ㅇ Batchim: Sounds, Rules and Examples

What you'll learn

• Say a clean ng at the end of 강, 방, 공 and 사랑, with no g after it.
• Tell final ㅇ apart from final ㄴ and ㅁ in the trios 강, 간, 감 and 방, 반, 밤.
• Explain why ㅇ does not move to the next syllable: 사랑이 is [사랑이].
• Use a nose pinch test to confirm the nasal airflow.

Prerequisites: you can read Hangul blocks and know that ㅇ is silent at the start of a syllable. Time: about 20 minutes.

Key facts

• The back of the tongue touches the soft palate.

Listen to five words that end in the back nasal.

The sound is familiar from English, but the spelling surprises learners, as the next section shows.

Why English Speakers Struggle with the ㅇ Batchim

English speakers struggle with the ㅇ batchim because the letter ㅇ looks like a zero, and it has two jobs. At the start of a syllable it is silent, a placeholder that fills the first slot. At the end it makes the sound "ng". The same shape means nothing in one place and a full sound in another.

A second difficulty is the "g". In English, "ng" is spelled with two letters, so learners add a g sound after the nasal: "sang-g", "gang-g". Korean ㅇ has no g. The English words "singer" and "finger" show the difference: "singer" has only the nasal, while "finger" has a nasal followed by a g. Korean 강 is closer to "singer".

A third difficulty is word position. English "ng" never begins a word. Korean ㅇ can begin a syllable, but only as silence, so the learner never practises ng in the first syllable of a word. The sound appears only at the end of a syllable, as in 강 or the middle of 강아지.

The next section describes exactly what the sound is.

What Is the Sound of Final ㅇ?

Final ㅇ is the velar nasal [ŋ], the "ng" in English "sing", "long" and "ring". Velar means made at the soft palate (velum). The back of the tongue rises to touch the soft palate, and air flows through the nose.

Article 8 of the Standard Pronunciation Rules (표준 발음법, 국립국어원) lists ㅇ among the seven representative final sounds. The seven are shown together in The 7 Final Sounds. Unlike the other six, ㅇ has no variants. No other letter and no double batchim reduces to it. The final ㅇ always comes from the letter ㅇ itself.

A fuller account of how this sound is made is in the Korean ng sound.

You will meet the ㅇ batchim in many everyday words, such as 한강 (the Han River), 공부 (study), 시장 (market) and 중국 (China). In each of them the ng closes a syllable and a new consonant or vowel starts the next one. The sound is also voiced and continuous, so you can hum it for as long as you have breath. That makes it easy to check: if you can hum the ending of 강, you are making a nasal and not a stop.

Here is a quick test: say "singer" slowly, and stop in the middle, at the end of "sing". Hold the sound there. That is the position for the ㅇ batchim. The next section compares it with the other two nasals.

How Is Final ㅇ Different from ㄴ and ㅁ?

Final ㅇ differs from final ㄴ and ㅁ in where the mouth closes. For ㅇ the back of the tongue touches the soft palate, and both the lips and the tongue tip stay free. For ㄴ the tongue tip touches the ridge behind the upper teeth. For ㅁ the lips close.

The meanings are 간 (liver, or a seasoning level), 반 (half, class), 방 (room), 밤 (night), 감 (persimmon) and 강 (river). Each pair differs only in the ending, so the ending carries the meaning.

A mirror check. Say 방 and watch the mouth. The lips stay apart, and the tongue tip does not move. Say 밤 and the lips shut. Say 반 and the tongue tip lifts. This is the clearest visible difference.

The pair ㄴ Batchim and ㅁ Batchim cover the other two endings in full. More discrimination drills are in nasal and liquid minimal pairs. The next section explains why ㅇ does not link to the next vowel.

Why Does Final ㅇ Not Link to the Next Vowel?

Final ㅇ does not link to the next vowel because Korean does not allow the ng sound at the start of a syllable, and ㅇ written there is silent. Linking moves a final consonant into the empty first slot of the next syllable. If ㅇ moved there, the ng sound would disappear, so standard pronunciation keeps it at the end.

This surprises learners who have just studied the other batchim. 산이 becomes [사니], and 밤이 becomes [바미], but 강이 stays [강이]. The ㅇ keeps its position, and the next syllable starts with a silent ㅇ placeholder. Revised Romanization writes 사랑이 as sarangi and does not show a link.

A useful consequence: two syllables like 강 + 이 sound different from 가니. The first is [강이] with ng. The second is [가니] with a link. Listen for the nasal at the back, not the front.

The ㅇ batchim also affects a following ㄹ in Sino-Korean words, which is the same pattern as after ㅁ. The ㄹ turns into ㄴ: 종로 (Jongno, a Seoul street) is [종노], 정리 (arrangement) is [정니], and 대통령 (president) is [대통녕]. The ng itself does not change. Only the ㄹ after it does.

영화 (yeonghwa) shows the no-linking pattern before a consonant too. The ㅇ closes the first syllable, and 화 starts with ㅎ, so nothing moves. The next section shows how to check that the sound is correct.

How Can You Tell You Are Saying It?

You can tell that you are saying the ㅇ batchim correctly with three quick checks: the nose pinch, the mirror and the "no g" test. Each check takes less than ten seconds.

The nose pinch. Pinch your nose and say 강. The sound should break into a muffled block, because air cannot leave. If nothing changes, you made a stop (like ㄱ), not a nasal.

The mirror. Say 강 with your mouth slightly open. The lips stay apart, the tongue tip stays down, and you see no movement. If the tongue tip lifts, you made ㄴ.

