Korean Pronunciation Guide for Beginners403

Introduction

Korean is a phonetic language, which means that each letter corresponds to a specific sound. This makes Korean relatively easy to pronounce for English speakers, as there are no silent letters or tricky pronunciation rules to worry about.

However, there are a few Korean sounds that may be unfamiliar to English speakers. These sounds are represented by the following letters:* ㄱ (g/k)
* ㄴ (n)
* ㄷ (d/t)
* ㄹ (r/l)
* ㅁ (m)
* ㅂ (b/p)
* ㅅ (s)
* ㅇ (ng)
* ㅈ (j)
* ㅊ (ch)
* ㅋ (k)
* ㅌ (t)
* ㅍ (p)
* ㅎ (h)

In this article, we will provide a pronunciation guide for each of these sounds. We will also provide examples of words that contain these sounds.

ㄱ (g/k)

The letter ㄱ can be pronounced either as a "g" or a "k" sound. The pronunciation depends on the position of the letter in the word.* If the letter ㄱ is at the beginning of a word, it is pronounced as a "g" sound. For example, the word "가다" (gada) is pronounced as "gada".
* If the letter ㄱ is in the middle or at the end of a word, it is pronounced as a "k" sound. For example, the word "박다" (pakda) is pronounced as "pakta".

ㄴ (n)

The letter ㄴ is pronounced as an "n" sound. For example, the word "나다" (nada) is pronounced as "nada".

ㄷ (d/t)

The letter ㄷ can be pronounced either as a "d" or a "t" sound. The pronunciation depends on the position of the letter in the word.* If the letter ㄷ is at the beginning of a word, it is pronounced as a "d" sound. For example, the word "다다" (dada) is pronounced as "dada".
* If the letter ㄷ is in the middle or at the end of a word, it is pronounced as a "t" sound. For example, the word "밭다" (patda) is pronounced as "patta".

ㄹ (r/l)

The letter ㄹ can be pronounced either as an "r" or an "l" sound. The pronunciation depends on the position of the letter in the word.* If the letter ㄹ is at the beginning of a word, it is pronounced as an "r" sound. For example, the word "라다" (rada) is pronounced as "rada".
* If the letter ㄹ is in the middle or at the end of a word, it is pronounced as an "l" sound. For example, the word "말다" (malda) is pronounced as "malda".

ㅁ (m)

The letter ㅁ is pronounced as an "m" sound. For example, the word "마다" (mada) is pronounced as "mada".

ㅂ (b/p)

The letter ㅂ can be pronounced either as a "b" or a "p" sound. The pronunciation depends on the position of the letter in the word.* If the letter ㅂ is at the beginning of a word, it is pronounced as a "b" sound. For example, the word "바다" (bada) is pronounced as "bada".
* If the letter ㅂ is in the middle or at the end of

2025-02-18

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