Beginner · Learn Hangul
How to write Hangul: stroke order and your first handwritten syllables
Write five Hangul letters with numbered stroke guides, fit them into syllable blocks, and practise checking your handwriting without tracing forever.
Move from recognising a letter to writing it
You can recognise 가 on a screen, but copying it with a pen feels less certain. Where do you begin? Does every straight line need a separate stroke? And how do you stop the vowel from looking like a separate character?
This lesson introduces a manageable first set: ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㅏ and ㅓ. You will write them in a clear, ordinary block style, then combine them into 가, 나, 다, 거, 너 and 더. These are five letters, not a complete stroke-order chart for the alphabet. The aim is to write a small set confidently before adding more.
Use a pencil or pen and paper with roughly square spaces. Your squares do not need a particular size; make them large enough to see the short vowel stroke clearly. For letter sounds and names, keep the basic consonant guide and basic vowel guide nearby. Writing a shape and saying a whole syllable are related skills, but one does not replace the other.
Follow the movement, not the number of visible lines
ㄱ
One stroke: move right, then turn down without lifting the pen.
ㄴ
One stroke: move down, then turn right without lifting the pen.
ㄷ
Two strokes: write the top line to the right. Lift; start at its left end, move down, then turn right.
ㅏ
Two strokes: write the long line down. Lift; draw the short line from its middle toward the right.
ㅓ
Two strokes: write the short line from left to right first. Lift; draw the long line down through its right end.
A stroke is one continuous pen movement before you lift the pen. ㄱ has a corner, but you make that corner while the pen stays on the paper. ㄴ works the same way with a different starting direction. In this beginner writing style, each has one stroke.
For ㄷ, finish the top horizontal line first. Lift the pen, return to the upper left, and make the down-and-right movement. That second movement produces the left side and bottom together. Counting three visible sides as three strokes would confuse the shape with the writing motion.
The distinction between ㅏ and ㅓ needs more than flipping the finished letter. In ㅏ, the long vertical stroke comes first. In ㅓ, the short horizontal stroke comes first and travels rightward, even though it ends up on the left of the vertical line. Then draw the vertical stroke down. The final picture and the order used to make it are two different things to notice.
The thin dashed lines are guides for proportion, not parts of the Korean letters. Do not copy the numbers or arrowheads into your handwriting. They explain movement only. Real handwriting varies in angle and curvature; concentrate on clear letter identity and a repeatable movement before imitating decorative styles.
Put the initial consonant and vowel in one square
| Build it | Write it | Listen and notice |
|---|---|---|
| ㄱ + ㅏ | 가 | Initial ㄱ on the left; ㅏ on the right. |
| ㄴ + ㅏ | 나 | The same vowel, with a different consonant. |
| ㄷ + ㅏ | 다 | Keep the two-stroke consonant compact. |
| ㄱ + ㅓ | 거 | The short vowel stroke is now on the left side of its vertical. |
| ㄴ + ㅓ | 너 | Leave a small gap between consonant and vowel. |
| ㄷ + ㅓ | 더 | Fit both letters into one block, without crowding the short stroke. |
For these tall vowels, write the initial consonant first, then the vowel to its right. They share one syllable block. The plus signs above explain the construction; you do not write a plus sign inside 가.
Try 가 in three fresh squares. In the first, place ㄱ too far left and ㅏ too far right deliberately. In the second, crowd them together. In the third, give each enough room while keeping them visibly one block. Compare all three: can you identify the short vowel stroke without mistaking the two letters for unrelated symbols?
The syllables in the table are a reading-and-writing set. Do not assume that every isolated syllable has one fixed English translation. Here the audio reads the complete syllable; it does not say the consonant’s name followed by the vowel’s name.
Leave room when a final consonant joins the block
Now add a final ㄴ under 가 to write 간. Write the initial ㄱ, then ㅏ, and then the final ㄴ below them. For 단, use initial ㄷ, then ㅏ, then final ㄴ. The lower consonant is called batchim, the final consonant position in the block.
Give 간 approximately the same outside space as 가. You need to make the upper parts shorter to leave room below, rather than making the entire block one letter taller than its neighbours. This is a proportion exercise, not a requirement that every person’s handwriting be mathematically identical.
