ㅏ
a
[a]
The a of “father”, short.
Built from ㅣ + a mark to the right.
Bright 양성
모음Korean Vowels — All 21 with Sounds and Stroke Order
Ten basic vowels, built from three marks — a dot for sky, a horizontal line for earth, a vertical line for a standing person — plus eleven combinations of those ten.
The vowel decides the shape of the whole syllable block: a vertical vowel puts the consonant to its left, a horizontal one puts it above. And the bright/dark split you can see in the letters is the rule that later decides how every verb in the language conjugates.
- 기본 모음Basic vowels
- 10
- 복합 모음Compound vowels
- 11
- 원형Original marks
- 3ㆍㅡㅣ
만드는 법Three marks, ten vowels
Sky, earth and human — the whole vowel system is those three combined, and the combinations are readable on sight.
ㆍ the sky
A dot, now written as a short stroke. Where it sits on the other two marks is what makes each vowel: right of ㅣ gives ㅏ, left gives ㅓ, above ㅡ gives ㅗ, below gives ㅜ.
ㅡ the earth
One horizontal line, and a vowel in its own right. Every vowel drawn on the horizontal — ㅗ ㅜ ㅛ ㅠ — is built on it, and every one of them puts the consonant above rather than beside it.
ㅣ the human
One vertical line, standing. Every vowel drawn on the vertical — ㅏ ㅓ ㅑ ㅕ — is built on it, and every one of them puts the consonant to its left.
Two marks means y. ㅏ → ㅑ, ㅓ → ㅕ, ㅗ → ㅛ, ㅜ → ㅠ. The second stroke is the only difference and it always means the same thing, so the ten basic vowels are really six plus a rule.
양성 모음Bright vowels
The mark points up or right. A verb stem ending in one of these takes 아 endings.
ㅑ
ya
[ja]
ㅏ with a y in front — “yah”.
Built from ㅏ with a second mark: two marks always mean y.
Bright 양성
ㅗ
o
[o]
The o of “go”, without the English glide at the end.
Built from ㅡ + a mark above.
Bright 양성
ㅛ
yo
[jo]
ㅗ with a y in front.
Built from ㅗ doubled.
Bright 양성
음성 모음Dark vowels
The mark points down or left. These take 어 endings.
ㅓ
eo
[ʌ]
The u of “but”. Not “ee-oh” — the spelling is two letters for one sound.
Built from ㅣ + a mark to the left.
Dark 음성
ㅕ
yeo
[jʌ]
ㅓ with a y in front — the yu of “yummy”.
Built from ㅓ doubled.
Dark 음성
ㅜ
u
[u]
ㅠ
yu
[ju]
ㅜ with a y in front — “you”.
Built from ㅜ doubled.
Dark 음성
중성 모음Neutral
The two original marks — earth and human — with no mark added at all.
ㅡ
eu
[ɯ]
No English equivalent. Say “oo” with your lips spread flat in a smile rather than rounded.
Built from the earth — one of the three original marks.
Neutral 중성
ㅣ
i
[i]
The ee of “see”.
Built from the standing human — one of the three original marks.
Neutral 중성
복합 모음The eleven compound vowels
Each is two of the ten written together. Most say exactly what their parts say — the exceptions are marked.
| Letter | Built from | Romanized | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| ㅐ | ㅏ + ㅣ | ae | The e of “bed”. Merged with ㅔ in modern speech. Spelling still distinguishes them; pronunciation no longer does. |
| ㅒ | ㅑ + ㅣ | yae | ㅐ with a y in front. Rare. A handful of words. |
| ㅔ | ㅓ + ㅣ | e | The e of “bed”. The one to default to when you are unsure which you heard — it is far commoner than ㅐ. |
| ㅖ | ㅕ + ㅣ | ye | ㅔ with a y in front — “yeah”. 예 (yes) is the word you will meet it in first. |
| ㅘ | ㅗ + ㅏ | wa | The wa of “wander”. |
| ㅙ | ㅗ + ㅐ | wae | The we of “wet”. ㅙ, ㅚ and ㅞ are all this sound. Three spellings, one pronunciation. |
| ㅚ | ㅗ + ㅣ | oe | Also “we”, despite the spelling. 회사 (company) is we-sa, not o-e-sa. |
| ㅝ | ㅜ + ㅓ | wo | The wo of “wonder”. |
| ㅞ | ㅜ + ㅔ | we | “we” again. The rarest of the three. |
| ㅟ | ㅜ + ㅣ | wi | The wee of “week”. |
| ㅢ | ㅡ + ㅣ | ui | ㅡ then ㅣ, said fast. The one vowel whose pronunciation depends on where it sits: 의사 is ui-sa, but the possessive particle 의 is said 에, and 희 is said 히. |
왜 중요한가Where the vowels come back
The bright/dark split is not trivia. It is the single most-used rule in Korean conjugation.
The 아/어 choice
A verb stem whose last vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ takes 아; everything else takes 어. 살다 → 살아요, 먹다 → 먹어요. That one rule, applied to every verb in the language, is why this page comes before the conjugation section.
Mimetic words
Korean has thousands of sound-and-manner words that come in bright/dark pairs, where the vowel is the meaning: 깜깜하다 is pitch dark, 껌껌하다 is darker and heavier. Same letters, one vowel apart.
자주 묻는 질문Common questions
What is the difference between ㅐ and ㅔ?
In writing, everything — they are different letters and swapping them misspells the word. In speech, for most Koreans under about forty, nothing at all: the two merged in modern Seoul pronunciation and both are now the e of “bed”. Learn which words take which by spelling, not by ear, because the ear will not help.
How do I pronounce ㅡ?
Say “oo” as in “moon”, then spread your lips flat into a smile without changing anything else in your mouth. That is ㅡ. English has no such vowel, which is why it comes out as “uh” from beginners — and why 그 (that) and 거 (thing) get mixed up.
What is the difference between ㅓ and ㅗ?
ㅓ is the u of “but” with the lips relaxed. ㅗ is the o of “go” with the lips rounded. Both get romanized into o-ish spellings (eo and o), which is exactly why romanization is a poor way to learn them: in Hangul they are two obviously different shapes, one pointing left and one pointing up.
What are bright and dark vowels?
The 양성/음성 split, and it is not decoration: it decides how verbs conjugate. A stem whose last vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ (bright) takes 아 endings; everything else takes 어. 살다 → 살아요, 먹다 → 먹어요. You can see the split in the letters — a bright vowel is the one whose mark points up or right.
Why do ㅙ, ㅚ and ㅞ sound the same?
Because they have merged. All three are now “we” for most speakers, despite being built from different pairs. Again, spelling keeps them apart and pronunciation does not — 회사, 왜, 웬 all start with the same sound.