Korean H Weakening: Sounds, Rules and Examples

What you will learn

• Say 좋아요, 많아요 and 괜찮아요 with a silent ㅎ.
• Say 전화, 은행 and 결혼 carefully, and recognise their relaxed forms [저놔], [으냉] and [겨론].
• Say 어떻게 as [어떠케], with ㅎ merged into ㅋ.
• Decide on sight whether a ㅎ will be silent, weak or merged.

Before you start: you can read final consonants and know their seven sounds from Batchim Representative Sounds. Time: about 25 minutes with audio.

Key Facts

• A final ㅎ (including ㄶ and ㅀ) is silent before a vowel ending: 좋아요 is [조아요] and 많아요 is [마나요].
• This silent ㅎ is required by Article 12 of the Standard Pronunciation Rules (표준 발음법).
• An initial ㅎ after a vowel or after ㄴ, ㄹ, ㅁ or ㅇ is often weak in relaxed speech: 전화 can sound like [저놔] and 은행 like [으냉].
• Weak ㅎ is a tendency of fast speech, and the careful form with a full ㅎ, such as [전화], remains the standard one.
• When ㅎ meets ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ or ㅈ, the two merge into ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ or ㅊ: 어떻게 is [어떠케].
• The spelling never changes: 좋아요, 전화 and 은행 are always written with ㅎ.

Last updated: 2026-10-09. The Korean text, romanization and audio scripts on this page are generated drafts that still await review by a Korean specialist.

What Is Korean H Weakening?

Korean h weakening is a group of sound changes in which ㅎ loses some or all of its sound. ㅎ is the Korean "h" sound, made with open breath in the throat, like the h in "hat". A breath sound like this is easy to lose when voiced sounds surround it. A voiced sound is one where the vocal cords buzz, such as every vowel and the consonants ㄴ, ㄹ, ㅁ and ㅇ.

There are two kinds of loss. In the first kind, ㅎ disappears completely, and the rule is fixed. In the second kind, ㅎ only fades, and the change depends on how fast and how casually someone speaks.

Revised Romanization (RR) writes 좋아요 as joayo, with no h, because RR follows the standard spoken form. RR writes 전화 as jeonhwa, with the h, because the careful form keeps it. RR is a learning aid on this page; the Hangul and the bracketed spoken forms are the reference. With the two kinds of loss in view, the next question is why English speakers find them hard.

Why English Speakers over-Pronounce ㅎ

English speakers tend to pronounce every written letter h, so 좋아요 comes out as "jo-ha-yo". English rarely drops an h inside a word that is spelled with one, and the letter ㅎ is clearly visible in the block 좋. The eye sees ㅎ, and the mouth adds a breath.

The opposite problem happens in listening. A learner who expects [전화] hears [저놔] from a fast speaker and may not recognise the word at all. The same word now has two sound shapes, and only one of them matches the spelling.

The fix is to learn the conditions, not individual words. The conditions are short, and the next section sets out all three behaviours of ㅎ side by side.

The Three Things ㅎ Can Do

ㅎ does one of three things in a word: it stays silent, it turns weak, or it merges with a neighbouring consonant. The position of ㅎ in the syllable block and the sound next to it decide which one happens.

Two other behaviours of a final ㅎ belong to the next lesson on ㅎ batchim: before ㄴ, the final ㅎ sounds like ㄴ (좋네요 [존네요]), and before ㅅ, it makes the ㅅ tense (좋소 [조쏘]). This lesson treats the three behaviours in the table in order, starting with the one that never varies.

When Is ㅎ Silent?

ㅎ is silent when it is the final consonant of a block and the next block starts with a vowel ending. A vowel ending is a grammar piece that begins with the empty ㅇ, such as -아요, -어요, -은 or -으면. Article 12 of the Standard Pronunciation Rules (표준 발음법), published by the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원), states this rule for ㅎ, ㄶ and ㅀ.

The double finals ㄶ and ㅀ show a second step. The ㅎ drops, and the remaining ㄴ or ㄹ moves into the empty ㅇ of the ending, by the normal liaison rule. That is why 많아요 is [마나요] and 싫어요 is [시러요], with ㄹ sounding like a light flap.

Rule of thumb: a final ㅎ before a vowel is never pronounced, in any style of speech. Unlike a final ㅎ, an initial ㅎ never goes fully silent by rule, and that leads to the weak case.

When Is ㅎ Weak?

