LingoDrop
Korean · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "커피" in Korean?
keo-pi. Two aspirated consonants in a row, both needing genuine breath, over an unrounded vowel and then a tight 'ee'.
keopi
Two beats and two puffs. English would give a borrowed word like this a clear stress on the first syllable, and Korean does not -- both syllables are the same length, with the aspiration doing all the work.
Listen: 커피
Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.
Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
저는 아침에 커피를 마셔요.
Jeoneun achime keopireul masyeoyo.
I drink coffee in the morning.
Listen: 저는 아침에 커피를 마셔요.
Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.
저는 아침에 커피를 마셔요 attaches the object particle to a vowel-final noun and finishes with 마셔요, whose ㅅ palatalizes in front of the y-glide, so the verb comes out ma-syeo-yo with a sh-coloured consonant.
Where English speakers slip
The English word 'coffee' has a rounded first vowel, and importing it gives 'ko-pi', when Korean's ㅓ is flat and unrounded and the two words diverge immediately. Softening either consonant is the other error, since both are aspirated and dropping the breath on the ㅍ gives 커비.