Becoming familiar with the Korean Alphabet

The first step to learning Korean is to master the alphabet. Learning to read and write Korean will be an essential step to fluency. The guide below shows all the Korean letters and their closest English alphabet counterparts. Please bear in mind however, that the English letters below are the best representations of the corresponding Korean letters but they are not exactly the same. The English letters are there for you to use as a guide and when your Korean begins to improve you will realize that they do not sound exactly the same. For example, the letter “ㅅ” sounds very similar to the English “S” but in fact the English “S” can also sounds just like the double consonant “ㅆ”. Although they may sound close to each other they can produce very different meanings such as “사다” (Sa-Da) which means to buy or purchase versus “싸다” (SSa-Da) which means cheap or inexpensive.

For the meantime however, don't worry too much about these minor details. As a beginner level Korean student your job is to simply learn and memorize the Korean alphabet. Once you become 100% comfortable with it your vocabulary will grow and you will be on your way to becoming fluent in Korean!

Consonants

ㄱ: Sounds like a combination of the letters “G” and “K” in English.

ㄴ: Sounds just like the letter “N”

ㄷ: A mix between the letters “D” and “T”

ㄹ: A mix between the letters “R” and “L”

ㅁ: Sounds just like the letter “M”

ㅂ: Similar to the letter “B”

ㅅ: Sounds like the letter “S”

ㅇ: This letter has no sound by itself but when put together with other letters has a sound similar to “-ng”

Example: 빵 à “bbang”. The ㅇ creates the ng sound in 빵 which means bread.

ㅈ: A mix of the letters “J” and “Ch”

ㅊ: Similar to the sound of “-tch”

ㅋ: Sounds just like the letter “K”

ㅌ: Sounds just like the letter “T”

ㅍ: Sounds just like the letter “P”

ㅎ: Sounds like the letter “H”

Double consonants create a stronger pronunciation of the original letter.

ㄲ: A strong “-gg”

ㄸ: A strong “-dd”

ㅃ: A strong “-bb”

ㅆ: A strong “-ss”

ㅉ: A strong “-JJ”

Vowels

ㅏ: “A”

ㅑ: “Yah”

ㅓ: “eo”

ㅕ: “Yeo”

ㅗ: “oh”

ㅛ: “Yo”

ㅜ: Sounds like an “ooo” or “U”

ㅠ: Sounds similar to a “Yuu”

ㅡ: Similar to an “EU”

ㅣ: Similar to “I” or “E” as in eeeek.

Putting Korean letters together!

After becoming somewhat familiar with the Korean alphabet it is now time to practice putting all the letters together. This is the next step in learning how to read and write Korean comfortably. Use the chart below to see what sounds different combinations of letters can make. Try using the letters to write your own name in Korean!

	ㅏ	ㅑ	ㅓ	ㅕ	ㅗ	ㅛ	ㅜ	ㅠ	ㅡ	ㅣ
ㄱ	가 ga	갸 gya	거 geo	겨 gyuh	고 go	교 gyo	구 Goo	규 gyuu	그 Geu	기 Gi
ㄴ	나 na	냐 nya	너 Nuh	녀 nyuh	노 no	뇨 nyo	누 Nuu	뉴 nyu	느 Neu	니 Ni
ㄷ	다 da	댜 dya	더 Duh/deo	뎌 dyuh	도 do	됴 dyo	두 Duu	듀 dyu	드 Deu	디 Di
ㄹ	라 ra	랴 rya	러 Ruh/reo	려 ryuh	로 ro	료 ryo	루 Ruu	류 ryu	르 Reu	리 Ri
ㅁ	마 ma	먀 mya	머 Muh	며 myuh	모 mo	묘 myo	무 Muu	뮤 myu	므 Meu	미 Mi
ㅂ	바 ba	뱌 bya	버 Buh/beo	벼 byuh	보 bo	뵤 byo	부 Buu	뷰 byuu	브 Beu	비 Bi
ㅅ	사 sa	샤 shya	서 Suh/seo	셔 syuh	소 so	쇼 shyo	수 Suu	슈 shyuu	스 Seu	시 Shi
ㅇ	아 aa	야 ya	어 Uh/yeo	여 yeo	오 o	요 yo	우 Uu	유 Yuu	으 Eu	이 Ii
ㅈ	자 ja	쟈 jya	저 Juh/jeo	져 Jyeo	조 Jo	죠 Jyo	주 Juu	쥬 Jyuu	즈 Jeu	지 Ji
ㅊ	차 cha	챠 chya	처 Cheo	쳐 chyuh	초 cho	쵸 chyo	추 chuu	츄 chyuu	츠 cheu	치 Chi
ㅋ	카 ka	캬 kya	커 Kuh/keo	켜 Kyeo	코 ko	쿄 kyo	쿠 kuu	큐 kyuu	크 keu	키 ki
ㅌ	타 ta	탸 tya	터 Tuh/teo	텨 tyeo	토 to	툐 tyo	투 tuu	튜 tyuu	트 teu	티 Ti
ㅍ	파 pa	퍄 pya	퍼 Puh/peo	펴 pyeo	포 po	표 pyo	푸 puu	퓨 pyuu	프 peu	피 pi
ㅎ	하 ha	햐 hya	허 heo	혀 hyeo	호 ho	효 hyo	후 huu	휴 hyuu	흐 heu	히 hi