Building Syllable Blocks

Now that you know the basic consonants and vowels, it is time to learn the most important skill in reading Hangul: assembling jamo into syllable blocks. Every Korean word is made up of these blocks, and understanding how they are constructed is the key to reading Korean.

---

The Rule: Every Syllable is a Block

In Korean, you never write letters in a straight line like English. Instead, every syllable is assembled into a compact square block. Each block contains:

1. Initial consonant (초성, choseong) — always present
2. Vowel (중성, jungseong) — always present
3. Final consonant (종성, jongseong / batchim) — optional

If a syllable starts with a vowel sound, use ㅇ as the silent initial consonant.

---

Block Pattern 1: CV (Consonant + Vertical Vowel)

When the vowel is vertical (ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅣ), the consonant goes on the left and the vowel goes on the right:

┌───┬───┐
│ C │ V │
└───┴───┘