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Your complete reference chart for the Korean alphabet — 14 basic consonants, 10 vowels, double consonants, and compound vowels.
Basic Consonants & Vowels
Hangul is the Korean alphabet, invented in 1443 by King Sejong the Great. Unlike other writing systems that evolved over centuries, Hangul was scientifically designed to be easy to learn. Letters are combined into syllable blocks to form words.
ㅓ (eo) sounds like "uh" in English · ㅡ (eu) sounds like a tight "oo" with lips spread · ㅇ is silent at the start of a syllable but pronounced "ng" at the end · ㄹ is between an "r" and "l" sound
Korean letters combine into square syllable blocks. Each block = one syllable, always starting with a consonant (use ㅇ as a silent placeholder) + vowel, optionally ending with a consonant (받침).
Double & Compound
Double consonants are tensed versions of basic consonants. They're pronounced with more force and a slightly higher pitch, like the difference between "bus stop" (tense) and "bus" (relaxed).
Compound vowels are made by combining two basic vowels. For example: ㅗ (o) + ㅏ (a) = ㅘ (wa). In modern Korean, ㅐ and ㅔ sound almost identical.
안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo) = Hello ·
감사합니다 (gamsahamnida) = Thank you ·
사랑 (sarang) = Love
한국 (hanguk) = Korea ·
네 (ne) = Yes ·
아니요 (aniyo) = No ·
물 (mul) = Water
A consonant at the bottom of a syllable block is called 받침 (batchim). It changes how the syllable ends: 한 (han) has ㄴ batchim, 글 (geul) has ㄹ batchim. Not all syllables need a batchim — 가 (ga) has no final consonant.