Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "앞" in Korean?

ap. One clipped syllable: an open vowel and a ㅍ whose aspiration is stripped away in final position, leaving a silent lip closure.

앞 /ap̚/

ap

A single clipped block. Everything interesting happens when a particle attaches: the buried ㅍ resyllabifies forward and its aspiration returns in full, so 앞 and 앞에 end up with completely different final consonants.

Listen: 앞

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Sound it out

a A bare open ㅏ with a clean vowel onset and no glottal stop in front of it.

p Written ㅍ, the aspirated bilabial, but final position allows neither aspiration nor release. The lips close and hold.

Hear it in a sentence

가게 앞에서 만나요.

Gage apeseo mannayo.

Let's meet in front of the shop.

Listen: 가게 앞에서 만나요.

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가게 앞에서 만나요 shows exactly that. With 에서 attached, the ㅍ moves into the vowel and is heard with a real puff, giving a-pe-seo -- the consonant that was silence a moment ago is now the breathiest sound in the phrase.

Where English speakers slip

Releasing the p at the end of the bare word is the standard error, and adding a puff to it is the exaggerated version. Neither happens: the lips simply close. Learners then under-do the aspiration in 앞에, where it genuinely belongs, which is the same mistake running in the opposite direction.