This cheat sheet covers the Hangul alphabet, the Korean writing system used to read and write Korean. Students need it because Hangul is built from letters that combine into syllable blocks, not from letters written in a straight line like English. A clear reference helps students recognize consonants, vowels, and final sounds quickly while practicing pronunciation.
Key Facts
- Hangul has 14 basic consonants: ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, and ㅎ.
- Hangul has 10 basic vowels: ㅏ, ㅑ, ㅓ, ㅕ, ㅗ, ㅛ, ㅜ, ㅠ, ㅡ, and ㅣ.
- A Korean syllable block is built as consonant plus vowel, or consonant plus vowel plus final consonant.
- The letter ㅇ is silent at the beginning of a syllable, as in 아, but sounds like ng at the end, as in 강.
- Horizontal vowels such as ㅗ, ㅛ, ㅜ, ㅠ, and ㅡ are usually placed under the first consonant in a syllable block.
- Vertical vowels such as ㅏ, ㅑ, ㅓ, ㅕ, and ㅣ are usually placed to the right of the first consonant in a syllable block.
- A final consonant at the bottom of a syllable block is called 받침, and it often changes how the syllable is pronounced.
- Romanization is a pronunciation guide, but reading Hangul directly is more accurate than relying on English letters.
Vocabulary
- Hangul
- Hangul is the Korean alphabet made of letters that combine into square syllable blocks.
- Consonant
- A consonant is a speech sound made by partly or fully blocking airflow, such as ㄱ, ㄴ, or ㅁ.
- Vowel
- A vowel is a speech sound made with open airflow, such as ㅏ, ㅓ, or ㅣ.
- Syllable block
- A syllable block is one written Korean unit that contains at least one consonant and one vowel.
- Batchim
- Batchim is the final consonant written at the bottom of a Korean syllable block.
- Romanization
- Romanization is the use of Latin letters to show an approximate pronunciation of Korean words.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Reading Hangul letters as if they always match English sounds is wrong because Korean sounds do not map perfectly to English letters.
- Forgetting that ㅇ is silent at the beginning is wrong because 아 is read a, not nga.
- Writing vowels in the wrong position is wrong because vertical vowels go to the right of the first consonant while horizontal vowels go below it.
- Ignoring batchim is wrong because a final consonant can change both the sound and meaning of a word.
- Depending only on romanization is wrong because romanized spellings can hide important Korean sound differences.
Practice Questions
- 1 How many basic consonants are in Hangul?
- 2 How many basic vowels are in Hangul?
- 3 Build the syllable block for ㄱ plus ㅏ, then write its common romanized pronunciation.
- 4 Explain why learning to read Hangul directly is better than depending only on romanization.