Korean vowels and consonants
Hangul has 21 vowels and 19 consonants. Every syllable joins a consonant and a vowel into one block:ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ = 한. Tap any letter below to hear it.
10 basic vowels
Written with a long stroke and short ticks. Two ticks add a “y” sound: ㅏ a → ㅑ ya.
11 compound vowels
Two basic vowels merged into one. ㅐ and ㅔ sound almost the same in modern Seoul speech.
14 basic consonants
Shapes follow the mouth: ㄱ shows the tongue touching the back of the mouth, ㅁ the closed lips.
5 double (tense) consonants
A doubled letter is said with a tight throat and no puff of air.
Plain, aspirated and tense: ㄱ vs ㅋ vs ㄲ
English separates g/k by voicing. Korean instead has three series of the same stop: plain (light breath), aspirated (strong puff of air) and tense (tight throat, no air). Hold your hand in front of your mouth: you should feel air only on the middle column. Play each row and compare.
| Plain | Aspirated | Tense |
|---|---|---|
| — |
ㅅ has no aspirated partner. Three-way contrast as described in Lee (1993), “Korean”, Journal of the International Phonetic Association.
How to read the romanization
- g / k, d / t, b / p, r / l: one letter, two spellings. The first is used before a vowel, the second before a consonant or at the end of a word: 가방 gabang, 국 guk.
- eo and eu are single vowels, not two sounds: ㅓ is an open “aw”, ㅡ is “oo” said with spread lips.
- ㅇ is silent at the start of a syllable and “ng” at the end.
Spelling rules: Revised Romanization of Korean, National Institute of Korean Language.
Test yourself
Knowing the chart is not the same as hearing the difference. The free practice quiz plays a letter and asks you to pick it — the fastest way to lock in ㅓ vs ㅗ and ㄱ vs ㅋ. Then print the chart for your desk.
FAQ
How many vowels and consonants are in Korean?
Hangul has 40 letters in common use: 21 vowels (10 basic + 11 compound) and 19 consonants (14 basic + 5 double).
Is the Korean alphabet 24 or 40 letters?
Both numbers are used. 24 counts only the basic letters (14 consonants + 10 vowels). 40 adds the 11 compound vowels and 5 double consonants you need to read real words.
Why does ㄱ sound like both g and k?
ㄱ is a plain, unaspirated sound. At the start of a word it is close to k; between vowels it voices to g; at the end of a syllable it is an unreleased k. The official romanization writes g before a vowel and k elsewhere.
Why is ㅇ silent?
At the start of a syllable ㅇ only fills the empty consonant place, so 아 is read “a”. At the end of a syllable it is “ng”, as in 강 gang.