Hangul · consonant · 4 of 40

ㄹ 리을

Name: 리을 rieul
Sound: r or l, as in 라
How it sounds: Between vowels it is a single quick tap of the tongue tip, much like the t in a fast American 'water' or a Scottish tapped r. At the end of a block, or doubled as ㄹㄹ, it is a clear l.
Memory hook: Its design grows out of ㄴ, the tongue-tip letter, bent into a zigzag. Think of the tongue flicking once against the ridge behind the teeth and away again.
Watch for: Saying an English r with rounded lips, or rolling it like a Spanish rr, when all that is wanted is one light tap.

Words that use ㄹ

Romanisation help

라면

ramyeon

instant noodles

우리

uri

we; our

물

mul

water

Stroke order · 3 strokes

1. Across the top from the left, then turn and go down to the middle.
2. Across the middle, from left to right.
3. Down from the left end of the middle line, then turn and go across the bottom.

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.

ㄹ is taught on day 2 of the Hangul course, alongside ㄱ ㄴ ㄷ ㅁ, with a memory hook, words to read and two writing passes.