✅Beginner 2: Korean Consonants – Learn ㄱ to ㅎ Like a Pro!
📘 Beginner 2: Korean Consonants – Learn ㄱ to ㅎ Like a Pro!
Welcome back to Day 2 of your Korean journey! 🇰🇷 Yesterday you learned what Hangul is and how syllables are formed. Today, we’ll focus on one essential part of Hangul: Consonants (자음).
There are 14 basic consonants in Korean. Each has a unique sound and shape, and once you learn them, you’re halfway to reading Korean like a native!
📌 What Are Korean Consonants?
In Hangul, consonants form the building blocks of syllables. A typical Korean syllable starts with a consonant, followed by a vowel, and sometimes ends with a final consonant.
Hangul consonants are logical many of them were designed to look like the shape of the mouth or tongue when you pronounce them!
🧱 Korean Basic Consonants Chart (ㄱ to ㅎ)
| Korean | Romanization | Approx. English Sound | Sample Word |
|---|---|---|---|
| ㄱ | g / k | “go” or “kite” | 가다 (ga-da) – to go |
| ㄴ | n | “no” | 나 (na) – I, me |
| ㄷ | d / t | “dog” or “top” | 다 (da) – all |
| ㄹ | r / l | “ladder” or “rail” | 라면 (ra-myeon) – ramen |
| ㅁ | m | “mom” | 물 (mul) – water |
| ㅂ | b / p | “bus” or “play” | 밥 (bap) – rice, meal |
| ㅅ | s | “sun” | 사랑 (sa-rang) – love |
| ㅇ | ng / silent | “song” (at end), silent (at start) | 아이 (a-i) – child |
| ㅈ | j | “job” | 자다 (ja-da) – to sleep |
| ㅊ | ch | “chop” | 차 (cha) – car, tea |
| ㅋ | k | stronger “k” | 코 (ko) – nose |
| ㅌ | t | “top” (aspirated) | 토마토 (to-ma-to) – tomato |
| ㅍ | p | “pop” | 피자 (pi-ja) – pizza |
| ㅎ | h | “hat” | 한국 (han-guk) – Korea |
🧠 Tips to Master Consonants
- Practice reading and writing each consonant with different vowels
- Try pairing each consonant with ㅏ (a) to form: 가, 나, 다, 라...
- Use flashcards or mobile apps to test yourself daily
✅ Sample Practice:
- 가 (ga), 나 (na), 다 (da), 마 (ma), 바 (ba), 사 (sa), 자 (ja)
- Repeat out loud to remember both the shape and the sound
💬 Sample Dialogue with Consonants
👦 민수: 어디 가요? (eo-di ga-yo?) – Where are you going?
👧 수지: 집에 가요. (jib-e ga-yo.) – I’m going home.
✔️ 가요 (ga-yo) uses consonant ㄱ ✔️ 집 (jib) uses ㅈ and ㅂ
🧪 Mini Quiz – Test Yourself!
- Which of these letters is silent at the beginning of a syllable?
a) ㄱ
b) ㅁ
c) ㅇ
Click to Show Answer
✅ c) ㅇ – It’s silent when used at the beginning of a syllable.
- Which word contains the consonant ㅅ?
a) 밥
b) 사람
c) 사랑
Click to Show Answer
✅ c) 사랑 – contains ㅅ in 사
- What is the Romanization of 라면?
a) ra-myeon
b) la-myun
c) la-men
Click to Show Answer
✅ a) ra-myeon
✅ Conclusion
Excellent work today! You now know the 14 basic Korean consonants and how they are used in syllables and words.
- ✅ Recognize each consonant and its pronunciation
- ✅ Practice writing and reading them daily
- ✅ Use real Korean words to build memory
📘 Coming Up Next
Tomorrow: Day 3: Korean Vowels – Master Simple and Compound Vowel Sounds!
We’ll cover all basic vowels and how they combine with consonants to form full syllables!
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