Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "같이" in Korean?

ga-chi. Written with a ㅌ, but a ㅌ batchim in front of ㅣ palatalizes into ch -- so this is never 'gat-i'.

같이 /ka.tɕʰi/

gachi

Two syllables, evenly timed. This word is the textbook case of ㄷ/ㅌ palatalization, a rule that fires whenever one of those batchims is followed by the vowel ㅣ, and it explains why the spelling and the romanization look so unrelated.

Listen: 같이

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Sound it out

ga Plain ㄱ at the front, light and barely voiced, over a wide open ㅏ.

chi The ㅌ batchim meets the vowel ㅣ and turns into an aspirated ch, which then becomes the onset of this syllable. Written 이, spoken 'chi'.

Hear it in a sentence

같이 갈까요?

Gachi galkkayo?

Shall we go together?

Listen: 같이 갈까요?

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같이 갈까요? follows it with the -ㄹ까요 suggestion ending, where the ㄹ tenses the ㄱ into ㄲ, giving gal-kka-yo. A palatalization and a tensing therefore land inside one four-syllable question.

Where English speakers slip

Reading the blocks literally gives 'gat-i', which is the single most common mispronunciation of this word among learners -- the ㅌ does not stay a t. Note also that the aspiration survives the change, so it becomes ch rather than j, and the second syllable should carry a real puff of air.