Korean Alphabet Chart (Hangul)
Hangul has 40 letters: 19 consonants (14 basic and 5 double) and 21 vowels (10 basic and 11 compound). Letters stack into blocks, so ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ builds 한 (han, U+D55C).
How to use
- Open the Consonants or Vowels tab and tap a letter to see its name, romanization and IPA sound.
- Press Listen to hear it. Audio comes from your browser's Korean voice, so it needs a device with a ko-KR text-to-speech voice installed.
- Open the Build a syllable tab. Pick a starting consonant, a vowel and an optional final consonant (batchim) to see the block, its Unicode code and its romanization.
- Press Print chart for a one-page table of every letter to study offline.
How it works
Hangul is built from 40 letters, called jamo. The 24 basic letters are 14 consonants and 10 vowels. Five double consonants and 11 compound vowels are made by doubling or combining them. Letters are grouped into square syllable blocks: a starting consonant, a vowel and sometimes a final consonant. A silent ㅇ fills the starting spot when a syllable begins with a vowel.
Unicode stores every modern syllable block at one code point. Syllable = 0xAC00 + (starting consonant x 21 + vowel) x 28 + final consonant, with starting consonants numbered 0 to 18 (ㄱ to ㅎ), vowels 0 to 20 (ㅏ to ㅣ) and finals 0 to 27 (0 means none). For ㅎ (18) + ㅏ (0) + ㄴ (4) that is 0xAC00 + (18 x 21 + 0) x 28 + 4 = 54620 = U+D55C = 한. There are 19 x 21 x 28 = 11,172 blocks in total.
Romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean, the official system of South Korea since 2000. A starting ㄱ is g and a final ㄱ is k, so 각 is gak. The tool romanizes one block at a time. Real words also change sound between neighboring blocks (한국어 is hangugeo, not hankukeo), which this chart does not model. The IPA column shows the usual standard-Seoul sounds, with the sound after the comma used between vowels or after voiced sounds.
Letter groups at a glance
| Group | Count | Letters |
|---|---|---|
| Basic consonants | 14 | ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ |
| Double consonants | 5 | ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ |
| Basic vowels | 10 | ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ |
| Compound vowels | 11 | ㅐ ㅒ ㅔ ㅖ ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅢ |
Final consonants (batchim)
Only 7 sounds are heard at the end of a block: k, n, t, l, m, p and ng. Every final letter falls into one of them. Examples: 밖 bak, 꽃 kkot, 앞 ap, 닭 dak, 값 gap, 넓 neol.
FAQ
How many letters are in the Korean alphabet?
Hangul has 40 letters in modern use: 19 consonants and 21 vowels. Of those, 24 are basic (14 consonants and 10 vowels) and the other 16 are doubled or combined forms.
What is the easiest way to start learning Hangul?
Learn the 14 basic consonants and 10 basic vowels first, then build blocks with the syllable builder. Many learners can sound out simple words within a day or two because each letter has one main sound.
Why does the same consonant have two romanizations?
Consonants sound slightly different at the start and the end of a block. ㄱ is g at the start (가 is ga) but k at the end (각 is gak). ㅇ is silent at the start and ng at the end.
Why can I not hear the audio?
The Listen button uses the speech engine built into your browser. If your device has no Korean (ko-KR) voice installed, or the browser lacks speech support, the tool says so. Installing a Korean voice in your system language settings fixes it.
Is this the same as the Korean alphabet used in North Korea?
Yes. Both Koreas write with Hangul and use the same letters. The names and alphabetical order of some letters differ slightly, and this chart uses the South Korean standard.