Korean is not written in a line of letters. It is written in square packets, and the packing rule depends on the shape of the vowel.
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You now know six vowels and nine consonants. If Korean were written like English, you would already be reading. It is not. Korean letters are grouped into square packets, one packet per syllable, and the letters are arranged inside the packet according to a rule you can learn in about four minutes.
The first slot holds a consonant. The vowel slot holds a vowel. There is an optional third slot underneath, which lesson 8 covers. The rule for where the vowel goes is purely visual — it depends on whether the vowel letter is tall or wide.
| Vowel shape | Which vowels | Where the consonant goes |
|---|---|---|
| Tall (a vertical spine) | ㅏ ㅓ ㅣ | To the left |
| Wide (a horizontal spine) | ㅗ ㅜ ㅡ | On top |
| Both (lesson 7) | ㅘ ㅝ ㅢ … | Top-left, wrapping around |
A packet cannot have an empty first slot. So when a syllable begins with a vowel, the first slot is filled with ㅇ, which in that position is silent. It is punctuation for the eye, not a sound for the mouth. That is why 아 is one vowel and not two sounds.
In the first slot: a placeholder. Nothing in your mouth moves for it.
Compare 아 with 하. In the second one you feel warm air before the vowel. In the first one you feel nothing.
The same circle in the bottom slot of a packet is a real sound, and a completely different one — lesson 8.
Every packet below uses only letters from lessons 2 and 3. Do not translate. Just decode the packet into two positions in your mouth and say it.
The HanDa app turns these lessons into speaking drills: read a word aloud and it tells you which sound slipped. Free for 7 days.