Basic Vowels in Korean
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10 Basic Vowels
As mentioned in the first lesson, there are 21 vowels in Korean. In this lesson, you will learn the 10 basic vowels. It is very important to learn them well enough to make it easier for you to learn double vowels, because each double vowel is made up of two basic vowels.
ㅏ
a
ㅑ
ya
ㅓ
eo
ㅕ
yeo
ㅗ
o
ㅛ
yo
ㅜ
u
ㅠ
yu
ㅡ
eu
ㅣ
i
Here we have slightly changed the order of the vowels to make it easier for you to memorize them.
Move your mouse over a letter to see how it's written or click on it to learn how to pronounce it.
ㅏ
a
ㅑ
ya
ㅓ
eo
ㅕ
yeo
ㅗ
o
ㅛ
yo
ㅜ
u
ㅠ
yu
ㅡ
eu
ㅣ
i
🔊 (Click on a letter to hear its sound.)
Basic Vowels
Rules of writing Korean letters
See how to write 10 basic Korean vowels.
There are two rules that are not mandatory, but it is recommended to follow when writing Korean letters.
1. Horizontal strokes should go from left to right →
2. Vertical strokes should go from top to bottom ↓
Exercises
Quick reference (click to open)
Vowels: a, e, i, o, u
Consonants: b, c, d, f, g, h, j
Syllable: Bra-zil (2 syllables), Ar-gen-ti-na (4), In-di-a (3), Viet-nam (2), thin-king (2), beau-ti-ful (3), good (1)
Batchim: is a final consonant in a syllable. → Bra-zil (batchim: 'l'), Ar-gen-ti-na (batchims: 'r' and 'n'), In-di-a ('n'), Viet-nam ('t', 'm')
Romanization: is a conversion of text (not pronunciation ! ) from different writing system (Korean, Arabic, Russian, etc.) to the Roman (Latin) alphabet.
IPA: is an alphabetic system of phonetic (pronunciation) notation.
Noun: road, user, sister, table, sky
Pronoun: I, my, we, you, they, her
Verb: to go, to study, to think, to feel
Adjective: cold, kind, hungry, curious, expensive
Adverb: quickly, nicely, never, exactly, urgently
Preposition: from, to, on, in, with, till
Conjuction: and, because, if, but, while
Declarative sentence: I learn Korean.
Interrogative sentence: Do you learn Korean?
Imperative sentence: You must learn Korean!
Exclamative sentence: Wow, you learn Korean!
Verb / Adj. stem in Korean: part of a verb or adj. which is left after removing the last syllable -다 ( e.g. 가다 → 가, 예쁘다 → 예쁘, 듣다 → 듣 ).