Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "는" in Korean?

Q: How do you pronounce 는 in Korean?

는 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /nɯn/. It means “topic particle (은/는).” neun -- one syllable, framed by a dental n on each side, with the lip-spread ㅡ vowel in the middle.

neun -- one syllable, framed by a dental n on each side, with the lip-spread ㅡ vowel in the middle.

는 /nɯn/

neun

Never stressed and never standing alone -- it clips onto the end of a noun and inherits whatever pitch that noun phrase has. The practical timing point is that 는 adds a full syllable, so 저는 counts as two clean beats rather than one and a half.

Listen: 는

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Sound it out

n Tongue-tip n at the front, made close to the teeth rather than back on the ridge.

eu ㅡ, high and back with flat lips. Sandwiched between two n sounds it is easy to let this collapse into a schwa, so hold it distinct.

n The closing ㄴ. The tongue is already near position from the vowel, so this is a small, quick movement.

Hear it in a sentence

오늘은 날씨가 좋아요.

Oneureun nalssiga joayo.

The weather is nice today.

Listen: 오늘은 날씨가 좋아요.

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오늘은 날씨가 좋아요 uses the other allomorph, 은, which appears after a consonant, and it resyllabifies with 오늘 to give o-neu-reun -- the ㄹ becoming a tap and moving across. Same particle, different shape, and the seam vanishes completely.

Where English speakers slip

Two errors dominate. The vowel gets rounded into 'noon', which is a different sound and, spelled out, a different word. And learners pause before the particle, saying 'jeo... neun', when Korean particles are phonologically part of the word ahead of them and no break exists. Say it as one unit, and keep the ㅡ flat.