ㅎ is weak when it starts a block and the sound before it is a vowel or one of the voiced consonants ㄴ, ㄹ, ㅁ and ㅇ. In that position the breath is surrounded by buzzing sounds, so in fast speech the throat often keeps buzzing and the h nearly vanishes. Phoneticians describe this as lenition, a weakening of a consonant between voiced sounds.

When the weak ㅎ disappears after ㄴ or ㄹ, the consonant before it slides into the next vowel. 은행 becomes [으냉] and 결혼 becomes [겨론]. After ㅇ the consonant cannot move, because ㅇ is never pronounced at the start of a syllable, so 영화 (film) only sounds like [영와].

Compare 좋아요 and 오해 (misunderstanding). In 좋아요 the ㅎ is final and must be silent. In 오해 the ㅎ is initial, and a careful speaker keeps a soft breath while a fast speaker may lose it. Knowing which case you have tells you whether the change is a rule or a habit, and that raises the question of what counts as correct.

Is Weak ㅎ Standard Korean?

Weak ㅎ is not the standard pronunciation. The full form, such as [전화] or [은행], is the standard pronunciation, and the weak form is a feature of relaxed, fast speech. Pronunciation references describe the weak form as common in fast speech, but the Standard Pronunciation Rules do not list it as the standard form.

In practice this means three things for a learner:

• When you speak: pronounce the ㅎ softly. [전화] with a light breath is always correct in every situation.
• When you listen: expect the relaxed form. Dramas, conversations and many songs use [저놔], [으냉] and [겨론].
• When you read aloud: in news reading, presentations and exams such as a speaking test, keep the ㅎ.

This page has one honest limit. How weak the ㅎ becomes varies by speaker, speed and word, and no fixed list says which words weaken most. The examples here are common ones, and they are flagged for review by a Korean specialist. The third behaviour, merging, is not optional at all.

ㅎ That Merges: Aspiration in 어떻게

ㅎ merges with ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ or ㅈ to make one strong, breathy consonant: ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ or ㅊ. This merger is called aspiration (격음화). The merger works in both orders, with ㅎ first or second, and it applies in every style of speech.

Merging shows that ㅎ is not always lost. In 어떻게 the ㅎ is gone as a separate sound, but its breath survives inside ㅋ. The full set of patterns is in the aspiration rules. The table below brings the silent and weak cases together for practice.

Ten Words in Careful and Casual Speech

The ten words below cover the weak ㅎ in everyday vocabulary. Read the careful column aloud, then listen for the relaxed column in real speech.

The last three show that the weak ㅎ also appears in the verb 하다 (to do) and its forms. Because 하다 is part of thousands of verbs, such as 말하다 and 공부하다, the weak ㅎ of 해요 is heard constantly in spoken Korean. The worked example now goes back to the silent case, step by step.

Worked Example: 좋아요

The word 좋아요 (it is good, I like it) is the stem 좋- plus the polite ending -아요, and it is spoken [조아요]. It is the most common silent-ㅎ word in beginner Korean.

1. Split the word into blocks: 좋 / 아 / 요.
2. Find the ㅎ: it is the final consonant of 좋.
3. Look at the next block: 아 starts with the empty ㅇ, so a vowel ending follows.
4. Apply the rule: a final ㅎ before a vowel ending is silent, so 좋 is said [조].
5. Check for a consonant to link: ㅎ was the only final, so nothing moves. The result is [조아요].
6. Say it in one breath: jo-a-yo, with no h and no pause between 조 and 아.

You will know it worked when there is no breath at all between [조] and [아]. Compare the same stem before a consonant: 좋고 is [조코] and 좋다 is [조타], because ㅎ merges with ㄱ and ㄷ. One stem, 좋-, gives three sounds depending on what follows, and the most common slips come from mixing these cases up.

Common Learner Mistakes

Learners often treat ㅎ as one sound with one rule. The mistakes below come from that assumption.

• Mistake 1: saying the h in 좋아요. Learners often assume a written ㅎ is always heard. Actually a final ㅎ before a vowel is silent, because Article 12 of the Standard Pronunciation Rules removes it.
• Mistake 2: dropping the h in careful speech. Learners often copy [저놔] from dramas into a presentation. Actually the careful form [전화] is the standard, because the weak form belongs to relaxed speech.
• Mistake 3: writing what they hear. Learners often write 저놔 or 으냉 in dictation. Actually the spelling is always 전화 and 은행, because the change happens only in speech.
• Mistake 4: weakening an aspirated sound. Learners often say 어떻게 as [어떠게]. Actually ㅎ + ㄱ gives a strong ㅋ, because aspiration is a merger, not a fading.
• Mistake 5: linking across ㅇ in 영화. Learners often say [여놔] for 영화. Actually ㅇ cannot move to the next block, because ㅇ has no sound at the start of a syllable.

