Level 0 · Unit 1 · Vowels · 5 min

Basic Vowels 1: ㅏ ㅓ ㅗ ㅜ

Read and pronounce the four basic vowels ㅏ, ㅓ, ㅗ, ㅜ and recognize them in real words.

Hangul vowels are built from three elements

Every Hangul vowel is drawn from just three strokes: a dot (sky), a horizontal line (earth), and a vertical line (person). Today's four vowels are the most common ones — learn these and you can already read parts of real Korean words.

ㅏ

아 a

A vertical line with a branch pointing right — sounds like 'a' in father.

아이 ai child

ㅓ

어 eo

The branch points left — sounds like 'u' in sun (British 'o' in son).

ㅗ

오 o

The branch points up — a pure 'o' as in go, without the glide.

오이 oi cucumber

ㅜ

우 u

The branch points down — sounds like 'oo' in moon.

우유 uyu milk

Say it out loud

우유 uyu milk

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

Hangul vowels are built from three elements

Say it out loud

Check yourself