How syllable blocks are built

Every block is one syllable: a consonant, a vowel, and sometimes a final consonant.

Korean is written in square blocks, and each block is exactly one syllable. 한국어 has three blocks, so it has three syllables: han-gu-geo.

A block has two or three parts: a first consonant, a vowel, and an optional final consonant called batchim. 가 is ㄱ + ㅏ. 강 is ㄱ + ㅏ + ㅇ.

Where the vowel goes depends on its shape. Tall vowels (ㅏ ㅓ ㅣ ㅐ ㅔ) sit to the right of the consonant: 나, 서. Flat vowels (ㅗ ㅜ ㅡ) sit underneath: 노, 수. The final consonant always goes at the bottom: 난, 논.

The letter ㅇ has two jobs. At the start of a block it is silent and only fills the empty consonant seat: 아 is just “a”. At the bottom of a block it sounds like “ng”: 방 is “bang”.

When you type, you never arrange these parts yourself. You type the letters in order and the keyboard builds the block.

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