Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "피곤하다" in Korean?

Q: How do you pronounce 피곤하다 in Korean?

피곤하다 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /pʰi.gon.ɦa.da/. It means “to be tired.” pi-gon-ha-da. An aspirated ㅍ at the front, a ㄱ that voices between voiced neighbours, and a ㅎ that weakens after the ㄴ.

pi-gon-ha-da. An aspirated ㅍ at the front, a ㄱ that voices between voiced neighbours, and a ㅎ that weakens after the ㄴ.

피곤하다 /pʰi.gon.ɦa.da/

pigonhada

Nothing here takes an accent. What does vary is the middle: the ㅎ can be fully pronounced or almost erased depending on how fast you are talking, and both versions are perfectly normal Korean.

Listen: 피곤하다

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Sound it out

pi ㅍ with a genuine puff of air, then a tight 'ee' with no glide off the end.

gon ㄱ voiced by the vowel in front of it, a rounded ㅗ, and a tongue-tip n to close.

ha This ㅎ sits between a nasal and a vowel and lenites: audible in careful speech, close to nothing at conversational speed.

da Voiced and weightless, marking the dictionary form and nothing else.

Hear it in a sentence

오늘 저녁에는 좀 피곤해요.

Oneul jeonyeogeneun jom pigonhaeyo.

I'm a bit tired tonight.

Listen: 오늘 저녁에는 좀 피곤해요.

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오늘 저녁에는 좀 피곤해요 stacks two particles onto 저녁, giving jeo-nyeo-ge-neun with the ㄱ carried forward, and then 좀 keeps a plain ㅈ because the vowel in front of it offers nothing to tense it with.

Where English speakers slip

Under-aspirating the ㅍ pushes the word toward 비곤하다 and strips it of its opening consonant, so push real air. Then resist the opposite instinct on the ㅎ, where English speakers push too much: between a nasal and a vowel Korean's h is barely there, and a hard 'pi-gon-HA-da' sounds oddly emphatic.