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Korean · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "우리" in Korean?
u-ri, two light beats. Round the lips for 'oo', then flick the tongue tip once for the r -- a tap, never an English r.
uri
Neither syllable outweighs the other. Worth knowing that 우리 doubles as 'my' in phrases like 우리 집 and 우리 엄마, so it very often forms a rhythmic unit with the noun after it and takes no pause or prominence of its own.
Listen: 우리
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
우리는 바다에 가요.
Urineun badae gayo.
We are going to the sea.
Listen: 우리는 바다에 가요.
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우리는 바다에 가요 gives 우리 the topic particle with no seam, u-ri-neun, and then 바다에 runs vowel into vowel -- ba-da-e -- with three open syllables in a row and no consonant to break them apart. Keeping each vowel distinct across that stretch is the real work in this sentence.
Where English speakers slip
The r is where English speakers go wrong, curling the tongue back and producing 'oo-ree' with an American r that stretches the word out. Korean's intervocalic ㄹ is one tap and takes almost no time. Keep the first vowel high and rounded too -- letting it slacken toward the vowel of 'put' blurs it into a different syllable.