Type Double Consonants in Korean: Shift Keys and Compound Vowels

To type double consonants in Korean, hold Shift and press the key of the plain consonant: Shift+Q gives ㅃ, Shift+W gives ㅉ, Shift+E gives ㄸ, Shift+R gives ㄲ and Shift+T gives ㅆ on the standard 2-beolsik layout. Compound vowels such as ㅘ and ㅢ need no Shift. You press two vowel keys in order, and the input method joins them.

What you'll learn

• Type the five tense consonants ㅃ ㅉ ㄸ ㄲ ㅆ with Shift.
• Type ㅒ and ㅖ with Shift+O and Shift+P.
• Type the seven compound vowels ㅘ ㅙ ㅚ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅢ as two-key sequences.
• Explain why ㅋ ㅌ ㅊ ㅍ are not Shift letters.
• Type 빠르다, 짜다, 딸, 까치, 쓰다 and 예쁘다 without looking.

Before you start: you should know where the basic letters sit on the 2-beolsik keyboard. If not, read the 2-beolsik keyboard layout first. Time: about 20 minutes, plus practice.

What Does "Type Double Consonants in Korean" Mean?

Typing double consonants in Korean means producing the five tense letters ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ and ㅉ with the Shift key. Each one is a single letter with its own sound, not the plain letter typed twice. The Korean name is 쌍자음 (ssangjaeum, "twin consonants"), and the sound is called a tense sound, 된소리 (doensori).

Each tense letter shares the key of its plain partner:

This pattern is why the lesson is short: you already know five of the keys, and Shift adds the other five letters. The table follows the standard Korean layout, KS X 5002. The sounds themselves are taught in Korean double consonants.

Now listen to two of the words, so the sound is in your ear before your fingers move.

The next section explains why this step trips up English speakers.

Why Is This Hard for English Speakers?

English uses double letters for spelling, not for sound. The "tt" in "butter" and the "t" in "water" are the same sound for many American speakers. So an English speaker who wants ㄲ naturally presses the ㄱ key twice. That does not work. In the standard computer input methods, pressing R twice gives ㄱㄱ, two separate letters, not ㄲ.

A second habit causes trouble. English speakers think of letters as taking a "capital" form when Shift is held. In Korean there are no capitals, so Shift has a different job: it selects a second set of letters on only seven keys. On the other keys, Shift changes nothing. Pressing Shift+K still gives ㅏ.

A third trap is the four aspirated consonants ㅋ ㅌ ㅊ ㅍ. They sound strong and puffy, so learners guess they are Shift letters. They are not. Each has its own key, and the next section shows where.

How Do Shift Letters Work?

A Shift letter works like a capital letter on an English keyboard: you hold Shift, tap the key, and release both. Seven keys have a second letter in the Shift layer: Q, W, E, R, T, O and P. Every other key is unchanged by Shift.

Follow these steps for any tense consonant:

1. Hold Shift with one finger of the hand away from the key. Left-hand letters use the right Shift, and ㅒ and ㅖ, which sit on the right, use the left Shift.
2. Tap the consonant key once.
3. Release both keys together, then go on with the vowel.

Take 빠 as a model. Hold Shift, tap Q, release, then tap K for ㅏ. The screen shows 빠.

Rule of thumb: use Shift only for the letter that needs it. If you keep Shift down while you type the next key, and that key is O or P, you get ㅒ or ㅖ instead of ㅐ or ㅔ by accident.

Listen to the pair that matters most for the left hand: the plain ㅂ in 바다 against the tense ㅃ in 빠르다. Typing them differs by one Shift press.

Now that the mechanism is clear, here is the full map of which letters sit where.

Which Tense Consonants Use Which Keys?

Five tense consonants use Shift on the top row, two vowels use Shift on the right of that row, and the four aspirated consonants use plain keys on the bottom row. The table below puts all of them together.

A useful memory trick: the plain consonants ㅂ ㅈ ㄷ ㄱ ㅅ fill the first five keys of the top row, left to right, and their tense partners ㅃ ㅉ ㄸ ㄲ ㅆ sit on exactly those keys under Shift. The aspirated four live together on the bottom row (Z X C V), just below ㅁ ㄴ ㅇ ㄹ on the home row.

The keyboard below lights up the keys discussed here, so you can match each letter to a finger.

The vowels ㅒ and ㅖ are less common, but they follow the same rule. 얘기 (yaegi, talk) is typed D, Shift+O, R, L. 예쁘다 (yeppeuda, to be pretty) is typed D, Shift+P, Shift+Q, M, E, K. Notice the second word needs two Shift presses, one for ㅖ and one for ㅃ.

Consonants are done. Next come the vowels that look more complicated than they are.

Compound Vowels as Two-Key Sequences

The seven compound vowels in this section are written with two vowel letters joined together, and the keyboard has no key for them. (ㅐ, ㅔ, ㅒ and ㅖ, by contrast, have keys of their own.) You type the two parts in order, and the input method merges them into one letter. There are seven, and they are all formed from ㅗ, ㅜ or ㅡ followed by a second vowel.

Notice the pattern. The first key is always one of three: H, N or M. The second key is always one of the vowels you meet constantly: K, O, L, J, P. If you know the plain vowels, you already know the compound ones.

The sound is not always the sum of the letters. ㅢ is read [의] in a first syllable with no consonant, as in 의사 [의사], but after a consonant it is always read [이], so 희망 (huimang, hope) is pronounced [히망]. The standard pronunciation rules (표준 발음법, Article 5) set this out. Typing is unaffected: you always type M then L.

For the full explanation of what each compound vowel sounds like, see Korean compound vowels. The next section shows what you actually see while you type them.

