Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "타다" in Korean?

Q: How do you pronounce 타다 in Korean?

타다 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /tʰa.da/. It means “to ride / to take (transport).” ta-da. The first consonant is aspirated with a real burst of air, the second is a plain soft d -- the same place of articulation, opposite behaviour.

ta-da. The first consonant is aspirated with a real burst of air, the second is a plain soft d -- the same place of articulation, opposite behaviour.

타다 /tʰa.da/

tada

Both blocks the same length. The word doubles as a neat minimal drill for the aspirated-against-plain contrast, since both consonants are alveolar stops inside one short word and the only thing separating them is breath.

Listen: 타다

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Sound it out

ta ㅌ, the aspirated t. Hold a hand in front of your mouth and you should feel a distinct puff as the tongue leaves the ridge.

da The plain counterpart of the consonant that opened the word: same tongue position, no breath at all.

Hear it in a sentence

지하철을 타요.

Jihacheoreul tayo.

I take the subway.

Listen: 지하철을 타요.

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지하철을 타요 uses the contracted 타요 and hands you a resyllabification in front of it: 지하철을 becomes ji-ha-cheo-reul as the ㄹ moves into the particle. The ㅎ inside 지하철 also lenites between vowels, so the noun runs smoother than its spelling suggests.

Where English speakers slip

The two consonants get levelled: learners either aspirate both, giving 'ta-tha', or neither, giving 'da-da'. Korean keeps them distinct even at speed. Watch the vowels too, since both are the wide open ㅏ, and letting the second reduce to a schwa imposes an English rhythm on the word.