가
자음 + 세로 모음
Consonant + vertical vowel
The vowel stands beside the consonant.
Syllable Blocks
- Possible blocks
- 11,172
- Actually used here
- 1,226
- Letters per block
- 2–4
The whole rule
- An initial consonant — always. If the syllable begins with a vowel sound, ㅇ fills the slot and says nothing.
- A vowel — always. This is the letter that decides the block's shape.
- A final consonant — optional. Called a 받침, it always goes underneath.
Read a block the way you read a page: left to right, then top to bottom. 한 is ㅎ, then ㅏ, then ㄴ.
The six shapes
고
자음 + 가로 모음
Consonant + horizontal vowel
The vowel lies under the consonant.
과
자음 + 복합 모음
Consonant + compound vowel
A compound vowel wraps both ways at once.
각
자음 + 세로 모음 + 받침
…with a 받침
The final consonant goes underneath the pair.
곡
자음 + 가로 모음 + 받침
…with a 받침
Three levels, top to bottom.
광
자음 + 복합 모음 + 받침
…with a 받침
The fullest block Hangul builds.
The vowel decides the layout
Vertical vowels
ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅣ ㅐ ㅒ ㅔ ㅖ
Their long stroke stands up, so there is room beside it and none above it. ㄱ + ㅏ = 가
Horizontal vowels
ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ
Their long stroke lies flat, so there is room above it and none beside it. ㄱ + ㅗ = 고
The compound vowels built from both — ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅢ — wrap around two sides at once, which is why 과 looks crowded. It is still exactly three letters.
The blocks you will meet first
다da3,915
하ha1,769
이i558
지ji555
기gi535
리ri492
사sa423
자ja382
적jeok377
가ga352
대dae348
수su342
다 tops the list because every verb and adjective in the dictionary ends in it — that is the dictionary form. 하 is second because 하다 makes verbs out of nouns, and thousands of entries end that way. Conjugation ›
Common questions
How do Korean syllable blocks work?
Every block is one syllable and holds two or three letters: an initial consonant, a vowel, and optionally a final consonant. They are read in that order — left to right, then top to bottom. 한 is ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ, not a character with its own meaning.
Why does a syllable start with ㅇ if it is silent?
Because a block must have an initial consonant slot filled, and ㅇ is what fills it when the syllable really begins with a vowel. 이 is “i”, not “ngi”. The same letter at the bottom of a block is a real sound, ng — so in 앙, the top circle is silent and the bottom one is not.
How many Korean syllable blocks are there?
11,172 are possible — 19 initials × 21 vowels × 28 final slots — and Unicode encodes every one. Far fewer occur: only 1,226 distinct blocks appear anywhere in the 14,988 headwords on this site, and the commonest fifty cover most of what a beginner reads.
Does the shape of a block change how it is pronounced?
No. The layout is decided purely by the vowel — a vertical vowel puts the consonant beside it, a horizontal vowel puts it above — and carries no sound information. 고 and 가 are laid out differently and pronounced with the same consonant.
Why do the letters look squashed inside a block?
Because every block occupies the same square, whether it holds two letters or four. The letters shrink and shift to fill it, which is why ㅁ looks wide in 마 and narrow in 뫙. It is the same letter — a font problem, not a reading problem.