The Hangul Alphabet (한글)
By the end of this lesson you can:
- Recognise all 24 basic Hangul letters (10 vowels and 14 consonants) and say their sounds
- Explain how 2- and 3-letter syllable blocks are formed and sound out real words like 한국 and 우리
- Write the basic letters and simple syllables (아, 이, 가, 나, 한, 글) by hand with correct stroke order
TOPIK 1 skills: Reading Hangul
Everything starts here. Master these characters and the entire language opens up to you.
Part 1 · Background: Why Hangul Is Your Best Friend
Hangul was invented in 1443 by King Sejong the Great, specifically designed to be easy to learn. Unlike Chinese characters, which take years to master, most people can read Hangul within a week. Each symbol represents a sound: no guessing.
Hangul is written in syllable blocks: groups of 2–3 letters stacked together to make one syllable sound. Once you know the letters, you can sound out any Korean word, even ones you’ve never seen before.
TIP: Hangul has 24 basic letters (14 consonants + 10 vowels). That’s it. English has 26. You’re already almost there.
Part 2 · The 10 Basic Vowels
모음 (mo-eum): Vowels
Korean vowels are written as vertical or horizontal lines. The vowel letters (jamo) are ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ. When a vowel starts a syllable it always needs a consonant partner (the silent placeholder ㅇ), which is how we get the example syllables 아, 야, 어…
| # | Jamo (letter) | Example syllable (ㅇ + vowel) | Romanization |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ㅏ | 아 | a |
| 2 | ㅑ | 야 | ya |
| 3 | ㅓ | 어 | eo |
| 4 | ㅕ | 여 | yeo |
| 5 | ㅗ | 오 | o |
| 6 | ㅛ | 요 | yo |
| 7 | ㅜ | 우 | u |
| 8 | ㅠ | 유 | yu |
| 9 | ㅡ | 으 | eu |
| 10 | ㅣ | 이 | i |
TIP: Pronunciation cheat sheet: 아 (a) = “ah” like in “father” · 어 (eo) = “uh” like in “fur” · 으 (eu) = no exact English equivalent: say “oo” but spread your lips flat, with no rounding at all.
Vowel shape logic
- Vowels built on a vertical stroke (ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅣ) go to the right of their consonant: 가 나 다
- Vowels built on a horizontal stroke (ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ) go below their consonant: 고 노 도
Part 3 · The 14 Basic Consonants
자음 (ja-eum): Consonants
Korean consonants are shaped to visually represent how your mouth moves to make each sound. The shape of ㅁ (m) looks like closed lips. The shape of ㄴ (n) shows the tongue touching the roof of the mouth.
| # | Jamo | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ㄱ | g / k |
| 2 | ㄴ | n |
| 3 | ㄷ | d / t |
| 4 | ㄹ | r / l |
| 5 | ㅁ | m |
| 6 | ㅂ | b / p |
| 7 | ㅅ | s |
| 8 | ㅇ | ng / silent |
| 9 | ㅈ | j |
| 10 | ㅊ | ch |
| 11 | ㅋ | k |
| 12 | ㅌ | t |
| 13 | ㅍ | p |
| 14 | ㅎ | h |
TIP: The ㅇ trick: ㅇ has two jobs. At the start of a syllable it is completely silent. At the end it makes an “ng” sound. So 아 = “ah” and 강 = “kang.”
Aspirated consonants (extra breath)
Four consonants come in a “strong breath” version. Hold your hand in front of your mouth. You should feel a puff of air:
| Aspirated | Built from |
|---|---|
| ㅋ | ㄱ + breath |
| ㅌ | ㄷ + breath |
| ㅍ | ㅂ + breath |
| ㅊ | ㅈ + breath |
Part 4 · How Syllable Blocks Work
글자 (geul-ja): Building Syllables
Every Korean syllable is written as a square block. Letters stack together, never written in a row like English. There are two main block shapes, plus a third you’ll meet properly later:
Shape 1: Consonant + vertical vowel
| Syllable | Formation | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| 가 | ㄱ + ㅏ | “ga” |
| 나 | ㄴ + ㅏ | “na” |
| 사 | ㅅ + ㅏ | “sa” |
| 아 | ㅇ (silent) + ㅏ | “a” |
Rule: consonant goes on the left, vowel on the right.
Shape 2: Consonant + horizontal vowel
| Syllable | Formation | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| 고 | ㄱ + ㅗ | “go” |
| 노 | ㄴ + ㅗ | “no” |
| 우 | ㅇ (silent) + ㅜ | “u” |
| 모 | ㅁ + ㅗ | “mo” |
Rule: consonant goes on top, vowel on the bottom.
Shape 3: Adding a final consonant (받침, batchim)
| Syllable | Formation | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| 밥 | ㅂ + ㅏ + ㅂ | “bap” (rice) |
| 한 | ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ | “han” |
| 글 | ㄱ + ㅡ + ㄹ | “geul” |
| 강 | ㄱ + ㅏ + ㅇ | “gang” (river) |
Rule: the final consonant (받침) goes underneath everything. Focus on 2-letter blocks first. Batchim comes in Lesson 8.
MILESTONE: Read your first word: you already know enough to read 한글. Sound it out: 한 = han, 글 = geul. Hangeul, the name of the alphabet itself!
Part 5 · Writing Practice
쓰기 연습 (sseu-gi yeon-seup): Trace These Characters
Print this page and trace each character 10 times. The first box shows a faint guide. Focus on stroke order: always top-to-bottom, left-to-right.
아 · 이 · 가 · 나 · 한 · 글
Part 6 · Your First 6 Korean Words
첫 번째 단어들 (cheot beon-jjae dan-eo-deul): Recognise These
Using only what you learned today, you can already read these words. Practise sounding them out. Don’t just memorise the romanization.
| # | Korean | Romanization | Meaning | Notes | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 나 | na | I / me | informal | m1-l01-v01 |
| 2 | 우리 | u-ri | we / our | m1-l01-v02 | |
| 3 | 아이 | a-i | child / baby | m1-l01-v03 | |
| 4 | 이 | i | this | used before a noun | m1-l01-v04 |
| 5 | 가 | ga | subject particle | m1-l01-v05 | |
| 6 | 한국 | han-guk | Korea | m1-l01-v06 |
Homework
Before Lesson 2:
- Trace all 10 basic vowels and 14 basic consonants 5 times each by hand.
- Sound out these words aloud: 바나나 · 커피 · 소파 · 버스 · 피자. (These are all English loan words. You’ll recognise them!)
- Write your own name in Hangul using today’s characters. Look up any missing sounds.
- Watch “Hangul in 1 hour” by TTMIK on YouTube (free and reinforces everything visually).
- Add all 24 basic letters to Anki or physical flashcards. Korean on the front, romanization + example word on the back.