Vowels → Consonants ↓	ㅏ	ㅑ	ㅓ	ㅕ	ㅗ	ㅛ	ㅜ	ㅠ	ㅡ	ㅣ
ㄱ	가	갸	거	겨	고	교	구	규	그	기
ㄴ	나	냐	너	녀	노	뇨	누	뉴	느	니
ㄷ	다	댜	더	뎌	도	됴	두	듀	드	디
ㄹ	라	랴	러	려	로	료	루	류	르	리
ㅁ	마	먀	머	며	모	묘	무	뮤	므	미
ㅂ	바	뱌	버	벼	보	뵤	부	뷰	브	비
ㅅ	사	샤	서	셔	소	쇼	수	슈	스	시
ㅇ	아	야	어	여	오	요	우	유	으	이
ㅈ	자	쟈	저	져	조	죠	주	쥬	즈	지
ㅊ	차	챠	처	쳐	초	쵸	추	츄	츠	치
ㅋ	카	캬	커	켜	코	쿄	쿠	큐	크	키
ㅌ	타	탸	터	텨	토	툐	투	튜	트	티
ㅍ	파	퍄	퍼	펴	포	표	푸	퓨	프	피
ㅎ	하	햐	허	혀	호	효	후	휴	흐	히

• It will be safe to think that the vowel pairs ㅏ-ㅑ, ㅓ-ㅕ, ㅗ-ㅛ, ㅜ-ㅠ, ㅐ-ㅒ, andㅔ-ㅖ in the ㅈ and ㅊ rows sound identical.

Korean Syllables: CVC(C) and CVVC

1. Syllables with Batchim

Syllables with final consonants are quite common in Korean. The final consonant (called 받침, batchim) goes on the bottom regardless of whether the vowel is “vertical” or “horizontal.”

	Syllable Formation	Examples
consonant-simple vowel-consonant(s)		ㅇ+ㅣ+ㄹ ㅅ+ ㅏ+ ㅁ ㄱ+ ㅏ+ ㅄ	일 one 삼 three 값 price
		ㅇ+ ㅠ+ ㄱ ㄱ+ ㅗ+ ㅇ ㅁ+ ㅜ+ ㄹ	육 six 공 zero 물 water
consonant-complex vowels-consonant(s)		ㅇ+ ㅘ+ ㅇ ㄱ+ ㅝ+ ㄴ ㅇ+ ㅚ+ ㄴ	왕 king 권 volume 왼쪽 left

Let’s practice reading these words with a 받침 batchim.

	안 inside	길 road	삼 three
	목 neck	곧 soon	중 middle
	월 month	쉰 fifty (for age)	왕 king

2. Reading Syllables with Batchim

Here are some notes on reading words with 받침 batchim.

(1) The seven representatives

Although 글자 geul-ja are spelled with a variety of 받침 batchim — and two-consonant 받침 batchim in some cases — the consonant sounds that are actually pronounced at the end of a Korean syllable are very limited. In fact, only seven representative consonants can be pronounced at the end of a syllable or word. They belong to two categories: sonorous sounds (ㄴ, ㅁ, ㅇ, and ㄹ) and simple stop sounds (ㄱ, ㄷ, and ㅂ). Consequently, there are no s or ch sounds at the ends of syllables in Korean, which is why you cannot pronounce words like bus without the empty vowel added to the end (as in, 버스). But, there is no problem with sonorant sounds at the ends of syllables, so pen is 펜.

So, when the syllable ends in a consonant (받침 batchim), the final consonant is pronounced in one of only seven ways in Korean. ㄷ, ㅌ, ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅊ, and ㅎ 받침 batchim are all pronounced as ㄷ:

낫 sickle	낱 individual piece	낮 daytime	낯 face, mug

The letters at left are pronounced as the representative at right when they are 받침 batchim.

Quiz: Can you remember the pronunciations of the following written syllable-final letters?

ㅅ     ㅆ     ㅈ     ㅊ     ㅋ     ㄲ     ㅌ     ㅍ     ㅎ

ANSWER: In pronunciation, [ㄱ] represents ㄱ, ㄲ, and ㅋ; [ㅂ] represents ㅂ andㅍ (syllable-final ㅃ does not occur); and [ㄷ] represents the whole second row above. As you pronounce all the letter-sounds on each row above — try to feel the movement of your tongue — you can see the reasoning behind this seemingly crazy substitution. ㄲ and ㅋ are sounds made in the back of the mouth, and so is ㄱ; the simplest sound of each sort replaces the more complex sounds! Now, can you understand the other groups? Pronounce the sounds ㄷ, ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅌ, and ㅎ silently and slowly. These are teeth sounds (except for ㅎ) and are represented by the simplest sound ㄷ. How about ㅂ and ㅍ? They are lip sounds, and ㅂ is considered simpler than ㅍ.

Let’s try reading these words with a 받침 batchim.

Remember that Korean final consonants are never released!

Seven Representatives	Final Consonant 받침 Batchim	Examples
ㄱ	ㄱ, ㅋ, ㄲ	박 [a surname] 밖 outside 부엌 kitchen
ㄴ	ㄴ	손 hand 눈 eye 안 inside
ㄷ	ㄷ, ㅌ, ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅎ	곧 right away 곳 place 꽃 flower 있다 to exist 솥 cast iron pot 히읗 letter “ㅎ”
ㄹ	ㄹ	쌀 (uncooked) rice 돌 rock 꿀 honey
ㅁ	ㅁ	봄 spring 아침 morning 점심 lunch
ㅂ	ㅂ, ㅍ	입 mouth 잎 leaf 밥 (cooked) rice; meal, food
ㅇ	ㅇ	강 river 왕 king 창 window pane

(2) Reading ㄹ 받침 batchim

When ㄹ comes at the end of a syllable, it sounds like the English l when it is pronounced at the beginning of a word (much like lady, little, low, or let). It does NOT sound like the English dark l at the end of a word (e.g., in words like ball, doll, all, or cool). Be careful!!

