The Hangul Course · Lesson 3 of 6

The Basic Consonants

Ten consonants whose shapes literally draw your tongue, lips, and throat — then read your first real words.

12 min

In Lesson 1 you met the idea that consonant shapes diagram your mouth. Now meet all ten basic consonants — and by the end of this page you'll be reading words like 바나나.

The ten basic consonants

The five mouth-shape originals first, then their relatives. A note on the romanization: sounds like ㄱ sit between English pairs (g/k) — softer than k, lighter than g. Your ear will tune in faster than you expect.

ㄱg / k“g” as in go, lightertongue root blocking the throat

ㄴn“n” as in notongue tip at the front

ㄷd / t“d” as in do, lighterㄴ + a stroke = stronger

ㄹr / la soft tap, between r and lthe tongue mid-flick

ㅁm“m” as in momclosed lips, drawn as a box

ㅂb / p“b” as in boy, lighterㅁ + strokes = lips popping open

ㅅs“s” as in sunthe shape of a tooth

ㅇ– / ngsilent at the start, “ng” at the endthe open throat

ㅈj“j” as in juice, lighterㅅ + a stroke

ㅎh“h” as in hatthe throat, breathing out

팁

ㄹ is the famous one. It's a quick tap of the tongue — like the “tt” in American “butter”. Don't aim for an English r or l; aim for the tap, and you'll sound natural.

Build syllables

Consonant + vowel, exactly as before:

ㄴ+ㅏ나na · I / me

ㅁ+ㅓ머meo

ㅂ+ㅏ바ba

That's genuinely all there is to it. Every consonant pairs with every vowel the same way — no exceptions to memorize.

Read real words

Sound each block out loud, left to right. Check yourself after each one.

나무Show answer

na-mu — “tree”.

바다Show answer

ba-da — “the sea”.

머리Show answer

meo-ri — “head”. There's your ㄹ tap.

바나나Show answer

ba-na-na — “banana”. Yes, really. You read a three-syllable Korean word.

라디오Show answer

ra-di-o — “radio”. Korean borrows lots of words you already know.

What you just learned

All ten basic consonants, each anchored to its mouth-shape origin.
ㅇ is silent at the start of a block and “ng” at the end.
ㄹ is a tongue tap — between r and l.
You read 나무, 바다, 머리, 바나나, 라디오 — real Korean, day three.

You now have enough Hangul to make the reading path feel more concrete. Use it to connect the sounds you're reading with the cultural context behind everyday Korean.

Quick check

Did it stick?

Three quick questions — instant answers, no grades, no pressure.

1.ㄹ is best described as…

2.ㅇ at the START of a block is…

3.바다 means…

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Want the why behind the words?

The reading path explains the culture and logic that make Korean click — a perfect companion to these lessons.

Back to the Learning Path