한국어 · Korean
An alphabet designed in 1443 that stacks its letters into syllables, three kinds of every stop, and verbs that end in politeness.
Koreanic · compare with Japanese, Mandarin Chinese
Sounds
34 phonemes, 108 spelling rules. Trace any word letter by letter.
Words
610 concepts carry a Korean form. Switch Korean on at the top and browse any field.
Grammar
12 of 12 chapters written.
🎚️ What Korean does with pitch, stress and rhythm — the layer that isn't spelled.
Sound snapshot
Hangul is an alphabet — 14 consonants and 10 vowels, plus the doubled and compound letters — whose letters are stacked into syllable blocks: 한 is ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ. The letters are honest; the seams between syllables are where the work is. A final consonant is unreleased (ㅂ ㄷ ㄱ ㅁ ㄴ ㅇ ㄹ are the only seven sounds a syllable may end in, however it is spelled), but it moves onto a following vowel with its full value (밥이 'rice' + subject = 바비), turns nasal before a nasal (국물 = 궁물, 합니다 = 함니다), tenses the plain consonant after it (학교 = 학꾜), and combines with ㅎ into an aspirate (좋다 = 조타). Korean has three kinds of every stop where English has two: plain ㅂ ㄷ ㄱ ㅈ (voiceless at the start of a word, voiced between vowels), aspirated ㅍ ㅌ ㅋ ㅊ, and TENSE ㅃ ㄸ ㄲ ㅉ, said with the throat stiffened and no puff. ㅅ is /s/ but /ɕ/ before i. The vowels are seven plus glides: ㅡ /ɯ/ is the unrounded u, ㅓ /ʌ/ the open unrounded o, and ㅐ/ㅔ have merged for anyone under sixty. No tones, no stress, no vowel reduction.
Grammar chapters
Articles
the, a — definite and indefinite, and how they bend to gender and number.
Nouns & gender
Does the language sort nouns into classes, and can you guess which?
Plurals
How to make more than one.
Pronouns
I, you, he/she/it, we, they — subject, object, and the formal 'you'.
Present tense
Regular verbs now, and the handful of irregular ones you can't avoid.
Negation
Saying no: where the 'not' goes.
Questions
Yes/no questions and question words.
Word order
Where the verb goes, where adjectives go, what moves and why.
Past tenses
Finished vs ongoing, spoken vs written past.
Future & conditional
Will, going to, would.
Adjectives
Agreement, position, comparison.
Prepositions
In, on, at, to — the small words that never translate one-to-one.
Words by field
🏠Home
The house, room by room — the words you touch every day.
🌲Nature
Out of the city: landscapes, weather, creatures.
🧩Little words
Adverbs, prepositions, connectors — small words that carry the sentence.
🧱Essentials
The bedrock: numbers, yes and no — the words you need on day one.
🧰Trades & expertise
Jargon of people who do things with their hands — and their heads.
💭Concepts
Abstract words: feelings, ideas, character.
🧭Navigation
Finding your way: streets, junctions, the places you're heading for — and how to say you're lost.
🧑People
Who someone is: what they do, and what you call them.
🎬Actions
Everyday verbs, in the form that follows 'I want to…' — go, eat, buy, see, say.
🍽️Food
What's on the plate and in the cupboard — the staples first.
🫀The body
Head to ankle — the words you need at the doctor, the physio and the gym.
🥋Sport & fighting
The gym, the cage and the corner — built for fighters learning English.
🎭Register
The same idea said in the street, at the office, or in a textbook.