• 달 moon
• 물 water
• 놀다 to play
• 살다 to live
• 필름 film
• 살래? wanna buy? (INFORMAL QUESTION)

(2) Syllables ending in two consonants

Syllables ending in two consonants are far rarer than those ending in single consonants, but they do occur, usually in verbs or adjectives. Here are some examples.

• 밖 outside
• 삶다 to cook by boiling
• 짧다 short
• 있다 to exist
• 없다 to not exist
• 읽다 to read
• 앉다 to sit
• 핥다 to lick
• 많다 a lot of

The following consonant combinations can be used as 받침 batchim:

ㄲ  ㅆ  ㄳ  ㄵ  ㄶ  ㄺ  ㄻ   ㄼ  ㄽ  ㄾ  ㄿ  ㅀ   ㅄThe tricky business about pronouncing words with two final consonants is to figure out which final consonant is actually pronounced. (Remember that Korean can have only ONE representative final consonant.)  These pesky complex-consonant words should be tackled as they come along.

(3) The spill-over rule

One more very important thing to remember about writing and pronouncing Korean syllables is the spill-over or liaison rule. Although only seven simple consonants are allowed in syllable-final position, what was suppressed comes alive when the next syllable begins with a vowel! In other words, the final consonant of a syllable spills over to the next syllable if that next syllable begins with a vowel sound. This provides a way to figure out how a word is spelled – when it comes with a vowel after it, you can hear the true identity of any 받침 batchim that had been reduced to a representative simple sound. Compare how the following pairs are pronounced (the pronunciation is given in square brackets after each word):

• 박 [박] vs. 박에 [바게]
• 밖 [박] vs. 밖에 [바께]
• 낫 [낟] vs. 낫에 [나세]
• 낮 [낟] vs. 낮에 [나제]
• 안아 [아나] vs. 앉아 [안자]
• 집이 [지비] vs. 짚이 [지피]

Can’t I use the liaison rule for the complex final consonants?  Yes! The second of the final two consonants moves over (in pronunciation!) if the following syllable starts with a vowel sound:

• 앉아 [안자] sit
• 읽어 [일거] read
• 젊은 [절믄] young
• 밟으면 [발브면] if you step on
• 없이 [업씨] without

Note: Korean has many pronunciation rules — that is, changes in the way that words and letters are pronounced when you put words together, or changes that make the words sound different from how they are written. Throughout the textbook, pronunciation rules are explained along with relevant vocabulary so that you can make connections between the rules and words where they occur — that way, you can internalize the rules.

SPACING

A space is necessary between words in Korean. A “word” can be as simple as a noun or pronoun like 은비 Eunbi or 저 me/I-humble, a noun or pronoun plus a marker (은비는 or 저는), or it may be as complex as a conjugated verb with connectors and suffixes attached. What do NOT count as words for the purposes of spacing are markers by themselves, verbal suffixes by themselves, and the verb 이에요/예요! Here’s an example:

안

녕

하

세

요

?

저

는

은

비

예

요

.

한

국

사

람

이

에

요

.

만

나

서

반

갑

습

니

다

.

Hello. I am Eunbi. I am a Korean. Nice to meet you.

BASIC KOREAN SENTENCE STRUCTURE

There are three important points about basic sentence structure in Korean.

1. The verb always comes last in a Korean sentence. 

• 저는 한국사람이에요. I am a Korean.
• 장화가 홍련이를 기다려요. Janghwa awaits Hongryeon.

As long as the verb comes last, other parts may be scrambled with the same general sentence meaning:

• 장화가 홍련이를 기다려요. Janghwa awaits Hongryeon.
• 홍련이를 장화가 기다려요. Janghwa awaits Hongryeon.

2. Korean has particles.

Some parts of the sentence, like the subject and the object of the verb, as well as location words, have a special suffix-like marker (a.k.a. particle) whose function is to indicate their role in the sentence. You’ll learn a number of markers as you progress. For a taste, let’s look at these famous examples, where the meaning of the sentence depends solely on what particles you interpret the sentence to have.

아버지가                  방에                            들어가요.             The father goes into the room.

father-subject          room (location)       go in (polite)

아버지                     가방에                          들어가요.            (I) get into the father’s bag.

father                       bag (location)             go in (polite)

3. Korean does not always have a subject present in the sentence.

The subject is often dropped, especially in conversation:

저는 니콜입니다.  ___ 미국 사람이에요.             I am Nicole. (I) am an American.

가: ___ 학생이에요?                                                Are (you) a student?

나: 네, ___ 학생이에요.                                           Yes, (I) am a student.

TASTE OF KOREAN CONVERSATION

1. 숫자 Sino-Korean Numbers

Sino-Korean numbers were borrowed from Chinese long ago and are now part of the Korean number system. Sino-Korean numbers are used when referring to a numbered item, such as a page or a numbered exercise. In this case the numbers are used almost like names.

2. Asking Yes/No questions in Korean

In Korean, the structure of a Yes/No question is the same as that of a statement. However, you need to raise the intonation at the end of the sentence.

가: 커피 좋아해요?                    (Do you) like coffee?

나: 네. 커피 좋아해요.               Yes. (I) like coffee.

Yes is 네/예 and No is 아니요 in Korean. The usage of 네/예 vs. 아니요 is a little bit different from English. 네/예 can express “you are right” while 아니요 implies “you are not right.” We will revisit this later.

(1) Useful Expressions

네 yes	아니요 no	좋아해요 like	싫어해요 do not like