Appearance and Sound of Hangul
The Consonants
Due to the subjective nature of language, pronunciations will vary from region to region as well as person to person.
To hear a sample of the pronunciation of each letter, click the icon to the left of the Korean character. You can then hear its name and pronunciation.
| Name | Hangul | Pronunciation at the... | ||
| Start of a word | Start of a syllable | End of a word | ||
| 기역 (giyok) |  ㄱ |
k (kite) | g (ghost) | k (walk) |
| 쌍기역 (ssang giyok) | ㄲ |
g (gone) | <- same | <- same |
| 니은 (nieun) | ㄴ |
n (now) | <- same | <- same |
| 디귿 (digeut) | ㄷ |
t (talk) | d (mind) | t (hot) |
| 쌍디귿 (ssang digeut) | ㄸ |
d (dog) | <- same | <- same |
| 리을 (rieul) | ㄹ |
r (run) | <- same | l (real) |
| 미음 (mieum) | ㅁ |
m (mop) | <- same | m (hum) |
| 비읍 (bieup) | ㅂ |
p (pool) | b (bay) | p (lap) |
| 쌍비읍 (ssang bieup) | ㅃ |
b (bird) | <- same | <- same |
| 시옷 (siot) | ㅅ |
s (show) | <- same | t (hot) |
| 쌍시옷 (ssang siot) | ㅆ |
s (sun) | <- same | t (hot) |
| 이응 (ieung) | ㅇ |
silent | <- same | ng (ring) |
| 지읒 (jieut) | ㅈ |
ch (chop) | j (jar) | t (hot) |
| 쌍지읒 (ssang jieut) | ㅉ |
j (jim) | <- same | t (hot) |
| 치읓 (chieut) | ㅊ |
ch (itch) | <- same | t (hot) |
| 키읔 (kieuk) | ㅋ |
kh (khaki) | <- same | <- same |
| 티읕 (tieut) | ㅌ |
t (tip) | <- same | t (hot) |
| 피읖 (pieup) | ㅍ |
p (pit) | <- same | p (lap) |
| 히읕 (hieut) | ㅎ |
h (hot) | <- same | silent |
The Vowels
Due to the subjective nature of language, pronunciations will vary from region to region as well as person to person.
To hear a sample of the pronunciation of each letter, click the icon to the left of the Korean character. You can then hear its name and pronunciation.
| Hangul | Pronunciation |
| ㅏ |
ah (Rah) |
| ㅓ |
uh (run) |
| ㅗ |
oh (dough) |
| ㅜ |
oo (moon) |
| ㅡ |
uh (brook) |
| ㅣ |
ee (meek) |
| ㅐ |
ae (at) |
| ㅔ |
eh (met) |
| ㅑ |
yah (yawn) |
| ㅕ |
yuh (yum) |
| ㅛ |
yoh (yodel) |
| ㅠ |
yoo (view) |
| ㅒ |
yae (yak) |
| ㅖ |
yeh (yes) |
| ㅘ |
wah (wand) |
| ㅙ |
wae (wax) |
| ㅝ |
wuh (wonder) |
| ㅞ |
weh (web) |
| ㅚ |
weh (wait) |
| ㅟ |
wee (week) |
| ㅢ |
uey (muey) |
More information
For a look into how Korean letters are constructed into syllables, click on to the Structure page.
Head to the Pronunciation page to see and hear how these characters are used.
Looking for Hangul flashcards?
One of zKorean's visitors, Steairn Blod, made this flashcard deck
for you! You'll need the Anki program to run it, but it's a quick install.
Enjoy!