Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "아마" in Korean?

a-ma. Two open ㅏ vowels with a single lip-closed m between them -- one of the simplest words in the whole course.

아마 /a.ma/

ama

Two matched blocks, and their simplicity is the trap: with nothing difficult to concentrate on, English rhythm slips in and reduces one of the vowels. Both stay fully open and equally long.

Listen: 아마

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Sound it out

a The vowel alone, fully open. Korean does not add the glottal stop English uses before initial vowels.

ma An m with the lips fully shut onto the identical open vowel. Both syllables should sound exactly alike apart from the consonant.

Hear it in a sentence

아마 내일 올 거예요.

Ama naeil ol geoyeyo.

He'll probably come tomorrow.

Listen: 아마 내일 올 거예요.

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아마 내일 올 거예요 pairs the adverb with a future form, and 올 거예요 tenses its ㄱ into ㄲ after the ㄹ, giving ol kkeo-ye-yo. The soft, open adverb is immediately followed by the hardest consonant in the sentence.

Where English speakers slip

'UH-ma' or 'a-MUH' are the two ways English rhythm distorts this, and both come from assuming one syllable must be stronger, when neither is. Learners also insert a glottal stop before the first vowel, which English does automatically and which gives the word a clipped, effortful start it should not have.