Expert tip: train your ears with the relaxed form and your mouth with the careful form. Understanding [저놔] matters in conversation, but a clear [전화] is always acceptable. The next section turns that tip into a routine.

How Do You Practise H Weakening?

Practise h weakening by sorting each ㅎ into silent, weak or merged before you speak, then listening for the same word in fast speech. The routine below takes about ten minutes.

1. Mark every ㅎ in a short text, such as a dialogue from a beginner textbook.
2. Label each one S (silent: final ㅎ before a vowel), W (weak: initial ㅎ after a vowel or ㄴ ㄹ ㅁ ㅇ) or M (merged: next to ㄱ ㄷ ㅂ ㅈ).
3. Read the text slowly, saying S as nothing, W as a soft h and M as ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ or ㅊ.
4. Play the clips on this page and repeat each careful form, then each relaxed form.
5. Listen to one minute of natural speech, such as a drama scene, and note every 전화, 은행 or 해요 you hear.

You will know it worked when you recognise [저놔] at normal speed without thinking. The practice set below checks the sorting step.

Practice and Answer Key

Part A. Write the spoken form of each word in brackets. Say each one aloud first.

1. 좋아요
2. 많아요
3. 싫어요
4. 어떻게
5. 축하

Part B. Is the ㅎ silent (S), weak in relaxed speech (W) or merged (M)?

6. 놓아요
7. 은행
8. 그렇지
9. 결혼
10. 괜찮아요

Answer key

1. 좋아요 → [조아요]
2. 많아요 → [마나요]
3. 싫어요 → [시러요]
4. 어떻게 → [어떠케]
5. 축하 → [추카]
6. S: [노아요]
7. W: careful [은행], relaxed [으냉]
8. M: [그러치]
9. W: careful [결혼], relaxed [겨론]
10. S: [괜차나요]

Nine or ten correct means you can sort the three behaviours. If you mixed up S and W, look again at where the ㅎ sits in the block: final ㅎ is the fixed case, initial ㅎ is the relaxed one.

Where to Go Next

The next lesson, Korean ㅎ Batchim, covers every sound a final ㅎ can make, including 좋네요 [존네요] and 좋소 [조쏘]. Return to the H-Weakening section to see where this lesson sits, and review the sound of ㅎ itself in Korean consonant sounds.

This lesson covers Korean h weakening in standard Seoul speech: the silent final ㅎ, the weak initial ㅎ and the link to aspiration. It does not cover regional dialects, the ㅎ in interjections such as 아휴, or the way singers stretch or drop sounds in song lyrics, where styles vary widely. The audio shows one careful and one relaxed rendition, and real speakers vary in speed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the ㅎ in 전화 pronounced? Yes in careful speech: the standard form is [전화], with a light h. In relaxed, fast speech the ㅎ often fades, and the word can sound close to [저놔], with the ㄴ sliding into the next vowel. Learners should say [전화] clearly and simply expect to hear [저놔] from fluent speakers.

Why is 좋아요 jo-a-yo? 좋아요 is said [조아요] because the final ㅎ of the stem 좋 is never pronounced before a vowel ending. Article 12 of the Standard Pronunciation Rules makes this silence part of standard Korean. The ㅎ stays in the spelling because the stem is 좋, as in 좋다 [조타] and 좋고 [조코].

Does 은행 drop ㅎ? Not in careful speech, where 은행 (bank) is [은행]. In everyday fast speech the ㅎ is often weak or gone, so many speakers sound like [으냉], with the ㄴ moving onto the second vowel. Both are heard every day, but the full form [은행] is the one to learn first and use when you speak slowly.

What about 시험? 시험 (exam) follows the same pattern as 전화. The ㅎ sits between two vowels, so in fast speech it can weaken until the word sounds close to [시엄]. In careful speech, and in the standard form, it is [시험]. Treat [시엄] as a listening form only, and say [시험] yourself.

Is h weakening the same as aspiration? No. Aspiration is a merger: ㅎ next to ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ or ㅈ combines with it into ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ or ㅊ, as in 어떻게 [어떠케]. Weakening is a fading: ㅎ next to vowels or ㄴ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅇ gets quieter. Aspiration happens in careful and casual speech alike, and weakening mainly in relaxed speech.