already written in English is Jjajang myeon (pronounced JAH-jang myeon). You can find this popular Korean dish everywhere in Korea.
Mixed Vowels
Korean also has some mixed vowels and consonants. These form when you put certain sounds together. Say everything very slowly to yourself and you’ll hear how the sounds come together.
- ㅐ sounds like ae as in “day”
- With ㅐ, you combine ㅏ(a) plus ㅣ(e) to make ㅐ(ae).
- ㅒ sounds yae as in “yay”
- With ㅐ, you combine ㅑ(ya) plus ㅣ(e) to make yae.
- ㅔ sounds like ae in “day”
- With ㅔ, you combine ㅓ(eo) plus ㅣ(e) to make ae.
- ㅖsounds like yae as in “yay”
- With ㅖ, you combine ㅕ (yeo) plus ㅣ(e) to make yae.
- ㅚ sounds like “we”
- With ㅚ, you combine ㅗ (o) plus plus ㅣ to make we
- ㅙ sounds like “way”
- With ㅙ, you combine ㅗ (o) plus plus ㅐ(ae) to make way
- ㅟ sounds like “we”
- With ㅟ, you combine ㅜ (oo) plus ㅣ(e) to make we
- ㅞ sounds like “way”
Korean Pronunciation: 7 Difficult Korean Sounds & Pronunciations
On the whole, Korean pronunciation is super easy. It’s actually easier than English because you don’t have tricky letters like “C” that could either sound like “cat” or “cereal.
However, there are a handful of tricky aspects of Korean pronunciation that can trip up new learners a little. Here are a couple of thing you should pay extra attention to.
1. Each Korean Syllable Is Pronounced With Equal Stress
Say the word “camera” to yourself. Notice how you emphasize the first part of the word to say it like CAM-er-a.
For Korean, syllables are pronounced with equal stress for the same length of time. Instead of saying “CAM-er-a” with most emphasis on the front of the word and little on the end, you say “Ca-Me-Ra.”
By the way, the word for camera is the same in Korean!
Check it out:
- 카(ka) 메(me) 라(Ra)
The way you say it is “Kah-Meh-Rah.”
2. The Vowel “으 = eu” As In Hangul”
There is no direct sound in English like 으 or eu in Korean. So this can be tricky for new Korean speakers to get right.
It’s worth checking out some videos and watching the shape of people’s mouths when they make the sound.
When you pronounce 으, stretch your mouth wide and flat (picture a rectangle in your brain) and combine the sound “ew” and “uh.” And that’s it.
This is a good word to practice it with: 음악 or eumak, which means “music”. Another useful one to know is 음식 eumsik, which means “food”.
3. The Vowel 어 In English
The vowel 어 is written as “eo” in English. It’s easy to think it’s pronounced as “e-o” like “video.” But this is not actually how it sounds. This vowel is one of the top reasons why you should learn Korean as quickly as possible and stop relying on transliterations.
Instead, 어 sounds more like the “o” in the word “goal.” The best way to remember it is the word “Seoul.” You don’t say “SEEohul” but “Sole” The same goes with every other place you see 어.
Practice this words:
- 먹어 = meogeo like mohgoh which is “eat”
- 헐 = heol like hole which roughly translates to “OMG”
- 이거 = igeo like igoh which is “this”
4. The Consonant ㄹ As In Ramen
The consonant ㄹ is another sound we don’t really have in English. It’s somewhere between the letters “R” and “L.”
Koreans don’t say a hard “R” for ramen. Instead it’s softer and a little closer to “l” to sound more like “lah-men.” The key is curling your tongue when you pronounce it.
When ㄹ is at the end of a syllable it sounds, it sounds like the L in “curly.”
For example, if you say “I eat rice” or 밥을 먹어, it sounds like bab-eul meo-geo.
It’s a little tricky at first. For now just remember there is no strong L or R sound and you’ll start to pick it up over time.
5. All The “Ay” Sounds
From the chart above, you probably noticed that “ay” and “ay” both sound like “ay” and “ay.” Likewise both ㅒand ㅖ sounds like “yay” and “yay.”
There is actually a slight difference between the pronunciations of these letters.
- 애 is like ae that you pronounce by opening your mouth while your tongue is low. Think more drawn out.
- 에 is like eh that you pronounce with your mouth less opened and with your tongue more to the front of your mouth. Think shorter.
It’s a subtle difference that doesn’t matter too much at first. But it does change the way a word sounds.
For example, there are two words that have a similar pronunciation with different spellings:
- 개 kay (dog)
- 게 keh (crab)
Fortunately, context will be able to help you 99% of the time since people will assume you go on a walk with your dog and not your crab.
6. Korean Double Consonants
I briefly went into detail about the double consonants above. Here’s a little more on pronouncing them correctly.
Of the 14 main consonants, these five only: ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅈ can form double consonants.
As mentioned, it’s best to think of them as just strong pronunciations. But it’s also important to write them together as one letter.
So you double them up and write ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, and ㅉ to sound like [-gg], [-tt], [-pp], [-ss], and [-jj] respectively. They sound strong and a little higher-pitched. So keep your ear tuned closely while having conversations:
A few double consonant words:
- 떡볶이 tteokbokki (rice cakes in sauce (popular Korean street food))
- 빨간색 ppalgan seek (the color “red”)
- 쌍용 ssangyong (Korean car manufacturer)
7. Korean Mixed Vowels
Likewise, let’s go into a little more detail about those mixed vowels. Similar to the double consonants, you combine the vowels together into one letter.
Here’s the list again for you:
- ㅐ sounds like ae as in “day”
- With ㅐ, you combine ㅏ(a) plus ㅣ(e) to make ㅐ(ae).
- ㅒ sounds yae as in “yay”
- With ㅐ, you combine ㅑ(ya) plus ㅣ(e) to make yae.
- ㅔ sounds like ae in “day”
- With ㅔ, you combine ㅓ(eo) plus ㅣ(e) to make ae.
- ㅖsounds like yae as in “yay”
- With ㅖ, you combine ㅕ (yeo) plus ㅣ(e) to make yae.
- ㅚ sounds like “we”
- With ㅚ, you combine ㅗ (o) plus plus ㅣ to make we
- ㅙ sounds like “way”
- With ㅙ, you combine ㅗ (o) plus plus ㅐ(ae) to make way
- ㅟ sounds like “we”
- With ㅟ, you combine ㅜ (oo) plus ㅣ(e) to make we
- ㅞ sounds like “way”
Let’s just take the top one. ㅐ sounds like ae as in “day.” With ㅐ, you combine ㅏ(a) plus ㅣ(e) to make ㅐ(ae). Say ㅐ(ae) slowly to yourself and you’ll hear it. “A” and “e” sounds like “ah e” then put together it’s “ay”. Or say the two letters ㅏ(a) plus ㅣ(e) quickly and you also should be able to hear it.
Do the same with all the other vowels on the list and you’ll be pronouncing them like a native speaker in no time.
Korean Pronunciation Like A Native Speaker
Practice makes perfect when it comes to Korean pronunciation. But have fun with it. Aside from language learning apps, you can watch videos, listen to music, or binge-watch your favorite K-drama.
The real secret is recording your voice while practicing. This is the best way to hear if you’re getting close to the right pronunciation or not. As uncomfortable as this might be, do this from time to time. This will help you hear where you’re nailing it and where you might need a little extra effort.
And don’t forget to keep reading and writing Hangul. The more you do so, the more everything will start coming together, and the closer you’ll be to getting that native-level Korean pronunciation all language learners want.
