1

VOWELS 1

1. 1 10 10 primary vowels, , , , , , , , , l
2. 1

Pronunciation and writing order of primary vowels

Shape of letter

Pronunciation

[a]

Writing order

Shape of a syllable

[ya]

[]

[y]

[o]

[yo]

[u]

[yu]

[]

[i]

3. 1
Words made up of primary vowels

1) five

4) child
7) fox

2) two, teeth

5) cucumber
8) free time

3) milk

6) reason
9) infant

Guide

4.
Pronunciations which are difficult to distinguish

1) :
5) :

2) :
6) :

5. Tongue position

3) :
7) :

4) :
8) :

VOWELS 2

1. 2 11 11 secondary vowels, , , , , , , , , ,

2. 2

Pronunciation and writing order of secondary vowels

Shape of letter

Pronunciation
[]

Writing order

[y]

[e]

[ye]

[wa]

[w]

[we()]

[w]

[we]

[wi()]

[i]

3. Words made up of vowels

1) yes

4) on

Shape of a syllable

7) outfield

2) ? Why?

3) come

8) a meaning

9) unexpected

5) outdoor

6) etiquette

[1 (note1)] monophthongs and diphthongs

monophthongs:,,,, , , , , ,

diphthongs :,,,,, , , , , ,


[2 (note2)] Lip shape of monophthongs

[3 (note3)] V
owels which require attention
[]:[e]
[][we]
[][wi]

. .
The pronunciations of and are too similar to distinguish. In
speech, Koreans do not make a distinction between them.
[], [] , [we], [wi]
. [,we],[,wi] .
[]and [] are classified into the group of monophthongs, but
they are usually pronounced like diphthongs [we,wi]. Therefore, they
are also allowed as [,we],[,wi].

.
[w][we]
In the speech, and are too similar to distinguish because is
pronounced as if it is diphthong .

[we]

, .
is sometimes used for writing pure Korean words, but is more
commonly used for writing foreign words.
(waiter), (web site), (sky way)

CONSONANTS 1

1. 14 14 Basic consonants

, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

2.
Pronunciation and writing order of basic consonants
Shape of letter

Pronunciation

[k/g]

[n]

[t/d]

[r,l]
[m]

[p/b]

[s/sh]

[no sound], [/ng]

Writing order

Shape of a syllable

[ts/dz]

[tsh/ch]

[kh]
[t ]
h

[p ]
h

[h]


3. Place of articulation

[(note)] , .
[/ng] .

Often just plays the role of a filler. When it occurs in the first position
of a syllable, it is silent but when it occurs in the final position, as a
Batchim, it is pronounced as [/ng].

1. ()

CONSONANTS 2

Tensed sounds

Shape of letter

Pronunciation
[ k ]

Shape of a syllable

[ t ]

[ p ]

[ s ]

[ ts ]

2. () () Comparison of tensed and aspirated sounds

()

3. () ()
Words made up of tensed or aspirated sounds

1)

. (an oyster)(honey)

3)

. (a room)(bread)

2)
4)

5)
6)
7)

. (to put out)(to be big)

. (a half)(a board)

. (the moon)(a daughter)(a mask)

. (a horse)(a foot)(an arm)

. (to sleep)(to be salty)(to be cold)

8) . (water)(fire)(a horn)(grass)

CONSONANTS 3

1. Batchim

, , .

7 .

Final consonants, BatchimExcept for , , , all consonants can be attached

at the bottom of a syllable as a Batchim. However, there are only 7 different ways
of pronouncing all Batchim.
Letters of Batchim

Pronunciation

[] [-n]

,,

Example

[] [-k]

, , ()

[] [-t]

, , , , , , []

[] [-m]

[]

[] [-/ng]

,,,,,,

[] [-l]

[] [-p]

[]

[]

, []
[]

2.
Pronunciations which are difficult to distinguish

1) . (every week)(beer)
2) . (a wife)(a guide)
3) . (a head)(far)
4)

. (definitely)[](a flower)

6)

. (half)(night)(a room)

5)

. [](outside)[](a field)(cooked rice)

NOUNS

1. people
man

woman

student

teacher

father

mother

son

daughter

Korean

foreigner

friend

doctor

book

desk

chair

bag

shoes

newspaper

wallet

cell phone

bus

subway

taxi

airplane

2. things


3. places
house

classroom

company

office

factory

hospital

restaurant

bank

post office

embassy

restroom

theater

Korea

China

Vietnam

Indonesia

4. the others
movie

weather

construction

breakdown

repair

meeting

5. Nouns related to industrial safety and work

safety helmet

safety shoes

safety goggles

safety belt

welding mask

safety gloves

am, are, is

[] .
This pattern makes the predicate of a sentence when attached to a noun.
1.

. (I) am a foreigner.

. (I) am a Chinese.

2.

. (This) is a book.

. (This) is a bag.

3.

. (This) is a school.

. (This) is a post office.

SUBJECT PARTICLE

[] .
This particle is used to mark the subject of a sentence when attached to a noun.

This is a classroom.
Yeongsu is Korean.
This is a cellular phone.
My name is Lee, Yeongsu.

