Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "모르다" in Korean?

Q: How do you pronounce 모르다 in Korean?

모르다 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /mo.ɾɯ.da/. It means “to not know.” mo-reu-da. A rounded 'oh', then a tap plus the flat ㅡ, then the citation ending -- three beats with a complete lip change in the middle.

mo-reu-da. A rounded 'oh', then a tap plus the flat ㅡ, then the citation ending -- three beats with a complete lip change in the middle.

모르다 /mo.ɾɯ.da/

moreuda

None of the three syllables is stronger than the others. This is a 르-irregular verb, so the conjugated forms double the ㄹ into a long held l -- 몰라요 -- and the citation form gives you no warning of that at all. Learning both shapes together is the practical approach.

Listen: 모르다

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Sound it out

mo m onto a properly rounded ㅗ, with the lips pushed forward and held there.

reu A single flick of the tongue tip onto ㅡ. The lips must go from rounded to flat between these two syllables, and that is the hardest move in the word.

da Nothing demanding here -- a voiced stop and an open vowel, both carrying as little weight as possible.

Hear it in a sentence

잘 모르겠어요.

Jal moreugesseoyo.

I don't really know.

Listen: 잘 모르겠어요.

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잘 모르겠어요 uses the -겠 form, where the neutralized ㅆ of 겠 tenses the following ㅅ, giving mo-reu-ge-sseo-yo. Compare the plain conjugated 몰라요, where the same stem produces a geminate l, and you can hear how far the two shapes diverge.

Where English speakers slip

The lip transition catches people out: 'mo-ru-da' with both vowels rounded is the usual output, when only the first is rounded. Deliberately spread the lips for the second syllable. Learners also give the middle consonant an English r, which stretches the word and blurs the boundary with the ㅡ behind it.