How Korean writing works

Hangeul, also spelled Hangul in English, is an alphabet. A written square is a syllable block made from consonant and vowel letters; it is not an indivisible picture or a whole word. A word can have several blocks.

There are 24 basic letters: 14 consonants and 10 vowels. Including tense consonants and additional vowel combinations gives 19 initial consonant letters and 21 vowel letters, or 40 forms to learn. Final consonants can also appear as pairs at the bottom of a block.

Modern Korean normally runs left to right. A block has a starting consonant position, a vowel and sometimes an ending consonant below. There are no uppercase and lowercase versions. Spaces separate written words, with particles and endings attached to the words they belong to. Older texts can run vertically.

Here are a child and milk, each written in syllable blocks. Tap play and listen. You do not need to read them yet, and these pages have no quiz.