Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "일하다" in Korean?

Q: How do you pronounce 일하다 in Korean?

일하다 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /il.ha.da/. It means “to work.” il-ha-da. The ㅎ sits between a ㄹ and a vowel, so it thins out badly -- casual speech comes close to i-ra-da.

il-ha-da. The ㅎ sits between a ㄹ and a vowel, so it thins out badly -- casual speech comes close to i-ra-da.

일하다 /il.ha.da/

ilhada

Equal weight across the three syllables, though the middle shortens as the ㅎ weakens. This is the same lenition seen in 말하다, and the pattern generalizes: any ㅎ trapped between voiced sounds is a candidate for reduction rather than a fixed consonant.

Listen: 일하다

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Sound it out

il A tight 'ee' closed by a clear, forward ㄹ. Tongue tip up and the back of the tongue kept low.

ha Weakened ㅎ. Careful speech keeps a light breath; at conversational speed it can nearly vanish and the ㄹ taps straight through.

da Voiced by the vowel in front of it, and short enough that it almost disappears at conversational speed.

Hear it in a sentence

저는 사무실에서 일해요.

Jeoneun samusireseo ilhaeyo.

I work in an office.

Listen: 저는 사무실에서 일해요.

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

저는 사무실에서 일해요 gives you the conjugated 일해요, which at speed lands close to i-rae-yo, and 사무실에서 passes its ㄹ forward to produce sa-mu-si-re-seo. Two ㄹ sounds in one sentence, both taps, both created by a vowel arriving after a batchim.

Where English speakers slip

Forcing a full English h makes 'il-HA-da' sound over-enunciated, which is the most common way learners get this word wrong. Let it weaken. The other issue is the l: an English dark l with the tongue humped at the back muddies the first syllable, where Korean wants the tip up and the sound bright.