Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "끝나다" in Korean?

Q: How do you pronounce 끝나다 in Korean?

끝나다 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /k͈ɯn.na.da/. It means “to finish / to end.” kkeun-na-da. The 끝 is written with a ㅌ, but in front of the ㄴ it nasalizes all the way to an n, so the word carries a long double n through its middle.

kkeun-na-da. The 끝 is written with a ㅌ, but in front of the ㄴ it nasalizes all the way to an n, so the word carries a long double n through its middle.

끝나다 /k͈ɯn.na.da/

kkeunnada

Three beats, with the first two joined by a held double n. The nasalization is the headline: a stop turning into a nasal because of what follows it is one of Korean's most audible assimilations, and it is why the romanization writes kkeunnada rather than kkeutnada.

Listen: 끝나다

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Sound it out

kkeu Tensed ㄲ over the lip-flat ㅡ. Throat compressed for the consonant, lips spread for the vowel -- two demanding articulations packed into one syllable.

n Written ㅌ. It first neutralizes to an unreleased t, and then, because a nasal follows, it becomes ㄴ outright. The t never surfaces at all.

nada The second ㄴ continues the first as one long nasal, and then a plain voiced ㄷ closes the citation form.

Hear it in a sentence

일이 여섯 시에 끝나요.

Iri yeoseot sie kkeunnayo.

Work finishes at six.

Listen: 일이 여섯 시에 끝나요.

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일이 여섯 시에 끝나요 shows the same nasalization in the conjugated form, and 일이 at the front sends its ㄹ across into the particle, giving i-ri. The sentence therefore opens on a light tap and finishes on a heavy geminate nasal.

Where English speakers slip

Reading the spelling gives 'kkeut-na-da' with an audible t, which Korean does not allow, since a stop cannot stand in front of a nasal. The opening syllable is the other difficulty, because the tensed ㄲ and the ㅡ vowel fight English habits simultaneously -- learners soften the consonant to a plain k and round the vowel to 'oo', losing both features in one go.