What the Screen Shows While You Type

The screen shows a half-built block that changes with every key, and the block only settles when you start the next one. Watching this once removes most of the confusion. Take 과 (gwa):

After H the screen shows 고, a complete block with the vowel ㅗ. After K the ㅏ joins and the block becomes 과. The input method (see the Korean IME) is waiting to see whether the next key extends the block.

Now the same idea with a Shift consonant, 쓰 (sseu):

If you see 스 instead of 쓰, the cause is almost always a missed Shift: you typed ㅅ, not ㅆ. Delete the block and retype it.

Two more points are worth knowing:

• Caps Lock is not Shift here. Caps Lock does not give tense consonants. Depending on the system, it may type capital English letters or switch the input language instead. Use Shift each time.
• If Shift seems to do nothing, the input method is probably in English mode. You would see the English letter Q, not ㅃ. Switch language first; the Korean keyboard shortcuts lesson covers the keys.

With this picture in mind, follow one full word from start to finish.

Worked Example: How to Type 빠르다

빠르다 (ppareuda, "to be fast") has six letters in three blocks: 빠, 르 and 다. It has one Shift letter, ㅃ, and no final consonant.

Look at steps 3 to 6. After F the screen shows 빨, because ㄹ could be a final consonant of the first block. When M follows, the input method moves ㄹ to the next block and the screen reads 빠르. The same happens with ㄷ in step 5: it first looks like a final of 르, then becomes the initial of 다 when K arrives. You type letter by letter and the machine decides where blocks begin. Final consonants are the main subject of the next lesson on typing final consonants.

Read the word aloud: [빠르다] with a tight, unaspirated ㅃ, and no puff of air as in English "pa".

Test yourself against the other words from this lesson:

In 딸, ㄹ is typed with the plain F key because ㄹ has no tense version. In 까치, ㅊ is typed with C and no Shift, even though it sounds strong.

Having seen it work, look at the mistakes learners make most often.

What Mistakes Do Learners Make Here?

Learners usually make the same few mistakes. Each one has a quick fix.

1. Typing the consonant twice. Learners assume "R R" gives ㄲ. It gives ㄱㄱ. Fix: use Shift+R.
2. Shifting the aspirated consonants. Learners assume Shift+Z gives a stronger ㅋ. It gives ㅋ again. Fix: ㅋ ㅌ ㅊ ㅍ have their own keys, Z, X, C and V.
3. Looking for a key for ㅘ. There is none. Fix: type ㅗ then ㅏ (H then K).
4. Mixing up ㅙ and ㅞ. ㅗ+ㅐ makes ㅙ, but ㅜ+ㅔ makes ㅞ. The second vowels ㅐ and ㅔ sound the same to most Seoul speakers today, although the standard pronunciation rules (Article 4) still list them as two vowels. So check by the first key: H for ㅙ, N for ㅞ.
5. Forgetting Shift for ㅒ and ㅖ. Plain O and P give ㅐ and ㅔ, which look like ㅒ and ㅖ at small sizes. Fix: use Shift+O and Shift+P, and zoom in or use a larger font when checking.

A sixth hazard is sticky Shift. On some systems, pressing Shift five times in a row opens an accessibility feature. If you use the left and right Shift keys a lot, you may trigger it. This is an operating-system feature, not a Korean-input problem.

A related myth is that a doubled letter means the plain sound said twice. A tense consonant is one sound, made with a tightened throat and no puff of air. You can hear the contrast in the pair 달 (moon) and 딸 (daughter).

Knowing the errors, you are ready for practice.

Practice and Answer Key

Do these without looking at the tables, then check the answers. Use a Korean keyboard, or the on-screen one in the Korean typing practice tool.

1. Which keys type ㄸ?
2. Type 짜다. List the keys.
3. Which of ㅋ ㅌ ㅊ ㅍ uses Shift?
4. Which keys type ㅢ?
5. List the keys for 예쁘다.
6. Why does 딸 contain F without Shift?

Answers

1. Shift+E.
2. Shift+W, K, E, K.
3. None of them. They use Z, X, C and V.
4. M then L.
5. D, Shift+P, Shift+Q, M, E, K.
6. ㄹ has no tense form, so it is always F.

If you got all six right, move on. If you missed number 3, reread the table of which keys carry which letters.

Where to Go Next

You can now produce every consonant and vowel on the Korean keyboard. The remaining piece is the final consonant, which sits under a block and sometimes takes two letters. Continue with Type Korean Final Consonants. For the route through all typing lessons, see how to type in Korean, and for the whole section see Korean keyboard layout. To drill the aspirated letters you must not Shift, read aspirated consonants.

Scope note: this page teaches the keys, not the sounds, and not the setup of Korean on your device. Setup lives in the device setup section.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Type ㅃ on a Keyboard?

Switch to Korean, hold Shift and press Q. The result is ㅃ. Release both keys and type the vowel; for 빠 press K. This works on the standard 2-beolsik layout used on Windows, Mac, Android and most iPhone keyboards. Without Shift, the same key gives the plain ㅂ.

How Do I Type ㅘ?

There is no key for it. Type ㅗ (H) and then ㅏ (K). The input method merges the two vowels into ㅘ. The screen first shows ㅗ, then ㅘ. Letters ㅙ ㅚ ㅝ ㅞ ㅟ ㅢ work the same way, each with its own two-key pair.

How Do I Type ㅋ and ㅌ?

Use Z for ㅋ and X for ㅌ. They are not Shift letters. ㅊ is on C and ㅍ is on V. All four sit on the bottom row of the left hand, so there is no Shift step to remember for aspirated consonants.

What If Shift Does Not Work?

First check the input language. In English mode, Shift+Q gives a capital Q, not ㅃ. Switch to Korean and try again. If it still fails, the keyboard may be set to a layout that is not 2-beolsik, such as sebeolsik (3-set). Check your input settings.

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