Learn Hangul Consonants and Vowels in One Sitting

Hangul looks intimidating at first glance, with its boxy blocks and unfamiliar shapes, but it was actually designed to be learned quickly. Unlike alphabets that developed gradually over centuries, Hangul was created deliberately, with letter shapes meant to represent how your mouth and tongue move when making each sound. Once you see the ten basic consonants and six basic vowels, most Korean words become readable within a short study session.

The ten basic consonants

These ten letters form the foundation of the Hangul consonant system.

A few of these letters, including ㄱ, ㄴ, ㅁ, ㅅ, and ㅇ, were originally designed to visually represent the position of the tongue, mouth, teeth, or throat when producing that sound. This is part of what makes Hangul different from alphabets borrowed or adapted from other languages: the shapes themselves were meant to be a teaching tool.

The six basic vowels

Vowels in Hangul are written either to the right of a consonant or below it, depending on whether the vowel is a vertical or horizontal shape.

Vertical vowels such as ㅏ, ㅓ, and ㅣ are written to the right side of a consonant. Horizontal vowels such as ㅗ, ㅜ, and ㅡ are written underneath the consonant. If you add the silent placeholder consonant ㅇ in front of each vowel, you get the standalone syllables 아, 어, 오, 우, 으, 이, which are often how vowels are first taught on their own.

How the letters combine into blocks

Korean doesn't write letters in a straight line the way English does. Instead, each syllable is built as a block, combining a consonant, a vowel, and sometimes a final consonant.

For example, combining ㅎ, ㅏ, and ㄴ creates 한 [han]. Adding ㄱ, ㅡ, and ㄹ creates 글 [geul]. Put those two blocks together and you get 한글 (Hangeul), which is the native Korean name for the Korean writing system itself.

When a syllable begins with a vowel sound rather than a consonant, Hangul still requires a consonant symbol to anchor the block, which is where the silent ㅇ comes in. For instance, ㅇ plus ㅏ forms 아 [a], with the ㅇ carrying no sound at the start.

A few words to try reading

Once you know the ten consonants and six vowels above, you can sound out simple two-syllable words:

• 나무 [namu] = tree
• 바다 [bada] = sea
• 하마 [hama] = hippo

Try reading each letter in order, left to right or top to bottom depending on the block's shape, and sound them out slowly. These words only use letters from the list above, so they're a good first test of whether the system has clicked for you.

Why Hangul was designed this way

Hangul was created under King Sejong the Great and formally announced in 1446 under the name Hunminjeongeum, which translates roughly to "the correct sounds to teach the people." Before its creation, Korean was written using Chinese characters, a system that took years of study and was mostly accessible to the educated elite. Sejong's goal was to create a writing system simple enough that ordinary people could learn to read and write in a short time.

The original set introduced in 1446 had 28 letters. Over time, four of those letters fell out of common use, leaving the 24 basic letters, 14 consonants and 10 vowels in total, that are used in modern Korean today. October 9 is now a public holiday in South Korea called Hangeul Day (한글날), marking the anniversary of this announcement.

Key takeaways

• The ten basic consonants and six basic vowels cover most of the sounds you need to start reading Korean.
• Vertical vowels sit to the right of a consonant, while horizontal vowels sit below it.
• Every Korean syllable is built as a block of consonant plus vowel, with an optional final consonant, not a straight line of letters.
• Hangul was deliberately designed under King Sejong in 1446 so that ordinary people, not just scholars, could learn to read and write quickly.
• Practicing with short, familiar words like 나무, 바다, and 하마 is a good way to check whether the letter shapes have clicked for you.