LingoDrop
Korean · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "날" in Korean?
nal. One syllable: a forward n, a wide open 'ah', and a bright l made with the tongue tip.
nal
One short beat. The ㄹ is the thing to watch across boundaries, since attaching a vowel-initial particle makes it tap forward, so 날 and 날이 have their syllable division in different places.
Listen: 날
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
오늘은 좋은 날이에요.
Oneureun joeun narieyo.
Today is a good day.
Listen: 오늘은 좋은 날이에요.
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오늘은 좋은 날이에요 does exactly that: 날이에요 comes out na-ri-e-yo with the lateral turned into a flap. The 좋은 in front deletes its ㅎ between vowels, so the phrase runs unusually smooth right up to the end.
Where English speakers slip
The dark English l of 'gnarl' is the whole difficulty, because it bunches the tongue at the back and drags the vowel along with it, when Korean's ㄹ stays bright even word-finally. Learners also lengthen the vowel for emphasis, which Korean does not do in a monosyllable like this.