LingoDrop
Korean · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "생각" in Korean?
saeng-gak. A held nasal in the middle voices the following ㄱ, and the final ㄱ closes without releasing.
saenggak
Two unstressed blocks, the second clipped. The same letter appears twice within a syllable's span doing opposite things -- voiced after a nasal, then silent in final position -- which is a compact summary of Korean consonant behaviour.
Listen: 생각
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
좋은 생각이 있어요.
Joeun saenggagi isseoyo.
I have a good idea.
Listen: 좋은 생각이 있어요.
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좋은 생각이 있어요 attaches the subject particle, so the final ㄱ moves forward and voices, giving saeng-ga-gi with two audible g sounds. The 좋은 in front deletes its ㅎ, so the phrase opens with a missing consonant and closes with a recovered one.
Where English speakers slip
Allowing a g to leak out after 생 gives a doubled velar and it is the English 'finger' habit -- there is one g there and it belongs to the second syllable. Then there is the ending, where a released final k adds a burst Korean does not have, and 'ae' read as an English long a stretches a vowel that should stay short.