Lesson 5. Building Syllable Blocks

Chapter 1. Hangul Mastery · Week 1 · Prerequisites: Lessons 3–4 · Est. time: ~30 min (review included)

Learning Objectives

• Freely combine initial consonant + vowel and read the result
• Distinguish side-by-side blocks (가) from stacked blocks (고)
• Know that empty initials are filled with ㅇ
• Write your own name in Hangul

Warm-up Review

• Read the 14 blocks aloud: 가 나 다 라 마 바 사 아 자 차 카 타 파 하
• What sound does ㅇ make at the start of a block? (→ None — it's a placeholder.)

Main Lesson

1. One rule: the vowel's direction

The vowel's shape decides the block layout.

Vowel type	Layout	Examples
Vertical vowels: ㅏㅑㅓㅕㅣㅐㅔ	to the right of the consonant (consonant on the LEFT, vowel on the RIGHT)	가, 너, 미, 새
Horizontal vowels: ㅗㅛㅜㅠㅡ	below the consonant (consonant on TOP, vowel BELOW)	고, 누, 브, 요

Vertical vowel           Horizontal vowel
┌────┬────┐            ┌────────┐
│ ㄱ │ ㅏ │ = 가        │   ㄱ   │
└────┴────┘            ├────────┤ = 고
                       │   ㅗ   │
                       └────────┘

2. Empty initial → fill with ㅇ

A vowel can't form a block alone — the silent ㅇ fills the empty consonant seat.

• The sound ㅏ alone → 아 / ㅗ alone → 오 / ㅜ alone → 우

3. Combination grid

	ㅏ	ㅓ	ㅗ	ㅜ	ㅣ
ㄱ	가 ga	거 geo	고 go	구 gu	기 gi
ㄴ	나 na	너 neo	노 no	누 nu	니 ni
ㅅ	사 sa	서 seo	소 so	수 su	시 si
ㅇ	아 a	어 eo	오 o	우 u	이 i
ㅈ	자 ja	저 jeo	조 jo	주 ju	지 ji

Master the principle behind this grid and you can read all 14 consonants × 12 vowels = 168 possible C+V blocks!

Common Mistakes

1. Writing 고 side by side as "ㄱㅗ" → horizontal vowels always go below.
2. Writing a vowel by itself (ㅏ이) → add ㅇ: 아이.
3. Reading the letters inside a block one by one → one block = one syllable, pronounced at once.

Key Expressions & Vocabulary

Korean	Pronunciation	English	Block structure
고기	go-gi	meat	stacked + side-by-side
우표	u-pyo	stamp	stacked + stacked
야구	ya-gu	baseball	side-by-side + stacked
여자	yeo-ja	woman	side-by-side + side-by-side
시계	si-gye	clock/watch	side-by-side + side-by-side

Reading Drill

1. Across the row: 가 갸 거 겨 기 개 게 (vertical vowels = side by side)
2. Down the column: 고 교 구 규 그 (horizontal vowels = stacked)
3. Words: 고기 · 우표 · 야구 · 여자 · 시계 · 아기 · 나무 · 바다

Practice

A. Build the block — What syllable do these form?

1. ㅂ + ㅏ 2. ㄴ + ㅜ 3. ㅁ + ㅗ 4. ㅅ + ㅕ 5. ㅇ + ㅡ

B. Take apart — Break each syllable into consonant and vowel. 6. 두 7. 려 8. 재

C. Read aloud 9. 나무 10. 바다 11. 아기 12. 우유

D. Layout check 13. Is a block containing ㅠ side-by-side or stacked?

Mission

Name-check day!

1. Take out the name you guessed in Lesson 2.
2. Rewrite it correctly using today's rules. (Tip: split your name into syllables, one block per syllable. E.g., "Anna" → 안나, "Mark" → 마크.)
3. Check the standard spelling with a translator or tutor and compare it with your guess. How close was your Lesson 2 guess?

Coming Up Next

Lesson 6: The block's third floor — batchim (final consonants). Real Korean words like 밥, 집, and 물 await.

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Show Answer Key

A. 1. 바 (ba) 2. 누 (nu) 3. 모 (mo) 4. 셔 (syeo) 5. 으 (eu) B. 6. ㄷ+ㅜ 7. ㄹ+ㅕ 8. ㅈ+ㅐ C. 9. na-mu (tree) 10. ba-da (sea) 11. a-gi (baby) 12. u-yu (milk) D. 13. Stacked — ㅠ is a horizontal vowel, so it goes below the consonant.