The no-g test. Say 강아 and listen for a g between 강 and 아. If you hear 강가, you added a g. The clean version is 강-아, with the nasal closing the first syllable and the vowel opening the second.

Hold the final ng for a count of one. Because ㅇ is a nasal, the sound continues while the tongue is in place. If it cuts off, you have made a stop. The stop finals are taught in Korean Unreleased Consonants. The next section applies everything to a worked word.

Worked Example: 강

강 (river) is a good worked example because it is a daily word, it has a clear vowel, and it appears in the trio 강, 간, 감.

Step 1: read the blocks. 강 has ㄱ as the first consonant, ㅏ as the vowel, and ㅇ as the batchim.

Step 2: say the first part. ㄱ at the start of a word is soft: [가].

Step 3: raise the back of the tongue. Touch the soft palate: [강]. RR writes gang.

Step 4: hold the hum. Keep the voice flowing through the nose for about one beat.

Step 5: add a vowel. With 이, 강이 stays [강이], with ㅇ unchanged.

Step 6: add a consonant. With 만 (only), 강만 is [강만], with the ng closing the first syllable and the lips closing for ㅁ afterwards.

Compare 강 [강] with 가 [가]. The only difference is the nasal ending. Hold the final ng, and you can hear a hum that 가 does not have. This pair is useful for checking that the nasal is present. Two more pairs work the same way: 고 against 공 (ball), and 바 against 방 (room). In each pair, only the second syllable closes with ng.

The next section lists where learners go wrong.

Common Learner Mistakes with the ㅇ Batchim

Learners often assume one of four things about the ㅇ batchim. Each has a reason and a fix.

Learners often assume ㅇ is silent at the end, as it is at the start. Actually ㅇ is [ŋ] at the end of a syllable, because the position decides the sound. Fix: read the block. If ㅇ is under the vowel, say ng.

Learners often assume a g follows the ng. Actually there is no g. Fix: say "singer", not "finger", and copy the ending.

Learners often assume ㅇ links to the next vowel. Actually 사랑이 is [사랑이]. Fix: check the spoken form, and say sa-rang-i with the nasal closing the middle syllable.

Learners often assume the vowel must follow the nasal. Actually the syllable simply ends. Adding "uh" makes 강 sound like 강으 ("gang-eu"). Fix: relax the tongue silently.

An honest limit: this lesson describes Seoul Standard Korean. In casual speech, the vowels before ㅇ can sound slightly nasal, and the velar closure is sometimes weak. The clear ng with a gentle closure is still the best target.

The next section lets you test yourself.

Practice and Answer Key

Complete the four tasks, then check the key.

Task 1. Write the spoken form: 강, 방, 공, 사랑, 영화.

Task 2. Write the spoken form with a particle: 강이, 방에, 공을, 사랑이.

Task 3. Match each word to its ending: 강, 간, 감 (ng, n, m).

Task 4. Which word is said differently from the others in how it handles a following vowel? 산이, 밤이, 강이, 눈이.

Listening drill. Play 강, 간 and 감, or 방, 반 and 밤, in a random order. Write NG, N or M for each ending. Check your answers against the audio labels, and repeat the set until you can name nine in a row.

Answer key

1. 강 [강], 방 [방], 공 [공], 사랑 [사랑], 영화 [영화].
2. 강이 [강이], 방에 [방에], 공을 [공을], 사랑이 [사랑이].
3. 강: ng. 간: n. 감: m.
4. 강이. It stays [강이], while 산이 is [사니], 밤이 is [바미] and 눈이 is [누니]. Only ㅇ refuses to link.

If you missed no more than one of the thirteen items, move on. If task 4 was hard, review the section on why final ㅇ does not link.

Where to Go Next

After the ㅇ batchim, continue with Korean Batchim Practice, where you practise reading batchim words from all seven groups aloud. The parent page is The 7 Final Sounds. For more drills on this ending, see the Korean ng sound.

This lesson does not cover the full double batchim list (11 spellings), regional variation, or fast-speech changes. Those topics have their own lessons in the Pronunciation hub.

About this page. Last updated 2026-10-09. The Korean text, spoken forms and audio on this page were machine-generated and reviewed and signed off by Min-ji Park on 15 October 2026. Standard Korean follows the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) Standard Pronunciation Rules, and romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean (2000).

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I pronounce 사랑? 사랑 is said [사랑]. Say 사, then 랑 with a tap for ㄹ and a clean ng at the end, made by raising the back of the tongue to the soft palate. There is no g after the ng. Revised Romanization writes sarang. With 이, 사랑이 is [사랑이], and the ㅇ batchim stays in place.

Why does ㅇ not link? ㅇ does not link because the empty slot at the start of the next syllable is also written ㅇ, and that ㅇ is silent. Moving a final ㅇ into it would erase the ng sound. So the ㅇ batchim stays at the end of its syllable, as in 사랑이 [사랑이].

Is final ㅇ the same as English ng? Final ㅇ is the same sound as the "ng" in English "sing". It has no g after it, just as "singer" has no g. English words like "finger" add a g, and Korean does not. The sound is a nasal made at the soft palate, which is the back of the roof of the mouth.

What is the difference between 강 and 간? 강 ends with the back of the tongue raised [ŋ], and 간 ends with the tongue tip on the ridge [n]. They mean "river" and "liver" or "seasoning". Use a mirror: the tongue tip lifts for 간 and stays down for 강. Practising the ㅇ batchim means keeping the tip down.

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