Korean Language Guide: Hangul, Sounds and First Sentences

The ten basic Hangul vowels are assembled from three elements: a dot for heaven, a flat line for earth and an upright line for a person. In modern print the dot appears as a short tick attached to the main stroke. The upright vowels ㅏ (a) and ㅓ (eo) differ by whether the tick points right or left, while ㅣ (i) is the bare upright line. The flat vowels ㅗ (o) and ㅜ (u) differ by whether the tick sits above or below, while ㅡ (eu) is the bare flat line. Add a second tick and you get a y-sound in front: ㅑ (ya), ㅕ (yeo), ㅛ (yo) and ㅠ (yu).

The pairs that trip up most learners are ㅓ against ㅗ, and ㅡ against ㅜ. The eo sound is made with the mouth fairly open and relaxed lips, while o rounds the lips. The eu sound sits at the back of the mouth with the lips kept flat and spread, while u pushes the lips forward. English speakers tend to hear eo as the vowel in cup, which is a reasonable starting point, but the lips have to stay unrounded for it to sound right.

A drill that works well: write the upright vowels and the flat vowels in two columns, then say the confusable pairs side by side in front of a mirror so you can check your lip shape. Once the ten basics are stable, compound vowels such as ㅐ, ㅔ, ㅘ and ㅝ are learned as combinations of shapes you already know. ㅘ, for example, is ㅗ gliding into ㅏ, which gives wa. In present-day Seoul speech ㅐ and ㅔ sound almost identical, so telling them apart matters mostly for spelling.

The consonant at the base of a block is called batchim. Almost any consonant can sit there, yet at the end of a syllable they all collapse into seven representative sounds: k, n, t, l, m, p and ng. A final ㅅ, ㅈ, ㅊ, ㅌ or ㅎ is heard as an unreleased t, so 옷 (clothes) is read ot. ㄱ, ㅋ and ㄲ come out as an unreleased k, and ㅂ and ㅍ as an unreleased p, as in 밥 (rice) and 앞 (front).

The second rule is linking. When a block ending in batchim is followed by a block that starts with a silent ㅇ, the final consonant slides over into the next syllable. 한국어 is read han-gu-geo, and 옷이 is read o-si, with the s sound reappearing. This is where spelling and speech part ways: the spelling keeps the original shape of the word, and the pronunciation follows the flow of sound.

The third rule you meet early is nasal assimilation. A final k, t or p sound meeting ㄴ or ㅁ shifts to ng, n or m. That is why 합니다 is heard as ham-ni-da and 국물 (broth) as gung-mul. There is no need to memorise every sound change at once; these three rules cover most of what appears at the beginner stage. Double batchim such as ㄺ and ㄼ can wait, since usually only one of the two consonants is pronounced.

Korean marks politeness through verb endings. The three registers learners meet most often are 해요체 (polite, ending in 요), 합니다체 (formal, ending in 습니다 or ㅂ니다) and 반말 (intimate, with no 요). One verb takes a different form depending on who you are talking to: 먹다 (to eat) becomes 먹어요, 먹습니다 or 먹어.

해요체 comes first because it is safe with people you have just met, anyone older than you, shop staff and colleagues. 합니다체 is what you hear in news broadcasts, train announcements, presentations and job interviews; anyone heading into a Korean workplace will want it for formal introductions. 반말 is for close friends of the same age or younger, and using it with someone you have only just met comes across as rude.

K-dramas and variety shows are good observation material. Watch for the moment two characters switch from 요 to 반말, usually after one of them offers with the phrase 말 놓으세요. A useful writing drill is to put one expression into all three registers: 감사합니다, 고마워요 and 고마워 all mean thank you. Their base verbs, 감사하다 and 고맙다, carry the same meaning, with the first coming from Sino-Korean vocabulary and sounding more formal.

Every Korean verb in its dictionary form ends in 다. For 해요체, drop the 다 and look at the last vowel of the stem: ㅏ or ㅗ takes 아요, any other vowel takes 어요, and verbs ending in 하다 become 해요. So 가다 becomes 가요, 보다 becomes 봐요, 먹다 becomes 먹어요, 마시다 becomes 마셔요 and 공부하다 becomes 공부해요. Vowel merging, such as 보 plus 아 turning into 봐, is the first place beginners hesitate, which is why this pattern is drilled on the ten most common verbs.

The past tense follows the same vowel rule by inserting 았 or 었: 먹었어요 (ate), 갔어요 (went), 공부했어요 (studied). Plans and predictions use the pattern -(으)ㄹ 거예요, as in 먹을 거예요 (will eat) and 갈 거예요 (will go). With these three time frames you can already keep a three-line daily journal covering yesterday, today and tomorrow's plan.

Once the regular pattern is solid, irregular verbs start to appear. Stems ending in ㅂ, such as 춥다 (cold) and 덥다 (hot), turn into 추워요 and 더워요. Stems ending in ㄷ, such as 듣다 (to listen), become 들어요. Stems ending in ㅡ, such as 바쁘다 (busy), become 바빠요. There is no need to learn a long list in one go; keep a dedicated page in your notebook for irregulars and group them by type. Honorifics with the infix -시-, as in 가세요 and 읽으세요, along with the particle 께서 for a respected subject, come once all of this flows.

TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean) is the official Korean proficiency exam run by NIIED, an institute under Korea's Ministry of Education. It comes in two papers. TOPIK I covers levels 1 and 2 and tests listening and reading. TOPIK II covers levels 3 to 6 and tests listening, writing and reading. Your level is set by your total score, so you register for TOPIK I or TOPIK II and the level arrives with your result.

The material in the three guides on this hub, Hangul, polite phrases, particles and basic conjugation, sits in TOPIK I territory. Levels 3 and 4 call for reading articles and news and writing short essays, and many Korean universities list this range as their language requirement. Levels 5 and 6 deal with academic and professional language. The TOPIK II writing section uses the formal written style ending in -다, such as 먹는다 and 중요하다, which you rarely hear in 해요체 conversation.

If you have a TOPIK goal, start by finding out which level your target university, scholarship programme or employer asks for, then work backwards to the material you need to cover. Past papers are released publicly on the official TOPIK website and are useful for getting familiar with the question formats and the pace. Test dates and registration windows change every year, so always confirm them directly with the organiser.