Learn Korean – Lesson 1.04: The Vowel 에

In Lesson 1.03, we have learned about the vowel 어 which sounds as soft “uh” as in bought. In this lesson, we will learn another vowel that looks a little like the vowel 어 – the vowel 에, which sounds as soft “ey” as in paint.

Hangeul	에
Phonetic Symbol	[ e ]	*from the International Phonetic Alphabet)
Romanization	e	*from the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 2000)

As you can see, this vowel looks very similar to the vowel 어. The only difference is that it has an extra vertical line on the right side. Do your best to be familiar with this vowel, memorize its appearance, so that you will be able to combine it with the other vowels that we will be studying next time. Now, for you to get familiar with the vowel 에, we will use it the way we used the previous vowels that we have learned. We will start by using it as a substitute for the sound /e/ in English words.

sp에de
sn에l m에l
t에st이er
p에nk이ller
ass에l어nt
r에d이o

Are you now familiar with the vowel에? Let’s take it to the next level by using it in Korean words this time.

Chilpan에 sseuseyo.	Write it on the chalkboard(, please).
Urin seoro cheonnun에 banhaess어yo.	It was love at first sight.
PAL 112 Pyeon에 yeyakago sip어yo.	I’d like to reserve a seat on PAL Flight 112.

(… to be continued)

Korean Lesson 1.03 << | >> Korean Lesson 1.05 More Korean Lessons