Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "있다" in Korean?

Q: How do you pronounce 있다 in Korean?

있다 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /it̚.t͈a/. It means “to have / there is.” eet-tta. Both consonants do something surprising: the ㅆ is cut off as an unreleased t, and that closure forces the following ㄷ into a tensed ㄸ.

eet-tta. Both consonants do something surprising: the ㅆ is cut off as an unreleased t, and that closure forces the following ㄷ into a tensed ㄸ.

있다 /it̚.t͈a/

itda

Two syllables of roughly equal length, though the first is clipped short by that unreleased stop. The change worth naming is post-obstruent tensing: any plain consonant following a stop batchim automatically becomes its tensed twin, which is why this is itda and never 'it-da'.

Listen: 있다

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Sound it out

it The ㅆ batchim cannot hiss at the end of a syllable, since Korean allows only seven final sounds and ㅆ collapses to an unreleased [t̚]. Stop the tongue at the ridge and hold it there.

da Spelled ㄷ, said as tensed ㄸ. Tighten the throat, build a little pressure, and release with no breath at all -- a hard, clipped 'tta'.

Hear it in a sentence

저는 강아지가 있어요.

Jeoneun gangajiga isseoyo.

I have a dog.

Listen: 저는 강아지가 있어요.

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저는 강아지가 있어요 shows the opposite behaviour. Once a vowel follows, the ㅆ comes back to life and resyllabifies into a full hissing double s, giving i-sseo-yo. The same word therefore alternates between a silent stopped t and a strong ss depending purely on what comes next.

Where English speakers slip

Learners say 'it-dah' with a released t and a soft English d, which sounds mushy and slow. There should be no audible release on the t whatsoever -- the mouth simply closes -- and the consonant after it should be tight and unaspirated. Put a hand on your throat: the tensed ㄸ comes with a squeeze you can physically feel, and that squeeze is the entire difference between ㄷ, ㄸ and ㅌ.