Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "영화" in Korean?

yeong-hwa. A y-glide onto the unrounded ㅓ, a held nasal, and then a ㅎ that weakens badly between voiced sounds.

영화 /jʌŋ.ɦwa/

yeonghwa

Two beats. What varies is the h, which can be fully present or nearly absent depending on speed, so the word ranges from yeong-hwa to something closer to yeong-wa without either version being wrong.

Listen: 영화

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

Sound it out

yeong The glide and the flat ㅓ in a single beat, closed by a nasal ㅇ held as resonance.

hwa ㅎ trapped between the nasal and a w-glide, so it lenites: careful speech keeps it, and fast speech reduces it until the nasal runs almost straight into the w.

Hear it in a sentence

오늘 저녁에 영화 볼까요?

Oneul jeonyeoge yeonghwa bolkkayo?

Shall we watch a movie tonight?

Listen: 오늘 저녁에 영화 볼까요?

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

오늘 저녁에 영화 볼까요? uses the -ㄹ까요 suggestion ending, so the ㄹ of 볼 tenses the ㄱ into ㄲ, giving bol-kka-yo. That hard consonant contrasts sharply with the softness of 영화 itself.

Where English speakers slip

Adding a g between the syllables is the first habit and forcing a full English h is the second, and together they produce something about as far from the Korean as it is possible to get. Rounding the ㅓ under the y-glide is the third, giving 'yong-hwa'.