Hangul · vowel · 15 of 40
ㅏ 아
- Name
- 아 a
- Sound
- a, as in 아
- How it sounds
- Like the a in 'father', but shorter.
- Memory hook
- The upright line is a person, and the short stroke was once a dot for the sun, placed on the outer side. Open shape, open mouth: a.
- Watch for
- Saying it like the a in 'cat', which is nearer to ㅐ.
Words that use ㅏ
Romanisation help
아이
ai
child
사과
sagwa
apple
가방
gabang
bag
How to write ㅏ
Stroke order · 2 strokes
1
2
- 1. Down the long vertical, from top to bottom.
- 2. A short stroke out to the right from the middle of the vertical.
General rules
- Top to bottom, left to right.
- Horizontal strokes are written left to right, vertical ones top to bottom.
- Many corners are turned without lifting the pen, so ㄱ and ㄴ are each a single stroke.
- ㅇ is drawn anticlockwise, starting from the top.
- Vowels follow the same order: ㅏ and ㅜ start with the long line, while ㅓ and ㅗ start with the short stroke.
- In a block, write the consonant first, then the vowel, then any final consonant.
Practise it with a tracing guide and a from-memory pass on the writing practice page.
ㅏ is taught on day 1 of the Hangul course, alongside ㅓ ㅗ ㅜ ㅡ ㅣ ㅇ, with a memory hook, words to read and two writing passes.