A in Korean: the Vowel ㅏ (아)

In dictionary order ㅏ (a) is vowel number 1 of 21 and before ㅐ. With 2 strokes, ㅏ (a) has the same stroke count as 4 other vowels, namely ㅓ, ㅗ, ㅜ, and ㅢ.

Open your mouth wide and let the tongue lie low and relaxed. ㅏ is close to the a in English 'father', short and clear, never the a of 'cat'.

ㅏ is a vertical vowel, so it sits to the right of the consonant: 가, 나, 사. With no consonant sound in front, it is written with a silent ㅇ: 아.

Because ㅏ (a) stands tall, the consonant must squeeze to the left. In 가 (ga) the ㄱ (giyeok) is narrow and the vowel takes the right-hand side of the block.

You will never see ㅏ (a) without a consonant partner; at the start of a word the placeholder ㅇ gives 아 (a).

ㅏ takes two strokes in total.

Say 아 as you draw the long line and the short stroke. Then read the row 가, 나, 다, 라, 마: the same vowel with a new consonant each time.

ㅏ and ㅓ are mirror images. The short stroke points right in ㅏ (아) and left in ㅓ (어); say 아 with a wide open mouth and 어 with the jaw a little higher.

Learners sometimes put the short stroke on the wrong side and write 어 when they mean 아. The short stroke of ㅏ always points away from the consonant, to the right.

Compare 산 (mountain) and 선 (line): the first uses ㅏ, the second uses ㅓ.

In Hunminjeongeum the vowels grew from three shapes: a dot for the sky, a flat line for the earth and a standing line for a person. ㅏ is the standing line with the dot on its right, and the dot became today's short stroke.

ㅏ shows up in 아, the first block of 아이스크림 (ice cream), read a.

ㅏ shows up in 가, the first block of 가방 (bag), read ga.

ㅏ shows up in 나, the first block of 나무 (tree), read na.

ㅏ shows up in 사, the first block of 사람 (person), read sa.

ㅏ shows up in 바, the first block of 바다 (sea), read ba.

Pair ㅏ (a) with the fourteen basic consonants and you get a row that begins 가 (ga), 나 (na), 다 (da), and 라 (ra); only the front of the block changes.

To hear how steady ㅏ (a) stays across different consonants, say the row from start to finish.

Under the silent ㅇ and ㅏ, six common finals give 악 (ak), 안 (an), 알 (al), 암 (am), 압 (ap), 앙 (ang).

Listen for ㅏ (a) in the middle of each block, because it keeps its shape while the final consonant closes the sound.

Close 아 with ㄱ and you read 악 (ak), closing on a quiet k. Close 아 with ㄴ and you read 안 (an), closing on a hummed n. Close 아 with ㄹ and you read 알 (al), closing on a tongue-tip l.

Add ㅁ under 아 and you get 암 (am), closing on a lip-closed m. Close 아 with ㅂ and you read 압 (ap), closing on a lip-closed p. Close 아 with ㅇ and you read 앙 (ang), closing on the ng of song.

Next is ㅐ (ae), which adds ㅣ to ㅏ. Then open the syllable pages for 가 and 나 and print the ㅏ tracing worksheet.

A one-page worksheet for ㅏ (a) sits beside this guide, with the stroke order, space for tracing and a spot-the-letter game.