Compare 가 and 간 side by side. Both occupy one block, although they contain different numbers of letters. The extra ㄴ changes the written syllable and its sound. For the pronunciation rules that follow from a final consonant, continue with the batchim lesson.
Do not write 가 and then put ㄴ as a separate block to its right when you intend 간. Also do not insert a word space between the consonant and vowel inside a syllable. A syllable block and a word are different units: many Korean words contain more than one block.
Copy, hide, write and compare
Choose one pair at a time: 가/거, 나/너, or 다/더. Write the pair once while looking at the model. Cover the model and write it again in two empty squares. Uncover it and compare the short vowel strokes before doing another attempt. The covered attempt tells you what you can recall, rather than how neatly you can follow a visible outline.
For a listening round, use the sound button beside one complete syllable in the table, look away from the text, and write what you heard. Begin with just 가 and 거. A mistake here may be a sound-recognition problem, a memory problem, or a pen movement problem. Ask which step failed instead of labelling your entire handwriting “bad.”
Finish with three blocks in a row: 가나다. This is a familiar alphabet-order sequence used here for writing practice, not a new three-syllable vocabulary word to translate. Keep the blocks distinct without spreading the letters inside each block apart. Then write the contrasting practice sequence 거너더.
When the letters are clear, practise on a slightly smaller line. You do not need to fill a page with the same error. After one row, circle the least clear block and rewrite that block carefully using the numbered guide.
Check identity before beauty
| What you notice | What to check | A useful next attempt |
|---|---|---|
| 가 and 거 look almost identical. | Which side of the vertical line has the short vowel stroke? | Write ㅏ and ㅓ separately, then rebuild both blocks. |
| ㄴ looks like two disconnected lines. | Did you keep the pen down while turning the corner? | Practise one slow down-and-right movement. |
| The bottom ㄴ is squeezed out of 간. | Did you reserve space below the first two letters? | Make the upper consonant and vowel shorter together. |
| The model looks neater than your copy. | Are the letters still distinct and readable? | Correct identity and spacing first; do not chase a font shape. |
A printed font is a model for recognising structure, not a demand that your pen reproduce every curve. Ask a reader whether they see the letter you intended. If they read a different vowel, that is a more useful correction than “make it prettier.” This page has no handwriting recognition or automatic scoring; use the guide and a human reader when available.
Check what your pen should do
- How many strokes does ㄱ use in this guide, and where does the movement turn?
- Describe the one continuous movement for ㄴ.
- Does ㄷ require one stroke for each of its three sides?
- Which comes first in ㅓ: the short horizontal stroke or the long vertical stroke?
- Which direction does the short stroke of ㅓ travel?
- When writing 가, which do you write first: ㄱ or ㅏ?
- Where does the final ㄴ go in 간, and how do you keep the block close in size to 가?
- You can copy 나, but cannot write it with the model covered. What should your next practice round include?
Check the answers and explanations
- One. Move right, then turn downward without lifting the pen at the corner.
- Move down first, then turn right while keeping the pen on the paper.
- No. It uses two here: the top horizontal line, then one down-and-right movement for the left and bottom sides.
- The short horizontal stroke comes first. The long vertical stroke is second.
- From left to right, toward the position of the vertical line. Its position on the left does not make it a leftward movement.
- ㄱ first, then ㅏ to its right inside the same syllable block.
- Below the initial consonant and vowel. Reduce the height of the upper parts so the whole block does not become much taller.
- A covered-model attempt followed by comparison. Check the remembered shape and movement; more tracing alone does not test recall.
A small listening check
Pronunciation help: Hear it before you write it
Listen to the complete syllable, then write one block on paper. The audio reads 거, not the separate names of ㄱ and ㅓ.
Listen and choose
Play the sound, then select the Korean you heard. The answer buttons unlock after playback. This is one short practice item, not a pronunciation assessment.
Listen before choosing.
References and the next writing step
- University of British Columbia: How to Write Korean — Reference for stroke directions, syllable arrangement and keeping blocks similar in size.
- 한글 배우기: interactive stroke order — Select ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㅏ or ㅓ to compare their movements. The static diagrams and exercises on this page were made for this lesson.
Reviewed September 3, 2026. Found a mistake? Send a correction.
Next, return to building Korean syllable blocks to practise layouts with horizontal vowels. Keep the five movements above steady before expanding your writing set.