The Korean Alphabet: Hangul (Hangeul) Letters, Chart and Pronunciation

The chart below lists all 19 consonants and all 21 vowels in dictionary order. Consonants show the sound at the start of a block and the sound at the end, and vowels show how they sit beside the consonant.

Three ready-to-print packs. Flip through the pages first, then download the PDF for your paper size.

Every Korean consonant has a two-syllable name that spells out the letter itself: the first syllable begins with the letter and the second ends with it, so ㄱ is 기역 and ㄴ is 니은. A vowel's name is simply the vowel written with a silent ㅇ in front, so ㅏ is 아 and ㅗ is 오.

The consonant names in order are 기역, 쌍기역, 니은, 디귿, 쌍디귿, 리을, 미음, 비읍, 쌍비읍, 시옷, 쌍시옷, 이응, 지읒, 쌍지읒, 치읓, 키읔, 티읕, 피읖, and 히읗.

Korean dictionaries sort consonants in this order: ㄱ ㄲ ㄴ ㄷ ㄸ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅃ ㅅ ㅆ ㅇ ㅈ ㅉ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ. Vowels follow their own order: ㅏ ㅐ ㅑ ㅒ ㅓ ㅔ ㅕ ㅖ ㅗ ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅛ ㅜ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅠ ㅡ ㅢ ㅣ.

A block always has a first consonant and a vowel, and it may have a final consonant at the bottom. The word 한글 has two blocks: 한 is ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ, and 글 is ㄱ + ㅡ + ㄹ.

A vertical vowel such as ㅏ sits to the right of the consonant, a horizontal vowel such as ㅗ sits underneath, and a final consonant goes below both. When a syllable begins with a vowel sound, the silent consonant ㅇ holds the first place, so the sound “a” is written 아.

Counting every legal combination, 19 first consonants, 21 vowels and 28 choices of final (including none) give 11,172 possible blocks.

Reading Korean is a matter of three small moves repeated for every word.

Many learners can sound out simple blocks after about an hour of focused practice, though reading quickly takes longer. Here is one way to spend that hour.

Most Korean consonants come in three strengths. A plain consonant is light, an aspirated one is released with a strong puff of air, and a tense one is tight with no puff at all. English has no such triple, so the difference between 달, 탈 and 딸 is the first thing to train your ear on.

Vowels are steadier than English vowels: each letter has one main sound, and the glides are marked by extra strokes. Final consonants are pronounced as only seven sounds, which is why 꽃 is read [꼳].

On a standard Korean keyboard the consonants sit on the left half and the vowels on the right half. A syllable is typed by moving between the two hands, so 한 is typed as a consonant, a vowel and a consonant in that order.

The practice page lets you build blocks by choosing letters instead of typing, which is a gentler way to learn how the blocks fit together.

Words borrowed from English are written with Hangul letters in a way that follows their sound: 커피 (coffee), 피자 (pizza), 택시 (taxi), 컴퓨터 (computer), and 라디오 (radio).

Hangul was created in the fifteenth century under King Sejong the Great and presented to the public in 1446 in a document called Hunminjeongeum, which means “the correct sounds for instructing the people.”

Each letter has its own page with a stroke-order guide, example words and a free worksheet.