Korean · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "예쁘다" in Korean?

Q: How do you pronounce 예쁘다 in Korean?

예쁘다 is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /je.p͈ɯ.da/. It means “to be pretty.” ye-ppeu-da. A y-glide onto 'eh', then a tensed ㅃ over the lip-flat ㅡ -- the middle syllable is where all the difficulty sits.

ye-ppeu-da. A y-glide onto 'eh', then a tensed ㅃ over the lip-flat ㅡ -- the middle syllable is where all the difficulty sits.

예쁘다 /je.p͈ɯ.da/

yeppeuda

Even timing across the three blocks. The middle one runs slightly longer than the others because a tensed consonant needs setup time, and that duration is a phonetic consequence of the tension rather than an accent you should add on purpose.

Listen: 예쁘다

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Sound it out

ye y plus the pure ㅔ of 'bet', delivered as one beat with no glide off the end.

ppeu Tensed ㅃ: lips pressed hard, larynx compressed, released with no breath. Then ㅡ, with the lips immediately spreading flat again.

da Soft and voiced -- the release of everything the tensed ㅃ built up.

Hear it in a sentence

이 꽃이 정말 예뻐요.

I kkochi jeongmal yeppeoyo.

This flower is really pretty.

Listen: 이 꽃이 정말 예뻐요.

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이 꽃이 정말 예뻐요 contracts the verb to 예뻐요 and puts a tensed ㄲ right at the start of 꽃이, which then resyllabifies its ㅊ forward to give kko-chi. Two tensed consonants and a recovered aspirate inside one short sentence.

Where English speakers slip

The tensed ㅃ collapses to a plain b for most learners, giving 'ye-beu-da', which sounds soft where Korean is sharp. Clamp the lips and release without air. The ㅡ then compounds it, because English speakers round it into 'poo' -- so that middle syllable needs a locked throat and spread lips at the same moment.