Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "나가다" in Korean?

Q: How do you pronounce 나가다 in Korean?

나가다 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /na.ga.da/. It means “to go out.” na-ga-da, three open beats. The ㄱ voices between vowels into a real g, and every vowel in the word is the same wide 'ah'.

na-ga-da, three open beats. The ㄱ voices between vowels into a real g, and every vowel in the word is the same wide 'ah'.

나가다 /na.ga.da/

nagada

Three even beats over three identical vowels, which makes this an unusually clean rhythm test: if any of the three sounds shorter, weaker or more centralized than the others, English vowel reduction has crept in.

Listen: 나가다

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Sound it out

na Forward n onto an open ㅏ, with the tongue tip near the teeth.

ga ㄱ surrounded by vowels, so fully voiced. The vowel matches the one before it exactly.

da Voiced again, and carrying the third identical ㅏ in a row, which is what makes this word a rhythm exercise.

Hear it in a sentence

오늘 저녁에 나갈까요?

Oneul jeonyeoge nagalkkayo?

Shall we go out tonight?

Listen: 오늘 저녁에 나갈까요?

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오늘 저녁에 나갈까요? uses the -ㄹ까요 suggestion ending, and that ㄹ tenses the ㄱ into ㄲ, so the verb lands as na-gal-kka-yo. Earlier, the ㄱ of 저녁 hops into the particle and voices, giving jeo-nyeo-ge, so one sentence shows the same letter voiced in one place and tensed in another.

Where English speakers slip

The three-identical-vowel structure is exactly what English rhythm destroys, producing 'nuh-GAH-duh' with two reduced vowels flanking a stressed one. Korean gives all three equal weight and full quality. The middle ㄱ also needs to stay soft, since hardening it into a k makes the word sound like it is being spelled out.