Basic Korean Consonants 2: Learning ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, ㅎ

In this lesson, you will learn five Korean consonants: ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, and ㅎ. We’ll also practice how to combine them with basic vowels to improve your ability to read Korean.

1. Introducing Consonants ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, ㅎ

• ㅂ : Pronounced like ‘b’ in “바”, produced by closing the lips.
• ㅅ : Pronounced like ‘s’ in “사”, tongue touching behind the upper teeth.
• ㅇ : A special consonant. At the beginning of a syllable (initial position), it is silent. At the end (batchim), it sounds like “ng” as in English.
• ㅈ : Pronounced like ‘j’ in “자”, tongue touching behind the upper gums.
• ㅎ : Pronounced like ‘h’ in “하”, produced by exhaling air.

2. Combining with Basic Vowels

Korean letters are formed by combining consonants and vowels into square-shaped syllable blocks.

Here are the five consonants combined with the basic vowel ‘아 (ㅏ)’:

• ㅂ + ㅏ = 바 (ba)
• ㅅ + ㅏ = 사 (sa)
• ㅇ + ㅏ = 아 (a) – the initial ㅇ is silent
• ㅈ + ㅏ = 자 (ja)
• ㅎ + ㅏ = 하 (ha)

Note that the initial ㅇ does not produce a sound; it only supports the vowel. When ㅇ is used as a final consonant, it sounds like the English “ng” sound. This will be explained in more detail later.

3. Mini Practice: Reading and Shuffling Words

Read these words out loud slowly:

바 – 사 – 아 – 자 – 하

Then try mixing the order and reading again, for example, “사-하-아-자-바”. Repeating this helps you get used to consonant-vowel combinations.

4. What’s Next

You’ve learned the consonants ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, ㅎ in this lesson. In upcoming lessons, you’ll encounter more consonants and vowels to expand your reading skills.

5. Romanization Guide

The combined syllables are romanized as ba, sa, a, ja, ha, helping you understand the pronunciation.

6. Summary

• Learned five consonants: ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅈ, and ㅎ.
• Understood that ㅇ is silent at the start and sounds like “ng” at the end of a syllable.
• Combined each consonant with the vowel ㅏ to make ‘바, 사, 아, 자, 하’.
• Practiced reading and mixing these words for better familiarity.

Let’s continue to learn more consonants and vowels next time for stronger Hangul reading skills.

Recommended Internal Links

• Basic Korean Consonants 1: Learning ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ, ㅁ
• Basic Korean Vowels 2: Mastering ㅑ, ㅕ, ㅛ, ㅠ and ㅐ, ㅔ Sounds

Related KoriNori lessons

• Basic Korean Consonants 1
• Basic Korean Vowels 2

🎧 Native Korean Pronunciation

Listen to a native Korean speaker and repeat each item slowly.

바

사

아

자

하

바 사 아 자 하