KONGLE
Level 0 · Unit 2 · Consonants · 6 min

Basic Consonants 2: ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅎ

Read and pronounce the consonants ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, ㅎ, and recognize ㅇ as a silent placeholder at the start of a syllable.

  1. Letter 1 of 5
    ㅂ
    비읍 b

    Looks like a bench with two legs — a light 'p' at the start of a word, turning into 'b' as in boy between vowels.

    바다 bada sea

Say it out loud

버스 beoseu bus

Listen, then repeat aloud. Matching the rhythm matters more than perfection.

Why? Five more everyday consonants

ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, ㅎ round out your first set of Hangul consonants, unlocking hundreds of real words together with the vowels you already know. Each shape is simple: ㅂ looks like a bench, ㅅ like a small peak, ㅇ a plain circle, ㅈ a slanted check mark, and ㅎ a hat over a line. Say each one gently, with no extra puff of air — that contrast comes later, when you meet their stronger cousins ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅊ.

Why? ㅇ has two jobs

At the start of a syllable, ㅇ is silent — it's just a placeholder so every syllable block has a consonant slot, the way you already saw in 아이, 오이, and 우유. Later, when ㅇ appears at the end of a syllable, it makes an 'ng' sound, like the end of song. You'll learn that ending role (받침, batchim) in Unit 4 — for now just remember: ㅇ at the front means 'say the vowel alone'.

Common questions

Why does 시 sound like 'she' and not 'see'?

Because ㅅ changes shape before the vowel ㅣ. Everywhere else it is the 's' of sun, but in front of ㅣ it slides back in the mouth and comes out as a 'sh'. So 시 is 'shi', 사 is 'sa'. You don't have to do anything special — say it fast and naturally and your mouth will do it on its own.

Check yourself

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