Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "쉽다" in Korean?

Q: How do you pronounce 쉽다 in Korean?

쉽다 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɕwip̚.t͈a/. It means “to be easy.” shwip-tta. The first block is 'shwi' -- a palatalized s plus a w-glide, all inside one beat -- and the ending tenses to ㄸ.

shwip-tta. The first block is 'shwi' -- a palatalized s plus a w-glide, all inside one beat -- and the ending tenses to ㄸ.

쉽다 /ɕwip̚.t͈a/

swipda

The rhythm is flat, but the word is a ㅂ-irregular, and that matters more: before a vowel ending the ㅂ turns into a w-glide, so 쉽다 becomes 쉬워요 and the syllable count goes from two to three.

Listen: 쉽다

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Sound it out

swi ㅅ before the ㅟ vowel palatalizes to 'sh', and the vowel itself is a w-glide onto 'ee'. Three articulations packed into one syllable.

p Unreleased ㅂ: the lips shut and stay shut, with no burst before the next syllable.

da Tensed ㄸ, automatic after a stop batchim -- compressed throat, no breath.

Hear it in a sentence

이 문제는 쉬워요.

I munjeneun swiwoyo.

This question is easy.

Listen: 이 문제는 쉬워요.

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

이 문제는 쉬워요 shows exactly that transformation. The ㅂ has become a w and the word now runs shwi-wo-yo, three flowing beats with no stop anywhere in it -- the opposite texture from the clipped dictionary form.

Where English speakers slip

Learners produce 'swip-da' with a plain s and a released p, and both halves need fixing: the ㅅ palatalizes because of the glide behind it, and the ㅂ never releases. The ending is tensed as well, so what should be a compact 'shwip-tta' often comes out as a soft, drawn-out sequence instead.