How Many Letters Are in the Korean Alphabet? (24, 40 or 51)

How Many Letters Are in the Korean Alphabet?

The Korean alphabet has 24 basic letters, 40 letters in everyday use, and 51 characters in some computer charts. All three numbers are correct. They answer three slightly different questions, so the table shows what each number includes.

For a learner, 24 is the number of letters you must learn as separate shapes, and 40 is the number you will see in every Korean text. The number 51 is mostly useful to people who work with fonts and keyboards. The next section lists the 24 letters.

What Are the 24 Basic Letters: 14 Consonants and 10 Vowels?

The 24 basic letters are 14 consonants and 10 vowels, listed in Korean dictionary order. Every Hangul syllable is built from them, with a few combined shapes added for sounds that need more than one basic letter.

Which Are the 14 Basic Consonants?

The 14 basic consonants are ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ. Each has its own lesson in the 14 basic consonants section.

Notice that ㅇ is a consonant even though it is silent at the start of a block. It is counted among the 14.

Which Are the 10 Basic Vowels?

The 10 basic vowels are ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ ㅣ. Six are simple vowels (ㅏ ㅓ ㅗ ㅜ ㅡ ㅣ) and four add a "y" glide (ㅑ ㅕ ㅛ ㅠ). Each one is taught in the 10 basic vowels section.

• Vertical vowels (built on a long vertical line, with short strokes added except in ㅣ): ㅏ ㅑ ㅓ ㅕ ㅣ
• Horizontal vowels (built on a long horizontal line, with short strokes added except in ㅡ): ㅗ ㅛ ㅜ ㅠ ㅡ

The way these letters line up inside a block is the subject of the syllable blocks lessons. With the basic 24 in hand, the next step is to see which letters push the total to 40.

Why Do Some Sources Say There Are 40 Korean Letters?

Some sources say 40 because they add 5 double consonants and 11 compound vowels to the basic 24. These extra letters are real, separate letters in Korean spelling, and the same Hangul Orthography article that defines the 24 also lists them in its notes. A text without them would be impossible to read.

What Are the 5 Double Consonants?

The 5 double consonants are ㄲ ㄸ ㅃ ㅆ ㅉ. Each is a basic consonant written twice (ㄱ becomes ㄲ) and sounds tense, with a tight throat and no puff of air. Compare 사다 "to buy" and 싸다 "to be cheap". The group is explained in double consonants.

What Are the 11 Compound Vowels?

The 11 compound vowels are ㅐ ㅒ ㅔ ㅖ ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅢ. Each is built by joining two or three basic vowel shapes, as ㅗ + ㅏ makes ㅘ and ㅗ + ㅐ makes ㅙ. They are covered in 11 compound vowels.

Some English-language sources give 19 consonants and 21 vowels, which is the same 40 split a different way: 14 basic + 5 double = 19 consonants, and 10 basic + 11 compound = 21 vowels. The dictionary order shown later on this page groups the letters the same way, which is why consonant counts of 14 and 19 both appear online. Both are correct.

The 40 letters are everything you need for modern Korean. The 51 count adds something different, and that comes next.

Why Do Some Charts Say 51 Jamo?

Some charts say 51 jamo because they add 11 consonant clusters that appear only at the end of a syllable. These clusters are two consonant letters written together in the final position, such as ㄺ in the word 닭 (chicken). The 11 clusters are ㄳ ㄵ ㄶ ㄺ ㄻ ㄼ ㄽ ㄾ ㄿ ㅀ ㅄ.

The total is 40 + 11 = 51. The number comes from computer character sets: the Unicode block called Hangul Compatibility Jamo lists these 51 standalone letters, so keyboard and font charts often show all of them. You can read more about this in Hangul in Unicode.

Clusters are not new letters. Each is built from two letters you already know, and in speech only one of the two sounds is pronounced. For example, 닭 is read [닥] when it stands alone.

Teachers rarely count clusters as letters, because you never learn them as new shapes. You simply meet them inside blocks. An honest limit of this explanation: the choice of 40 versus 51 is a convention, not a fact of the language, so a source that uses 51 is not wrong. It is counting different things.

How Many Letters Did Hangul Have in 1443?

Hangul had 28 letters when it was created in 1443: 17 consonants and 11 vowels. King Sejong finished the alphabet in 1443, and his court published it in 1446 in the Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음). The 28 letters were the 24 modern basic letters plus 4 that later fell out of use.

The math is neat. The 14 modern basic consonants plus 3 old ones make 17, and the 10 modern basic vowels plus 1 old one make 11. The history is covered in how Hangul was created.

Which Four Letters Dropped Out?

The four letters that dropped out are ㆍ, ㅿ, ㆆ and ㆁ.

The full story of when each letter faded is in four obsolete letters. For everyday reading, you can ignore all four.

In What Order Are the 40 Letters Listed?

