Hangul Chart: Korean Consonants, Vowels & How to Read Them

An alphabet you build

Each Hangul block stands for one syllable, and each block is made of parts: a consonant and a vowel.

The consonant ㄱ plus the vowel ㅏ makes 가

Example: ㄱ (g/k) + ㅏ (a) = 가 (ga)

Hangul looks like Chinese characters at first glance, but it works more like the English alphabet: a small set of letters, grouped into syllable blocks.

Korean consonants and vowels: the 14 + 10 basics

Basic consonants (14): ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ
Basic vowels (10): ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ

The consonants are shaped after the mouth, tongue and throat. ㄱ shows the back of the tongue closing the throat, ㄴ shows the tip of the tongue touching the gum ridge, and ㅁ shows the mouth.

The vowels combine three symbols: heaven (·), earth (ㅡ) and person (ㅣ). ㅏ is "person" with "heaven" on the right; ㅗ is "earth" with "heaven" on top.

How to read Korean: putting the parts together

The shape of the vowel decides where the consonant goes. A batchim (bottom consonant), if any, sits underneath.

Tall vowels go to the right; wide vowels go below

Vowel shape	Vowels	Layout	Examples
Tall	ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅣ	Consonant left, vowel right	가 · 나 · 기
Wide	ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ	Consonant on top, vowel below	고 · 누 · 그

To write a syllable that starts with a vowel sound, put the silent ㅇ in the consonant spot (아 = a, 오 = o). ㅇ is silent only at the start of a syllable. Read each block from the first consonant to the vowel, then the batchim at the bottom: 가 is ㄱ (g) + ㅏ (a) = ga.

Batchim: reading the bottom consonant

Some syllables have one more consonant underneath. This is called batchim.

The batchim sits underneath

Example: 가 + ㅁ = 감 (gam) / 가 + ㄴ = 간 (gan) / 가 + ㅇ = 강 (gang)

Batchim sounds come down to seven: ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅂ and ㅇ. At the bottom, ㅇ is no longer silent — it sounds like the "ng" in "sing".

Remembering the sounds: close English sounds

Many basic consonants have a close English sound, which makes a good first anchor.

Consonant	Close to	Example
ㄱ	g / k	가 (ga)
ㄴ	n	나 (na)
ㄷ	d / t	다 (da)
ㅁ	m	마 (ma)
ㅅ	s	사 (sa)
ㅎ	h	하 (ha)

These are only approximations. Korean has sound differences English doesn't, so check pronunciation with audio.

Hangul chart: all 140 basic syllables

14 basic consonants × 10 basic vowels = 140 syllables.

	ㅏa	ㅑya	ㅓeo	ㅕyeo	ㅗo	ㅛyo	ㅜu	ㅠyu	ㅡeu	ㅣi
ㄱg/k	가	갸	거	겨	고	교	구	규	그	기
ㄴn	나	냐	너	녀	노	뇨	누	뉴	느	니
ㄷd/t	다	댜	더	뎌	도	됴	두	듀	드	디
ㄹr/l	라	랴	러	려	로	료	루	류	르	리
ㅁm	마	먀	머	며	모	묘	무	뮤	므	미
ㅂb/p	바	뱌	버	벼	보	뵤	부	뷰	브	비
ㅅs	사	샤	서	셔	소	쇼	수	슈	스	시
ㅇ(silent)	아	야	어	여	오	요	우	유	으	이
ㅈj	자	쟈	저	져	조	죠	주	쥬	즈	지
ㅊch	차	챠	처	쳐	초	쵸	추	츄	츠	치
ㅋk	카	캬	커	켜	코	쿄	쿠	큐	크	키
ㅌt	타	탸	터	텨	토	툐	투	튜	트	티
ㅍp	파	퍄	퍼	펴	포	표	푸	퓨	프	피
ㅎh	하	햐	허	혀	호	효	후	휴	흐	히