KVocab

Learn Hangul: A simple guide to learning the Korean alphabet

By the end of this guide you will have learned all of Hangul and be ready to start reading Korean. We have also provided a link at the bottom of the guide where you can quiz yourself on the Hangul you have just learned.

Hangul is the Korean alphabet and consists of 24 letters: 14 consonants and 10 vowels. There are also an additional 16 sounds made from 5 double consonants and 11 combined vowels.

Letters are grouped together into blocks which are read left-to-right then top-down. For example, 장 is read ㅈㅏㅇ.

Letters can have different sounds depending on whether they are on the top or bottom of the block. For example, in 각 the top ㄱ has a g sound while the bottom ㄱ has a k sound, making it 'gak'.

Consonants

14 Basic consonants

  • ㄱ - gun to kill (g/k)
  • ㄴ - nose (n)
  • ㄷ - door turning (d/t)
  • ㄹ - rattle snake (r/l)
  • ㅁ - mouth (m)
  • ㅂ - bucket to pour (b/p)
  • ㅅ - standing team (s/t)
  • ㅇ - nothing (-/ng)
  • ㅈ - jumping team (j/t)
  • ㅊ - cheering team (ch/t)
  • ㅋ - kill (k)
  • ㅌ - trapdoor (t)
  • ㅍ - part II (p)
  • ㅎ - hat (h/t)

5 Double consonants

  • ㄲ - kk/k
  • ㄸ - tt/-
  • ㅃ - pp/-
  • ㅉ - jj/-
  • ㅆ - ss/t

Vowels

Double lined version of a vowel adds a y to the start of the sound.

10 Basic vowels

  • ㅏ - after (a)
  • ㅑ - ya
  • ㅓ - before (eo)
  • ㅕ - yeo
  • ㅣ - tree (i)
  • ㅗ - over (o)
  • ㅛ - yo
  • ㅜ - under (u)
  • ㅠ - yu
  • ㅡ - brook (eu)

11 Combined vowels

  • ㅐ - ae
  • ㅒ - yae
  • ㅔ - e
  • ㅖ - ye
  • ㅚ - oe
  • ㅘ - wa
  • ㅙ - wae
  • ㅟ - wi
  • ㅝ - wo
  • ㅞ - we
  • ㅢ - ui

Practice

Hangul quiz

Once you have finished learning Hangul then make sure to check out our Korean guide to find out the next step in your Korean learning journey.