ㄱ
k [k̚]
박 bak
Written as ㄱㄲㅋㄳㄺ
Stopped at the soft palate and never released — the k of “back” with the release cut off.
받침Batchim — Korean Final Consonants Explained
받침 is the consonant at the bottom of a syllable block. Twenty-seven of them can be written, including eleven two-consonant clusters — and all twenty-seven come out as one of only seven sounds.
That gap between spelling and sound is what makes Korean look irregular, and it is the most regular thing in the language once you see the rule: a final consonant is never released, so everything that stops in the same place sounds the same.
- 쓸 수 있는 받침Spellings possible
- 27
- 실제 소리Sounds they make
- 7
- 이 사전에서Used in this dictionary
- 26/ 27
7종성Twenty-seven spellings, seven sounds
A final consonant is never released — the tongue arrives and stops. Everything that lands in the same place comes out the same.
ㄴ
n [n]
손 son
Written as ㄴㄵㄶ
The one final that sounds like its English letter.
ㄷ
t [t̚]
옷 ot
Written as ㄷㅅㅆㅈㅊㅌㅎ
Seven spellings, one sound. 옷, 낮, 꽃 and 밭 all end identically — until a vowel follows, and then the real letter reappears.
ㄹ
l [l]
물 mul
Written as ㄹㄼㄽㄾㅀ
A clear l, never a flap. This is the position where ㄹ is easy.
ㅁ
m [m]
밤 bam
Written as ㅁㄻ
Lips closed and left closed.
ㅂ
p [p̚]
밥 bap
Written as ㅂㅍㄿㅄ
Lips closed with no release — the p of “stop” cut short.
ㅇ
ng [ŋ]
강 gang
Written as ㅇ
The ng of “sing”. The only job ㅇ does with a sound attached.
연음Then a vowel arrives and it all comes back
The most useful pronunciation rule in Korean, and the reason the spelling is not arbitrary after all.
한국어한구거hangugeo
음악으막eumak
옷이오시osi
꽃이꼬치kkochi
A 받침 followed by ㅇ — the silent initial — moves across into it. This is why the spelling keeps ㅊ in 꽃 rather than writing what you hear: the moment a particle attaches, the ㅊ is audible again. Korean spells the word, not the sound.
겹받침The eleven double batchim
Two consonants in one slot. One is released, the other waits for a vowel.
| 받침 | Parts | Released | Example | Said | With a vowel after it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ㄳ | ㄱ + ㅅ | ㄱ | 몫 | [목] | 몫이 → 목시 |
| ㄵ | ㄴ + ㅈ | ㄴ | 앉다 | [안따] | 앉아 → 안자 |
| ㄶ | ㄴ + ㅎ | ㄴ | 많다 | [만타] | 많아 → 마나 |
| ㄺ | ㄹ + ㄱ | ㄱ | 읽다 | [익따] | 읽어 → 일거 |
| ㄻ | ㄹ + ㅁ | ㅁ | 젊다 | [점따] | 젊어 → 절머 |
| ㄼ | ㄹ + ㅂ | ㄹ | 넓다 | [널따] | 넓어 → 널버 |
| ㄽ | ㄹ + ㅅ | ㄹ | 외곬 | [외골] | 외곬이 → 외골시 |
| ㄾ | ㄹ + ㅌ | ㄹ | 핥다 | [할따] | 핥아 → 할타 |
| ㄿ | ㄹ + ㅍ | ㅂ | 읊다 | [읍따] | 읊어 → 을퍼 |
| ㅀ | ㄹ + ㅎ | ㄹ | 싫다 | [실타] | 싫어 → 시러 |
| ㅄ | ㅂ + ㅅ | ㅂ | 없다 | [업따] | 없어 → 업서 |
These are rare enough to leave until later — 138 occurrences across the whole dictionary for the four commonest — but they cluster in very frequent verbs: 없다, 읽다, 앉다, 많다.
왜 중요한가Why this is the page that matters
받침 is not a pronunciation detail. It is a grammatical condition that Korean checks constantly.
Particles come in pairs
Korean picks between two forms of the same particle by asking one question: does the word end in a 받침? 책은 but 차는; 밥이 but 커피가; 문을 but 차를.
Verb endings insert 으
A stem ending in a 받침 takes an extra 으 before most endings, so the two consonants do not collide: 먹으세요 but 가세요. The whole conjugation engine on this site branches on that single bit.
자주 묻는 질문Common questions
What is batchim?
받침 is the consonant at the bottom of a syllable block — the final consonant. 밥 has ㅂ as its 받침; 바 has none. Twenty-seven different 받침 can be written, including eleven two-consonant clusters, and all of them come out as one of just seven sounds.
Why do 옷, 낮, 꽃 and 밭 sound identical?
Because a final consonant is never released. The tongue arrives in position and stops there, so ㅅ, ㅈ, ㅊ and ㅌ all end up in the same place and all come out as an unreleased [t]. The spelling keeps them apart because the letter comes back the moment a vowel follows: 옷이 is [오시], 꽃이 is [꼬치].
What happens when a batchim is followed by a vowel?
It slides over into the next syllable. This is 연음 (liaison) and it is the single most useful pronunciation rule in Korean: 한국어 is said 한구거, 음악 is 으막. Nothing is written differently — the sound simply moves.
How do I pronounce a double batchim like ㄺ or ㄼ?
Only one of the two is released. 읽다 is [익따] — the ㄹ is silent and the ㄱ survives. But the silent half is not gone: put a vowel after it and it comes straight back, so 읽어 is [일거]. Which half survives is per-cluster and worth learning from the table below.
Why does batchim matter for grammar?
Because Korean particles come in pairs and the choice between them is decided by whether the word ends in a 받침. 은/는, 이/가, 을/를, 으로/로 — one form after a consonant, the other after a vowel. Get 받침 wrong and you cannot pick a particle correctly.