An unaspirated ‘k’ at the beginning of a word, and a ‘g’ most of the time in the middle of words.
By unaspirated, I mean that it’s not pronounced very hard, like the English ‘k’.
가! – ka – "Go!"
ㄴ
‘n’
Made by almost biting on the tongue at the ends of words, and by placing the tongue behind the top teeth otherwise.
나 – na – "I"
ㄷ
Like, ㄱ, this consonant is like the unaspirated ‘t’ in English. It is a ‘d’ in the middle of words.
다 – ta – "all"
ㄹ
A mixture between the English ‘r’ and ‘l’. When between vowels, it is like a single rolled Spanish ‘r’ or like the ‘tt’ in ‘butter’ in some American dialects. If there are two of them together, it becomes a solid ‘l’.
가라! – ka-ra – "Go!" 달리 – tal-li – "differently"
ㅁ
‘m’
마음 – ma-ŭm – "heart"
ㅂ
An unaspirated ‘p’ at the beginning of words, and a ‘b’ in the middle of words.
반 – pan – "half"
ㅅ
‘s’
When coming before the "ee" sound, it becomes an ‘sh’.
산 – san – "mountain" 시 – shi – "poem"
ㅇ
In the bottom of syllables, this character is like the English ‘ng’ without the ‘g’ sound. At the beginning of syllables, this character is just a place marker and has no sound.
잉어 – ing-ŏ – "carp" 영어 – yŏng-ŏ – "English"
ㅈ
Unaspirated ‘ch’ at the beginning of words, ‘j’ inside words.
자 – cha – ruler 자자 – cha-ja – "Let’s sleep"
ㅊ
Strongly aspirated ‘ch’.
차 – ch’a – "car"
ㅋ
Strongly aspirated ‘k’.
카페 – k’a-pe – "Café"
ㅌ
Strongly aspirated ‘t’.
탄내 – t’an-nae – "burnt smell"
ㅍ
Strongly aspirated ‘p’.
패 – p’ae – "medal"
ㅎ
‘h’
Almost silent after ㄴ, ㅁ, ㅇ, between vowels. When it comes before or followsㄱ, ㄷ,ㅂ, or ㅈ, it makes the consonants aspirated: ㅋ, ㅌ,ㅍ, ㅊ respectively.
An unaspirated ‘k’ at the beginning of a word, and a ‘g’ most of the time in the middle of words.
By unaspirated, I mean that it’s not pronounced very hard, like the English ‘k’.
가! – ka – "Go!"
ㄴ
‘n’
Made by almost biting on the tongue at the ends of words, and by placing the tongue behind the top teeth otherwise.
나 – na – "I"
ㄷ
Like, ㄱ, this consonant is like the unaspirated ‘t’ in English. It is a ‘d’ in the middle of words.
다 – ta – "all"
ㄹ
A mixture between the English ‘r’ and ‘l’. When between vowels, it is like a single rolled Spanish ‘r’ or like the ‘tt’ in ‘butter’ in some American dialects. If there are two of them together, it becomes a solid ‘l’.
가라! – ka-ra – "Go!" 달리 – tal-li – "differently"
ㅁ
‘m’
마음 – ma-ŭm – "heart"
ㅂ
An unaspirated ‘p’ at the beginning of words, and a ‘b’ in the middle of words.
반 – pan – "half"
ㅅ
‘s’
When coming before the "ee" sound, it becomes an ‘sh’.
산 – san – "mountain" 시 – shi – "poem"
ㅇ
In the bottom of syllables, this character is like the English ‘ng’ without the ‘g’ sound. At the beginning of syllables, this character is just a place marker and has no sound.
잉어 – ing-ŏ – "carp" 영어 – yŏng-ŏ – "English"
ㅈ
Unaspirated ‘ch’ at the beginning of words, ‘j’ inside words.
자 – cha – ruler 자자 – cha-ja – "Let’s sleep"
ㅊ
Strongly aspirated ‘ch’.
차 – ch’a – "car"
ㅋ
Strongly aspirated ‘k’.
카페 – k’a-pe – "Café"
ㅌ
Strongly aspirated ‘t’.
탄내 – t’an-nae – "burnt smell"
ㅍ
Strongly aspirated ‘p’.
패 – p’ae – "medal"
ㅎ
‘h’
Almost silent after ㄴ, ㅁ, ㅇ, between vowels. When it comes before or followsㄱ, ㄷ,ㅂ, or ㅈ, it makes the consonants aspirated: ㅋ, ㅌ,ㅍ, ㅊ respectively.
