Korean Alphabet Order: How Hangul Letters Are Sorted (가나다 Order)

What you'll learn (about 30 minutes, after you know the basic letters)

• Recite the 14 basic consonants and 10 basic vowels in order.
• Place the double consonants and compound vowels correctly in the sequence.
• Sort any list of Korean words the way a South Korean dictionary does.
• Explain how the North Korean order differs.

What Is the Korean Alphabet Order?

The Korean alphabet order is a fixed sequence for consonants, another for vowels and a third for final consonants, and dictionaries combine the three to sort words. English has one sequence from A to Z. Hangul builds syllable blocks from three kinds of letters, so it needs three sequences.

The name 가나다 order (ganada-sun, "ganada order") comes from reciting the 14 basic consonants with the vowel ㅏ: 가 나 다 라 마 바 사 아 자 차 카 타 파 하. These 14 syllables are the traditional way to remember the basic consonant order. The same order is used in indexes and phone contacts, and the phrase 가나다순 (ganada-sun) means "in alphabetical order".

The South Korean order uses these sequences:

The audio is generated and awaits review by a Korean specialist. For how many letters this involves, see how many letters Hangul has. The next question is why the order matters.

Why the Order Matters: Dictionaries, Lists and Apps

The order matters because every Korean dictionary, phone and spreadsheet uses it to find words. If you do not know it, you cannot look up a word, scan a contact list or read an index. Four common places use it:

1. Dictionaries. Entries are sorted in 가나다 order, so you can find a word by its first block. See Korean dictionaries for tools that use it.
2. Contact lists and indexes. Names sort by the first consonant, and many phone apps show quick-jump headers such as ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ.
3. Computers. The Hangul syllable block in Unicode, a text standard, stores the 11,172 modern syllables in the same order as the dictionary. When text is stored as whole syllables, a plain code-point sort gives dictionary order.
4. Numbered lists. Korean documents often label items 가, 나, 다 the way English uses a, b, c.

This is a design choice of the Unicode standard: the code points of the precomposed syllables were laid out in the order of their letters. Beginners rarely need the order for reading, but they need it as soon as they use a dictionary or an app.

Now to the first sequence, the consonants.

The 14 Basic Consonants in Order

The 14 basic consonants run ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ. The table gives each letter's position, name and the ganada syllable that helps you remember it.

Reciting the 14 syllables aloud in rhythm is the quickest way to fix the order. Learn the names in Korean consonant names.

Where Do the Double Consonants Go?

The five double consonants sit directly after their plain partners: ㄲ after ㄱ, ㄸ after ㄷ, ㅃ after ㅂ, ㅆ after ㅅ and ㅉ after ㅈ. They are not collected at the end. This gives the 19-letter sequence ㄱ ㄲ ㄴ ㄷ ㄸ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅃ ㅅ ㅆ ㅇ ㅈ ㅉ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ.

Two consequences follow:

• 까치 (magpie) comes before 나비 (butterfly), because ㄲ is the second letter and ㄴ is the third.
• A word starting with ㅇ comes in the middle, not at the front. The silent ㅇ in 아기 (baby) sorts as the letter ㅇ, which is number 12 of the 19.

The vowels have their own order, covered next.

The Vowel Order, from ㅏ to ㅣ

The vowel order runs from ㅏ to ㅣ and alternates a basic vowel with its y-version. The 10 basic vowels are ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ. This is the same order as the columns of the syllable chart.

A quick memory line is 가 갸 거 겨 고 교 구 규 그 기. You can see the same rows in the Korean syllable chart.

Where Do the Compound Vowels Go?

The compound vowels are placed inside the sequence, and not after ㅣ. Each is slotted next to the basic vowel it starts with. The full 21-vowel order is:

ㅏ ㅐ ㅑ ㅒ ㅓ ㅔ ㅕ ㅖ ㅗ ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅛ ㅜ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅠ ㅡ ㅢ ㅣ

Three examples show the pattern: ㅐ comes right after ㅏ, ㅔ right after ㅓ, and the w-vowels ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ follow ㅗ. So 가 comes before 개 (dog), and 개 comes before 거미 (spider) in a dictionary.

The compound vowels explain the vowel part. A word's final consonant has its own order too.

How Are Final Consonants Ordered?

Final consonants are ordered last, and a block with no final consonant comes first. The order of the 27 finals is: ㄱ ㄲ ㄳ ㄴ ㄵ ㄶ ㄷ ㄹ ㄺ ㄻ ㄼ ㄽ ㄾ ㄿ ㅀ ㅁ ㅂ ㅄ ㅅ ㅆ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ. Clusters (two-letter finals such as ㄳ) follow their first letter.

This order explains lists of words that differ only by the final letter:

So 각 comes before 갂, which comes before 간. The order of the clusters is a detail you need only when looking up rare words.

With all three sequences known, you can sort real words.

Worked Example: Sorting 다리, 가방, 까치 and 나비

The way to sort Korean words is to compare them block by block, using the three sequences. This example sorts 다리 (bridge; leg), 가방 (bag), 까치 (magpie) and 나비 (butterfly).

