The Hangul Course · Lesson 5 of 6
Compound Vowels
ㅐ ㅔ ㅘ ㅝ and friends — combinations, not new letters to memorize.
10 min
Eleven more vowels sounds intimidating — until you notice that they're combinations of vowels you already know, and most of them you can simply sound out.
The two you'll see everywhere: ㅐ and ㅔ
ㅐae“e” as in bedㅏ + ㅣ joined
ㅔe“e” as in bedㅓ + ㅣ joined
팁
An honest secret most textbooks whisper: in modern Seoul speech, ㅐ and ㅔ sound practically identical. You only need to remember which spelling a word uses — your ear doesn't need to split them. (Their y-versions ㅒ and ㅖ work just like Lesson 2's y-trick.)
가게Show answerAnswer
ga-ge — “a shop”.
새Show answerAnswer
sae — “a bird”.
The w-sounds: two vowels said fast
Put a round vowel (ㅗ or ㅜ) in front of another vowel and say them quickly together — that's the whole system:
ㅘwa“wa” as in waterㅗ + ㅏ, said fast
ㅝwo“wo” as in wonderㅜ + ㅓ, said fast
ㅟwi“we” as in weekㅜ + ㅣ, said fast
ㅚoe / we“we” as in wetㅗ + ㅣ — sounds like ㅞ
ㅙwae“we” as in wetㅘ + ㅣ
ㅞwe“we” as in wetㅝ + ㅣ
팁
ㅚ, ㅙ, ㅞ all sound like “we” in modern speech — another case where spelling preserves history your ear can ignore. Beginners only need to produce one “we” sound.
The last one: ㅢ
ㅢuiㅡ + ㅣ glided togetherearth + person
Say ㅡ then ㅣ quickly — “uh-ee” compressed into one beat. You'll meet it in 의자 (chair) and the very common possessive 의.
Read real words
왜Show answerAnswer
wae — “why?”. One block, one of Korean's most useful words.
사과Show answerAnswer
sa-gwa — “apple” (and also “apology” — Korean puns love this).
위Show answerAnswer
wi — “up / above”.
의자Show answerAnswer
ui-ja — “chair”.
What you just learned
- ㅐ/ㅔ both sound like “e” in bed — spelling, not sound, tells them apart.
- W-vowels are round vowel + vowel, said fast: ㅘ ㅝ ㅟ ㅚ ㅙ ㅞ.
- ㅢ is ㅡ+ㅣ glided together.
- You read 왜, 사과, 위, 의자, 가게, 새.
Quick check
Did it stick?
Three quick questions — instant answers, no grades, no pressure.
1.In modern Seoul speech, ㅐ and ㅔ…
2.ㅘ is…
3.위 means…
Want the why behind the words?
The reading path explains the culture and logic that make Korean click — a perfect companion to these lessons.