Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "춥다" in Korean?

Q: How do you pronounce 춥다 in Korean?

춥다 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /tɕʰup̚.t͈a/. It means “to be cold (weather).” chup-tta. An aspirated ㅊ, a rounded ㅜ, an unreleased ㅂ and a tensed ending -- the same shape as 덥다 with a different opening.

chup-tta. An aspirated ㅊ, a rounded ㅜ, an unreleased ㅂ and a tensed ending -- the same shape as 덥다 with a different opening.

춥다 /tɕʰup̚.t͈a/

chupda

The blocks are the same length, and both are short. This is another ㅂ-irregular, so 춥다 becomes 추워요, and the pair with 덥다 makes a tidy drill: identical structure, identical irregularity, opposite meanings.

Listen: 춥다

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Sound it out

chu The aspirated affricate, released with a real puff, onto a high rounded ㅜ with the lips pushed forward.

p Unreleased ㅂ: lips shut and staying shut, with no release before the next syllable.

da Tensed ㄸ, forced by the stop batchim in front of it.

Hear it in a sentence

오늘 아침은 너무 추워요.

Oneul achimeun neomu chuwoyo.

This morning is too cold.

Listen: 오늘 아침은 너무 추워요.

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오늘 아침은 너무 추워요 gives the irregular form, chu-wo-yo, and 아침은 in front resyllabifies its ㅁ into the particle to produce a-chi-meun. Neither word in the sentence keeps a stop at the surface.

Where English speakers slip

Soften the ㅊ and the word drifts toward 줍다, a real verb meaning 'to pick up', so the breath is doing genuine work here. Push it. Then keep the ㅜ high and rounded rather than letting it slacken toward the vowel of 'put', which blurs the syllable.