{"id":79802,"date":"2024-05-09T14:29:20","date_gmt":"2024-05-09T18:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/korean-vowels\/"},"modified":"2025-01-29T00:39:32","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T05:39:32","slug":"korean-vowels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/korean\/korean-vowels\/","title":{"rendered":"The Complete Guide to Korean Vowels"},"content":{"rendered":"

Korean vowels are known as \ubaa8\uc74c. There are 21 in total, and you\u2019ll definitely want to put in the effort to learn each of their little quirks (especially their unique pronunciations<\/a>).\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to note right off the bat that Korean vowels aren\u2019t quite like English vowels in either form or sound. For one, Korean vowels cannot be written without an accompanying consonant. So here\u2019s a simple guide to Korean vowels: What they all are, how they\u2019re pronounced and some example words to help you sound them out.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

Basic Vowels<\/h2>\n

In Hangul<\/a>\u00a0there are 10 basic vowels. I\u2019ll provide the Korean vowel, its romanized spelling and some pronunciation examples.<\/p>\n

\u314f (a)<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Sounds like \u201cah\u201d as in:<\/p>\n

fa<\/strong>ther
\nta<\/strong>-da<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u3151 (ya)<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Sounds like \u201cyah\u201d as in:<\/p>\n

ya<\/strong>wn
\nya<\/strong>cht
\nya<\/strong>rd<\/p>\n

\u3153 (eo)<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Sounds like \u201cuh\u201d as in:<\/p>\n

u<\/strong>nder
\na<\/strong>lone<\/p>\n

\u3155 (yeo)<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Sounds like \u201cyuh\u201d as in:<\/p>\n

yu<\/strong>m
\nyo<\/strong>ung
\nyu<\/strong>p<\/p>\n

\u3157 (o)<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Sounds like \u201coh\u201d as in:<\/p>\n

o<\/strong>nly
\no<\/strong>gre
\no<\/strong>pal<\/p>\n

\u315b (yo)<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Sounds like \u201cyoh\u201d as in:<\/p>\n

yo<\/strong>gurt
\nyo-yo
\n<\/strong>yo<\/strong>del<\/p>\n

\u315c (u)<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Sounds like \u201coo\u201d as in:<\/p>\n

foo<\/strong>l
\nru<\/strong>le<\/p>\n

\u3160 (yu)<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Sounds like \u201cyoo\u201d as in:<\/p>\n

you
\n<\/strong>yu<\/strong>ca<\/p>\n

\u3161 (eu)<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Sounds somewhat like \u201ceuh\u201d or \u201cih.\u201d To pronounce properly, make sure that your bottom lip is tugged down so that your bottom teeth are exposed.<\/p>\n

ope<\/strong>n
\ntoke<\/strong>n
\nfroze<\/strong>n<\/p>\n

\u3163 (i)<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Sounds like \u201cee\u201d as in:<\/p>\n

bee<\/strong>f
\npea<\/strong><\/p>\n

Double Vowels<\/h2>\n

These are exactly what they sound like! Korean basic vowels can be combined side-by-side to make a vowel \u201ccombo.\u201d<\/p>\n

A double vowel is pronounced as one sound, usually a blend of the two vowels it\u2019s made of. There are 11 double vowels in the Korean language, and they are often (but not always) included in official Korean alphabets alongside basic vowels.<\/p>\n

In terms of writing, a double vowel is still considered a single vowel.<\/p>\n

Double vowels are a bit more complicated to pronounce than basic vowels. Some of them sound very similar to each other, so much so that they\u2019re often not even differentiated in common speech<\/a>. They are best distinguished when written, in either Hangul or in romanized English.<\/p>\n

\u3150 (ae)<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Combination of\u314f and\u3163<\/strong>. Sounds like \u201ceh\u201d as in:<\/p>\n

be<\/strong>d
\nwe<\/strong>t<\/p>\n

\u3152 (yae)<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Combination of \u3151 and \u3163. Sounds like \u201cyeh\u201d as in:<\/p>\n

ye<\/strong>llow
\nye<\/strong>s<\/p>\n

\u3154 (e)<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Combination of\u3153and\u3163. Similar to\u3150, sounds like \u201ceh\u201d as in:<\/p>\n

be<\/strong>d
\nwe<\/strong>t
\nsle<\/strong>d
\ne<\/strong>gg<\/p>\n

\u3156 (ye).<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>Combination of \u3155 and\u3163. Similar to\u3152, sounds like \u201cyeh\u201d as in:<\/p>\n

ye<\/strong>llow
\nye<\/strong>s
\nye<\/strong>t
\nye<\/strong>ll<\/p>\n

\u315a (oe)<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Combination of \u3157 and\u3163. Sounds like \u201cweh\u201d as in:<\/p>\n

wai<\/strong>t
\nwe<\/strong>st<\/p>\n

\u315f (wi)<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Combination of \u315c and \u3163. Sounds like \u201coo-ee\u201d or \u201cui\u201d as in:<\/p>\n

wea<\/strong>k
\nwhea<\/strong>t
\nquee<\/strong>n<\/p>\n

\u3162 (ui)<\/em>.\u00a0<\/strong>Combination of \u3161 and \u3163. Somewhat similar to \u315f, but can sound closer to \u201cuwie\u201d or \u201cih-ee.\u201d As with \u3161, make sure your bottom lip is pulled down.<\/p>\n

This double vowel can be pronounced in different ways depending on the words it’s used in:<\/p>\n