Basic Consonants Part 1

By the end of this lesson you can:

• Recognise, name, and pronounce the first 7 Korean consonants (ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ) and trace each one with correct stroke order
• Combine today’s consonants with the 10 vowels from Lesson 1 to build and read syllables
• Read 10 real Korean words built from Lesson 1 + 2 characters

TOPIK 1 skills: Reading Hangul

Seven consonants. Seven sounds. By the end of this lesson you’ll be building real syllables from scratch.

RECALL: Before we add consonants, confirm you can read these vowels without thinking: 아 야 어 여 오 요 우 유 으 이. If any feel uncertain, spend 2 minutes on your flashcards now. This lesson builds directly on top of them.

Part 1 · Today’s Seven Consonants

자음: The First Seven. Korean has 14 basic consonants. Today covers the first seven. Each row shows the character, how it sounds, and a memory hint.

Part 2 · The Position Rule

Four consonants change depending on where they sit. In Korean, ㄱ, ㄷ, and ㅂ are voiced (use your voice box) at the start of a syllable, but when they fall at the end, the voice shuts off. ㅅ changes too: at the end of a syllable it doesn’t hiss at all. It becomes an unreleased “t”. This isn’t optional; it’s just how Korean mouths work. Don’t overthink it. It will happen naturally as you hear more Korean.

TIP: Don’t stress the endings yet. Final consonants (받침) are covered fully in Lesson 8. For now, just be aware that ㄱ/ㄷ/ㅂ/ㅅ can sound different at the end of a word. You’ll hear it in the vocabulary below.

Part 3 · Building Syllables

Now combine them with your vowels. Take any consonant from today and any vowel from Lesson 1. Stack them using the rules you already know: consonant + vertical vowel side by side, consonant + horizontal vowel top and bottom.

• Vertical vowels (아 야 어 여 이) → consonant on left, vowel on right: 가 나 다 라 마 바 사
• Horizontal vowels (오 요 우 유 으) → consonant on top, vowel on bottom: 고 노 도 로 모 보 소

Try reading these syllables. Say each one aloud, then check yourself against the Answer Key at the end of the lesson.

Part 4 · Your First Real Words

단어: 10 Words You Can Now Read. Every word below is built from today’s consonants plus the vowels from Lesson 1. Two of them sneak in one new character each as a preview (marked in Notes). One character in each word is one of today’s seven consonants. See if you can spot it before reading the romanization.

TIP: Loan words are your shortcut. 바나나 (banana), 소파 (sofa), 버스 (bus), 나이프 (knife). Korean borrows heavily from English. Once you can read Hangul, you already know hundreds of words without studying them.

Part 5 · Writing Practice

쓰기 연습: Trace the Consonants. Stroke order matters. For every consonant: top to bottom, left to right. Trace each character in your notebook, using the printed character as your guide, then write it freehand.

CULTURE: Why Koreans say their last name first. When Koreans introduce themselves, the family name comes first, so 김민준 (Kim Min-jun) leads with 김, not 민준. Most Korean family names are just one syllable, and the five most common are 김, 이, 박, 최, 정. With today’s consonants you can already read two of those five: 김 (gim) uses ㄱ, and 박 (bak) uses ㅂ, plus the surname 나 (na), which uses ㄴ. 이 and 정 use letters you’ll meet in Lesson 3; 최 also needs a vowel from Week 2. You’re already reading real names.

Homework

Before Lesson 3…

1. Write each of today’s 7 consonants 10 times from memory. No peeking. Then check your work.
2. Combine each consonant with all 10 vowels from Lesson 1 and write out the resulting syllables: 가갸거겨고교구규그기 / 나냐너녀노뇨누뉴느니 etc. This is the Korean syllable chart (가나다라 table), a classic study tool.
3. Add today’s 10 vocabulary words to your flashcard deck. Korean on the front, romanization + English on the back.
4. Look up how to write your family name in Korean, then write it 5 times in your notebook.
5. Review all of Lesson 1’s 10 vowels using your flashcards before starting Lesson 3. Spaced repetition keeps them sharp.

Answer Key

Part 3 · Try reading these syllables