Consonants

The Korean consonants are the second group of letters to master. Just like the vowels, these are also relatively easy letters to memorize and pronounce. You will notice that almost each consonant has only one way to pronounce it, however, when they are positioned in relation to another letter, they may be pronounced with a completely different sound.

Below are the 14 Korean consonants found in the Korean alphabet. After studying this set you’ll already be half way done with mastering Korean!

ㄱ (g) ~~
pronounced “g” as in “guess” when preceded by vowels
pronounced “ng” when preceded by “ㅁ”, “ㄴ” or “ㄹ″

ㄴ (n) ~~
pronounced “n” as in “nanny”

ㄷ (d) ~~
pronounced “d” as in “deep” when preceded by vowels
pronounced “n” when preceded by “ㅁ”, “ㄴ” or “ㄹ″

ㄹ (l) ~~
pronounced “l” as in “ladle”

ㅁ (m) ~~
pronounced “m” as in “mother”

ㅂ (p) ~~
pronounced “p” as in “potty”
pronounced “b” when preceded by vowels
pronounced “m” when preceded by “ㅁ”, “ㄴ” or “ㄹ″

ㅅ (s) ~~
pronounced “s” as in “sat”
pronounced “sh” when followed by an “i”

ㅇ (no sound) ~~
“no sound” when used as a first consonant
pronounced “ng” when used as a final consonant

ㅈ (j) ~~
pronounced “j” when preceded by vowels
pronounced “ch” as in “chamber”

ㅊ (ch) ~~
aspirated “ch” (romanized as ch’)

ㅋ (k) ~~
aspirated “k” (romanized as k’)

ㅌ (t) ~~
aspirated “t” (romanized as t’)

ㅍ (p) ~~
aspirated “p” (romanized as p’)

ㅎ (h) ~~
pronounced “h” as in “hope”
sometimes not pronounced when occurring as last consonant in syllable, following k’s, t’s, p’s and ch’s are aspirated
  
Korean Consonants

  

Vowels  |  Double Consonants