Batchim: Korean Final Consonants Explained for Beginners

Pronunciation guide · about 7 minute read

You can read 가, 나, and 다. Then you meet 밖, 꽃, and 닭, and suddenly the rules seem to break. A letter at the bottom of the block that doesn't sound like it should, and sometimes two letters down there at once. This is the batchim (받침, "support"), the consonant at the bottom of a syllable block. It looks scary, but it follows a small set of rules.

If you aren't sure how blocks are built yet, read How Hangul Syllable Blocks Work first.

The big idea: only seven sounds

At the start of a syllable, Korean has many consonant sounds. At the bottom of a syllable, there are only seven: k, n, t, l, m, p, and ng. Many different letters collapse into these seven. So when you see a letter in the batchim position, you don't need to remember its normal sound. You only need to know which of the seven sounds it turns into.

Sounds: 책 chaek (book), 밖 bak (outside), 부엌 bu-eok (kitchen) · 산 san (mountain), 문 mun (door) · 옷 ot (clothes), 꽃 kkot (flower), 밭 bat (field), 낮 nat (daytime), 끝 kkeut (end) · 물 mul (water), 달 dal (moon) · 감 gam (persimmon), 밤 bam (night) · 밥 bap (rice, meal), 집 jip (house), 앞 ap (front) · 강 gang (river), 공 gong (ball).

The one that surprises beginners most is the "t" group. 옷, 꽃, and 밭 are written with three different letters (ㅅ, ㅊ, ㅌ), yet all end in the same short "t" sound. At the bottom of a block, ㅅ is not "s".

Stop the sound, don't release it

The final k, t, and p are "stopped" sounds. You close your mouth or tongue in position and cut the sound off, without a puff of air afterward. In English we often release these sounds with a small extra puff, so beginners tend to say "bap-uh". Try holding the position and stopping: 밥 is "bap" with your lips closed at the end.

The three nasal finals: ㅁ, ㄴ, ㅇ

These three can be hard to tell apart, but your mouth gives you a clue.

• ㅁ (m): lips close.
• ㄴ (n): the tip of your tongue touches behind your upper teeth.
• ㅇ (ng): the back of your tongue rises, and the lips stay open.

Try it: 감 (persimmon), 간 (liver), and 강 (river) differ only in the final letter, and they are three completely different words.

Two letters at the bottom

Some blocks have two consonants stacked in the batchim position, such as 닭 (chicken), 값 (price), and 여덟 (eight). In most cases you pronounce only one of the two, and which one depends on the pair. 닭 is "dak", 값 is "gap", and 여덟 is "yeo-deol". The simplest approach for a beginner is to learn these as whole words rather than as rules. There aren't many common ones.

When a vowel follows: the hidden sound comes back

Here is the most useful thing to know. When a batchim is followed by a block that starts with the silent ㅇ, the final consonant slides over and is pronounced as the start of the next block, with its real sound.

• 밥 + 을 → 밥을 sounds like "ba-beul"
• 집 + 이 → 집이 sounds like "ji-bi"
• 꽃 + 이 → 꽃이 sounds like "kko-chi", not "kkot-i"

This explains why Korean spelling keeps different letters (ㅅ, ㅊ, ㅌ) that all sound the same at the end of a word. They only reveal their differences when a vowel follows. It also means the spelling tells you the true shape of the word.

Common mistakes

• Reading a final ㅅ as "s". 옷 is "ot", not "os".
• Adding a vowel after the final sound. 밥 is "bap", not "bapu".
• Forgetting that the final ㅇ is "ng". 강 is "gang", not "ga".
• Trying to memorize every letter combination. Learn the seven final sounds, and treat the double finals as a small vocabulary list.

Practice

Read these aloud. The answers are below.

집   밥   책   산   꽃   닭

Answers: jip (house), bap (rice, meal), chaek (book), san (mountain), kkot (flower), dak (chicken).

For help telling similar letters apart, see Confusing Hangul Letters.