South Korean dictionaries list the 40 letters in a fixed order, and each double or compound letter sits right after the letter it grows from. The consonant order is ㄱ ㄲ ㄴ ㄷ ㄸ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅃ ㅅ ㅆ ㅇ ㅈ ㅉ ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ ㅎ, which is 19 consonants. The vowel order is ㅏ ㅐ ㅑ ㅒ ㅓ ㅔ ㅕ ㅖ ㅗ ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅛ ㅜ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅠ ㅡ ㅢ ㅣ, which is 21 vowels. Together they make 40.

North Korea orders the same letters differently and puts the double consonants at the end of its consonant list. That is why a word can sit on a different page of a dictionary in Seoul and in Pyongyang. The full sorting method, with examples, is on the Korean alphabet order page. Once the order is clear, the next question is how Hangul compares with English.

Does Hangul Have Capital Letters?

No. Hangul has no capital letters and no lowercase letters. Each letter has one form, so ㄱ is always ㄱ. Names and the start of sentences look the same as any other text.

This makes Hangul simpler in one way and gives you fewer visual clues in another: in English a capital letter flags a name, but in Korean you must learn to spot a name from context. The next section compares the two alphabets by the numbers.

How Does the Korean Alphabet Compare with the English Alphabet?

The Korean alphabet has fewer separate letter forms than English, but it builds more syllable blocks. English has 26 letters, and with capitals that becomes 52 letter forms. Hangul has 24 basic forms, or 40 with combined letters, and no case.

The big difference is that Korean packs its letters into square blocks, while English strings them in a line. English spelling also varies a lot between words, while Hangul spelling follows a smaller set of rules.

How Many Syllable Blocks Can These Letters Make?

These letters can make 11,172 syllable blocks in modern Hangul. The number is 19 × 21 × 28: 19 possible initial consonants, 21 vowels and 28 options for the final slot (27 final consonants plus the choice of no final). It is not a letter count, and you do not learn the blocks one by one.

Most of the 11,172 blocks never appear in real words. A learner can read any block by knowing the 40 letters and the rule for where each one goes. The full explanation is in the syllable blocks lessons.

For example, ㅎ + ㅏ + ㄴ makes 한. Change the vowel and you get 헌. Change the final and you get 하. Three letters, three different blocks.

Which Letters Should You Learn First?

Learn the six simple vowels first (ㅏ ㅓ ㅗ ㅜ ㅡ ㅣ), then the ten most common consonants (ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅎ), and then the rest. With only these 16 letters you can already build and read hundreds of common blocks.

1. Six simple vowels: ㅏ ㅓ ㅗ ㅜ ㅡ ㅣ.
2. Ten core consonants: ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㄹ ㅁ ㅂ ㅅ ㅇ ㅈ ㅎ.
3. Four strong-breath consonants: ㅊ ㅋ ㅌ ㅍ, which are stroke-added forms of letters you already know.
4. Four y-vowels: ㅑ ㅕ ㅛ ㅠ, which add a short stroke to the simple vowels.
5. Five double consonants and eleven compound vowels.

This order works because the 16 combined letters then arrive in small, related groups, so you never face 40 unrelated shapes at once. After you finish the letters, the next step is to put them in order. The Korean alphabet order lesson explains the dictionary sequence, and the Hangul charts let you print every letter on one page. For the lesson list, return to the Korean alphabet hub.

The Bottom Line

The Korean alphabet has 24 basic letters, which grow to 40 letters when you add 5 double consonants and 11 compound vowels. If anyone asks how many letters are in the Korean alphabet, answer 24 for the basic set and 40 for everything you will read. The figure of 51 counts 11 more clusters that appear only in final position, and 28 was the count in 1443 before 4 letters left use. The count of 11,172 is the number of blocks the letters can build, not a count of letters.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Long Does It Take to Learn All 40 Korean Letters?

Many learners can recognise and read the basic letters within a few days to a couple of weeks of regular short practice. Speed varies with study time, so treat this as a typical range, not a promise. Learning the 24 basic letters first and adding the 16 combined letters afterwards keeps the load small.

Are ㅐ and ㅔ Counted as Separate Letters?

Yes. ㅐ and ㅔ are two different compound vowels and each is counted in the 40-letter total. In modern standard Seoul speech they sound almost the same, but they are still spelled differently, so you must learn both shapes and memorise which words use which. Listening practice helps the spelling stick.

Is ㅇ a Consonant or a Vowel?

ㅇ is a consonant. At the start of a block it is silent and holds the place of a missing consonant, as in 아. At the end of a block it sounds like the ng in the English word "sing", as in 강. It is counted among the 14 basic consonants.

Do North and South Korea Use the Same Number of Letters?

Both count 40 letters in the same set, but they order and name them differently. North Korea places the double consonants and some vowels in different positions in its alphabet order, so dictionaries in the two countries do not sort words in the same way. The letter shapes themselves are identical.