Basics of Hangul (Korean Alphabets)

Hangul is an alphabet, just like the Roman alphabet English speakers use. The only two differences are Hangul blocks syllables (as we read in the first post - Introduction to Korean), and there are no lowercase or capitalize letters in Hangul. The letter is always written the same, no matter when it is used.

Characters will be stacked into squares to form each syllable. For example ㅎ, ㅏ, and ㄴ are three separate characters. But, as they would form one syllable, they would be written 한 instead of ㅎ ㅏ ㄴ.

ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ= 한

want another example?

ㄱ + ㅡ + ㄹ = 글

We then combine syllables to form words, just as we do in English.

한 + 글 = 한글

Recognize that word? That's right! It's Hangul . It consists of han (한) and gul (글).

Two syllables. Six characters. As you begin to learn all the different characters, you will see how to construct the syllables properly depending on which character you are using. Just keep this one thing in mind. Every Korean word, syllable, anything...begins with a consonant. A vowel will always follow it, either positioned to the right of it, or below it. With each vowel, I will tell you where it should be positioned. Also, there will be 2,3, or rarely 4 characters in a syllable. 한 is one way of stacking, having the vowel to the right of the first consonant, with the third character under those two. 글 is the other main way of stacking, where the vowel falls below the first consonant, with the third character below the second. A third character will always fall on the bottom. You will never have three characters in a row on the top. I cannot even type an example for you to see, it just can't be done. Below is a table of the characters you will see.