1. Write the first blocks: 다, 가, 까, 나.
2. Compare the initial consonants: ㄷ, ㄱ, ㄲ, ㄴ. In the sequence, ㄱ is first, ㄲ second, ㄴ third and ㄷ fourth.
3. Order them: ㄱ (가방), ㄲ (까치), ㄴ (나비), ㄷ (다리).
4. Check ties: there are none, so the vowels and finals do not matter.

The sorted list is: 가방, 까치, 나비, 다리.

You will know it worked when you can state the comparison for each pair. The common slip is putting 까치 last because it looks like a "double" letter. Doubles sit next to the plain letter, so 까치 sits right after 가방.

When the first block ties, you move to the vowel. For 가방 and 거미 (spider), the first consonants tie at ㄱ, so compare ㅏ and ㅓ: ㅏ is first, so 가방 comes first. When the vowel ties too, you compare the final consonant, and finally move to the second block.

The example works for South Korean order. North Korea uses a different one.

How Can You Memorise the Order Quickly?

The fastest method is to chant the 14 ganada syllables in rhythm, then add the double letters by position. Memorising 14 syllables is far easier than memorising 19 letters, because the five doubles are never new items: each one is simply "the plain letter, again". Three habits help.

1. Chant in two halves. Say 가 나 다 라 마 바 사 first, then 아 자 차 카 타 파 하. The first half has seven syllables, the second seven, so the whole recitation has a clear midpoint at 사 and 아.
2. Say the doubles in place. When you reach 가, add 까 straight after it in your head. Do the same after 다, 바, 사 and 자: 가 까 나 다 따 라 마 바 빠 사 싸 아 자 짜 차 카 타 파 하.
3. Test from a random start. Pick any letter, such as ㅂ, and say the next three letters. If you can do this from every starting point, you can use a dictionary without reciting from the beginning.

Expert tip: learners who already know the alphabet in the right order still look in the wrong place for words that start with a vowel sound. Always search under ㅇ, in the middle of the dictionary, for words such as 아기 (baby), 우유 (milk) and 이름 (name).

How Is the North Korean Order Different?

North Korea sorts the same letters in a different sequence. In the North Korean standard, double consonants come after ㅎ, words that begin with the silent ㅇ come last, and the vowels are ordered differently. Both countries use the same letters; only the dictionary order differs, and so a list that is sorted in one country looks unsorted in the other.

Example: the words 까치 and 하늘 (sky). South Korea lists 까치 before 하늘, because ㄲ comes early. North Korea lists 하늘 before 까치, because ㄲ comes after ㅎ. And 개 (dog) comes before 거미 (spider) in the South, but 거미 comes before 개 in the North, because ㅓ comes before ㅐ. Words such as 아기 (baby), which sit in the middle of a South Korean dictionary, come at the very end of a North Korean one.

This difference matters if you read materials from both countries. For the North Korean alphabet, see the glossary page on North Korean alphabet (Chosŏn'gŭl). This site follows the South Korean standard.

Common Misconceptions about Hangul Order

Learners often hold four wrong ideas about Hangul order. Each has a correction.

Common misconception: Learners often assume that the order of Hangul is arbitrary. Actually, the basic sequence follows the traditional recitation 가나다라마바사, and the double and compound letters are inserted beside their base letters.

Limitation: this page covers the South Korean standard order and a brief North Korean comparison. It does not cover the order of rare old letters, or the special collation settings for different software.

Now practise.

Practice: Put These Words in Dictionary Order

Try these exercises before checking the answers.

Exercise 1: Sort. Put these words in dictionary order: 바다 (sea), 가을 (autumn), 하늘 (sky), 사과 (apple), 아기 (baby).

Exercise 2: Tie on the consonant. Sort 고기 (meat), 가위 (scissors), 기차 (train), 거미 (spider).

Exercise 3: Final consonants. Sort 감, 간, 각.

Exercise 4: Double or plain. Which comes first: 까 or 나?

Exercise 5: Compare. Which comes first in a South Korean dictionary: 아 or 가?

Answers to the Practice

1. 가을, 바다, 사과, 아기, 하늘. The initials are ㄱ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅎ.
2. 가위, 거미, 고기, 기차. All start with ㄱ, so compare the vowels ㅏ, ㅓ, ㅗ, ㅣ.
3. 각, 간, 감. The finals are ㄱ, ㄴ, ㅁ.
4. 까, because ㄲ comes right after ㄱ and before ㄴ.
5. 가, because ㄱ comes before ㅇ.

What Should You Learn Next?

After the alphabet order, learn to remember the letters and then use a dictionary. A good next step is Hangul mnemonics, which gives memory aids for the letters, followed by Korean dictionaries, where you can use the order for real lookups. For the parent topic, return to the Korean alphabet, or see all Hangul charts and the Korean alphabet A to Z comparison.

Scope of this page: it covers the South Korean dictionary order, with a short North Korean comparison. It does not cover the sound of each letter or romanization; those live in the linked lessons.

The Korean alphabet order is a sequence you can recite: 가나다라마바사 for the basics, with the double and compound letters set beside their base letters.

Frequently Asked Questions