Korean Basics

Hangul (cont.)

So now that you know (or maybe don't know...) Hangul, it's time to learn how to put the characters together.

There's always going to be a consonant first and then a vowel second, like this:

가 (ga)

Occasionally there'll be a third character and it can be either a consonant or a vowel, like this:

각 (gak) or 과 (gwa)

Sometimes there can be a consonant after the third vowel or consonant, like this:

갉 (gak) or 곽 (gwak)

The Korean alphabet goes in the order of

ㄱ, ㄴ,ㄷ,ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, ㅊ,ㅋ,ㅌ,ㅍ,ㅎ

(g, n, d, r, m, b, s, -, j, ch, k, t, p, h)

When saying the alphabet, you add the vowel ㅏ (a), changing it to

가, 나, 다, 라, 마, 바, 사, 아, 자, 차, 카, 타, 파, 하

(ga, na, da, ra, ma, ba, sa, ah, ja, cha, ka, ta, pa ha)

You can sing that to the tune of the alphabet song (from A to N) and Koreans will know what you're doing and possibly join in.

You may have noticed the letter ㅇ made the sound "ah" after adding the vowel. That's because when you just want the vowel sound, it would be incorrect to write only a vowel, there always has to be a consonant first.

아, 야, 오, 요, 우, 유, 으, 이

(ah, ya, oh, yo, oo, you, eu, ii)

Once you've memorized the pronunciation of the characters and the way to put them together, you'll be able to write without too much difficulty.