Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "비누" in Korean?

bi-nu. A quiet initial ㅂ, a tight 'ee', then a forward n and a rounded ㅜ -- nothing hard anywhere in it.

비누 /pi.nu/

binu

A flat two-beat shape. The vowels are opposites -- front and spread, then back and rounded -- so the word moves cleanly through the mouth, and keeping both fully formed is the only real task.

Listen: 비누

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Sound it out

bi The plain bilabial opening the word, barely voiced, over a pure 'ee' with no glide.

nu A tongue-tip n onto a high rounded ㅜ, lips pushed forward.

Hear it in a sentence

화장실에 비누가 없어요.

Hwajangsire binuga eopseoyo.

There's no soap in the bathroom.

Listen: 화장실에 비누가 없어요.

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화장실에 비누가 없어요 attaches the subject particle to a vowel-final noun, and 없어요 splits its cluster ㅄ and tenses the ㅅ into a double s, giving eop-sseo-yo.

Where English speakers slip

An English-strength b is the first overshoot and reducing the second vowel to a schwa is the second, giving 'BEE-nuh'. Both syllables are full and equal, and the ㅜ needs the lips genuinely pushed out rather than the looser rounding English uses.