[(Note)] Contracted form

I (informal)
I (polite)

you (informal)
who

-/

FORMAL DECLARATIVE SENTENCE ENDING

[] Formal Declarative Sentence Ending
.
This ending makes a formal declarative sentence in the present tense when
attached to a verb stem.

Yeongsu works.

That thing is bad.

This is a copy machine.

This(here) is Seoul.

A student eats.

This thing is good.

[1 (note1)] Action Verbs

to go

to teach

to transfer

to study

to wait

to go down

to get off

to come and go

to close

to return

to listen

to drink

to meet

to make

to eat

to learn

to take off

to see

to buy

to love

to stand, stop

to rest

to dislike

to write

to sit

to open

to come

to go up

to laugh

to work

to read

to wear

to sleep

to catch

to like

to ride

to sell

to do

[2 (note2)] Descriptive Verbs

to be near

to be far

be hot

to be cold to be busy

to be a lot

to be few

to be delicious

to be tasteless

to be busy

not to be busy

to be fast

to be slow

to be easy

to be difficult

to be cheap

to be expensive

to be interesting

to be uninteresting

to be silent

to be noisy

to be good

to be bad

to be big

to be small

to be sweet, to be bitter, to be spicy hot, to be sour,

to be salty, not to be salty enough

[3 (note3)] ()

Copula (Noun)

to be a student

to be a book

to be an office

to be a mother

10 /?
FORMAL INTERROGATIVE SENTENCE ENDING
[] Formal Interrogative Sentence Ending
.
This ending makes a formal interrogative sentence in the present tense when
attached to a verb stem.

-? ?

? ?

-? ?

-? ?

? ?

? ?

, .

Who works?
Is that thing (over there) bad?
Is this a copy machine?
What is that?
Does the student eat?
Is this thing good?

11 / OBJECT PARTICLE
[] .
This is used to mark the object of a sentence when attached to a noun.

.
.
.
.

I take a bus.
I make a phone call.
I read a book.
I eat rice.
What does Yeongsu eat?
Whom does Yeongsu wait for?

12 / ( 1)
am/are/is not NOUN (NEGATION 1)
[] - .
This pattern is the negative form of the -.

.
.

. .
I am not a child. I am an adult.

. .
He is not a Korean. He is a foreigner.

. .

This is not a camera. Its a cellular phone.

13 /- ( 2)

do/does not, be not ADJECTIVE (NEGATION 2)

[] /

[] .
This pattern expresses the negation of action verbs and descriptive verbs.

1. /
/

(Somebody) does not go to the company.

(Somebody) does not eat rice.

Yeongsu is not busy.

Its not cold today.

(exception)N
NOUN NOUN

* ()

* ()

() .

() .

Yeongsu does not work.

Students dont study.


2.

.
.

(Somebody) does not buy clothes.

(Somebody) does not eat rice.
Yeongsu is not busy.
Its not cold today.
Yeongsu does not work.

Special Negative Words

to exist

to be delicious

to be interesting
to know

not to exist

not to taste good

to be uninteresting

not to know

14 / - ( 3)

cannot (NEGATION 3)

[] /

[] .
This pattern is a negative form that conveys the meaning of prohibition or
inability.

1. /
/

.
.
.

I cannot eat Gimchi.

I cannot speak Korean.
You cannot go to the left.


(exception)N

NOUN NOUN

* ()

* ()

. .
Its too hot. (So) I cannot work.

. .

I dont have time. (So) I cannot study.

2.

I cannot buy the clothes.

I cannot eat Gimchi.
I cannot work today.

15 , , ,

one, two, three, four

Sino-Korean numbers and Counting units

1. , , , ( ) Sino-Korean numbers

10

11

12

13
14

15

Sino-Korean numbers

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1,000

10,000

100,000

1,000,000

10,000,000

100,000,000

Sino-Korean numbers


2.
Counting units used with Sino-Korean numbers
months

years

Won(Korean currency)

months of the year

weeks

floors

counting numbers
portions of food

.
.
, , .
.

minutes

days of the month

I studied Korean for three months.

One year has 365 days.
March, April and May belong to Spring.
This book is 20,000 Won.

16 , , ,

one, two, three, four

Pure-Korean numbers and Counting units

1. , , , ( ) Pure-Korean numbers

10

11

12

13

14

15

Pure-Korean numbers

(noun)

10

(noun)

30

(noun)

(noun)

(noun)
(noun)

(noun)

(noun)

20

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1,000

10,000

100,000

1,000,000

10,000,000

100,000,000

Pure-Korean numbers

(noun)


2.
Counting units used with Pure-Korean numbers
packs (of cigarettes)

items, units, object

animals

times

people (honorific form)

/people

oclock

hours

buildings, houses

pairs of shoes

bowl, cup

sets of clothes
years of age

glasses, cups

vehicles, machines

bottles

blossom, stems

thin, flat objects (sheets)

.
.

I get up at 630 am.

I study Korean 4 hours everyday.
I am twenty two years old.
I drink 5 cups of coffee a day.

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