Letters at the bottom

A consonant written under the rest of the block is called 받침 (batchim), 'a support', and it closes the syllable. Almost any consonant can be written there, but at the end of a syllable Korean allows only seven sounds: k, n, t, l, m, p and ng. So ㄱ, ㅋ and ㄲ all end as k, as in 국 and 부엌 (bueok), 'kitchen'; ㅂ and ㅍ both end as p, as in 밥 and 앞 (ap), 'front'; and ㄷ, ㅌ, ㅅ, ㅆ, ㅈ, ㅊ and ㅎ all end as t, as in 옷 (ot) and 꽃 (kkot). These final stops are not released: the mouth moves into position and stays there, so 밥 ends with the lips shut and no puff of air. The block changes shape to make room, with the final always written across the bottom, whether the vowel is upright, as in 한, or flat, as in 국.