Unit 2: Basic Consonants

Now that you know the vowels, it's time to learn the consonants! When King Sejong designed these, he made their shapes resemble the physical shape your mouth makes when saying them.

There are 14 basic consonants in Hangul.

1. The "Base" Consonants

• ㄱ (g / k) - Represents the root of the tongue blocking the throat. Sounds like a soft 'g' or 'k' (like in gun).
• ㄴ (n) - Represents the tip of the tongue touching the upper gums. Sounds like 'n' (like in net).
• ㅁ (m) - Represents the shape of the mouth. Sounds like 'm' (like in mother).
• ㅅ (s) - Represents the shape of a tooth. Sounds like 's' (like in sun). Note: Before the vowel '이 (i)', it sounds like 'sh'.
• ㅇ (ng / silent) - Represents the open throat. When placed at the START of a syllable, it is completely silent. When placed at the BOTTOM of a syllable, it sounds like 'ng' (like in sing).

2. Adding strokes for stronger sounds

By adding strokes to the base shapes, the sound becomes stronger or aspirated (more air comes out).

• ㄴ (n) -> ㄷ (d / t) - Sounds like a soft 'd' or 't'.

• ㄷ (d) -> ㅌ (t) - A strong aspirated 't' (like in top).

• ㄱ (g) -> ㅋ (k) - A strong aspirated 'k' (like in kill).

• ㅁ (m) -> ㅂ (b / p) - Sounds like a soft 'b' or 'p'.

• ㅂ (b) -> ㅍ (p) - A strong aspirated 'p' (like in pot).

• ㅅ (s) -> ㅈ (j / ch) - Sounds like a soft 'j' or 'ch'.

• ㅈ (j) -> ㅊ (ch) - A strong aspirated 'ch' (like in church).

3. The odd ones out

There are two more consonants that don't perfectly fit the stroke rule.

• ㄹ (r / l) - A mix between an R and an L. It's the flap sound you make when you say the "dd" in "ladder" or the "tt" in "butter".
• ㅎ (h) - Represents the throat with air coming out. Sounds like 'h' (like in hat).

4. Let's make syllables!

You now have everything you need to read basic Korean words! You just put a consonant on the left (or top), and a vowel on the right (or bottom).

• ㄴ + 아 = 나 (na) = I / Me
• ㄴ + 우 + ㄱ + 우 = 누구 (nu-gu) = Who
• ㄱ + 오 + ㄱ + 이 = 고기 (go-gi) = Meat
• ㅁ + 오 + ㅈ + 아 = 모자 (mo-ja) = Hat

Summary of the 14 Consonants

• ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅎