Hieut (ㅎ) – Korean Consonant 히읗
ㅎ (Hieut, 히읗) is an h sound at the start of a syllable and a short t-stop at the end. See 호랑이 and 하늘 as examples, trace ㅎ in 3 strokes, print the ㅎ worksheet.
What is Hieut (ㅎ) in Korean?
Hieut (ㅎ) is called 히읗 in Korean and is an h sound at the start of a syllable and a short t-stop at the end. ㅎ needs 3 strokes on paper, uses the throat to make its sound, and is one of the 14 basic consonants. You can hear it in 호랑이 (tiger) and 하늘 (sky), and see it closing a syllable in 좋다 (to be good).
Hieut ㅎ: sound, strokes, series and finals
ㅎ HieutKorean consonant · basic
Hieut is h at the start of a syllable and t at the end.
Hieut (ㅎ) at a glance
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | 히읗 (hieut) |
| Sound at the start | h — a breathy h |
| Sound at the end | t (the same as ㄷ) |
| Strokes | 3 |
| Group | basic consonant |
| Made with | the throat |
| Example words | at the start: 하마 (hippo), 호랑이 (tiger); at the end: 좋다 (to be good) |
Three ways to remember ㅎ
Shape
Words that start with 
Words with ㅎ at the end
How to say ㅎ
히읗Breathe out from the throat with the mouth open, as in English 'hat'. ㅎ is often weak between vowels: in fast speech 전화 (phone) can sound like 저놔.
At the start ㅎ is romanized h, as in 하나 (hana, one). As a 받침 it behaves in special ways: it disappears before a vowel (좋아요 [조아요]) and adds breath to a following ㄱ, ㄷ or ㅈ (좋다 [조타]).
How ㅎ ends a syllable
For ㅎ (hieut), hold your tongue tip against the ridge behind your upper teeth when you finish 좋다 (to be good); that closed position is a final ㅎ. With ㅎ (hieut), a vowel after it lets the sound slip into the next block, as in 좋아요 [조아요].
Because ㅎ is read as ㄷ here, the written letter ㅎ (hieut) and the heard letter ㄷ are not always the same. In the case of ㅎ (hieut), that gap is why the spelling of a word can look different from the sound you hear.
How to write ㅎ
Trace Hieut ㅎ with a finger, mouse or pen: start at the numbered dot, follow the dotted arrow, and press Clear to try again.
Print style 정자체
Follow the numbers and dotted arrows
Handwriting 필기체
Same stroke order as print style
A short tick at the top, drawn downward.
A horizontal line from left to right under the tick.
Below the line, a circle drawn counterclockwise from the top.
The whole letter ㅎ (hieut) is three strokes; start high and on the left, as with every Hangul letter.
Keep the three parts of ㅎ stacked and centred: tick, line, circle. In 호 the whole letter is short and wide above the vowel; in 하 it is taller.
ㅎ and its look-alikes
| Letter | Name | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| ㅇ | 이응 (ieung) | nothing at the start, ng as in ring at the end |
| ㅎ | 히읗 (hieut) | h, as in hat |
Why ㅎ looks the way it does
ㅎ comes from the throat like ㅇ (ieung) but sounds stronger, so strokes were added to ㅇ. The circle at the bottom is the ㅇ it grew from.
ㅎ (hieut) belongs to the group made with the throat, because the original design of Hangul sorted consonants by the part of the mouth that makes them.
Words that use ㅎ
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 하나 | ha-na | one (numeral) |
| 하늘 | ha-neul | sky (noun) |
| 하루 | ha-ru | one day (noun) |
| 하품 | ha-pum | yawn (noun) |
Look for ㅎ at the front of 호 in 호랑이 (tiger); the block is read ho.
Look for ㅎ at the front of 하 in 하늘 (sky); the block is read ha.
Look for ㅎ at the front of 학 in 학교 (school); the block is read hak.
Look for ㅎ at the front of 해 in 해 (sun; year); the block is read hae.
Look for ㅎ at the front of 한 in 한글 (Hangul); the block is read han.
Syllables you can build with ㅎ
Pair ㅎ (hieut) with the vowels and you get blocks such as 하 (ha), 햐 (hya), 허 (heo), and 혀 (hyeo).
Say the whole row, 하 (ha), 햐 (hya), 허 (heo), 혀 (hyeo), 호 (ho), 효 (hyo), 후 (hu), 휴 (hyu), 흐 (heu), 히 (hi), and notice that only the vowel moves.
Try it yourself
Pick a vowel and a final for ㅎ and read the block it makes. Open the syllable builder with ㅎ ready
ㅎ writing worksheet (free printable)
Worksheet · Level 1 · Letters
Korean letter tracing worksheet: ㅎ (hieut)
The one-page Hieut ㅎ sheet shows ㅎ in 3 strokes, traces it, writes it with six vowels (하 허 호 후 흐 히) and ends with a game of finding ㅎ among look-alikes.
- 1 page
- A4 · US Letter
- PDF · 101 KB
- Free · no sign-up
Want more? Get all 19 consonants in one pack
Worksheet information
- How to use
- Say ㅎ out loud, trace its 3 strokes, then write it with six vowels.
Practice ㅎ
You have met all 19 consonants. Go on to the vowels, starting with ㅏ (a), and review the full consonant chart.
A one-page worksheet for ㅎ (hieut) sits beside this guide, with the stroke order, space for tracing and a spot-the-letter game.
Try it yourself
Put Hieut ㅎ, h, into the builder and read the block it makes. Open the syllable builder with ㅎ ready
ㅎ (Hieut) — FAQ
What is the ㅎ pronunciation?
Read it as an h sound at the start of a syllable and a short t-stop at the end; 호랑이 (tiger) is a good word to practice with.
What is ㅎ called in Korean and what sound does it make?
히읗 (hieut) is the name of ㅎ, which is read an h sound at the start of a syllable and a short t-stop at the end; compare 호랑이 and 좋다.
How many strokes make up ㅎ?
ㅎ has 3 strokes: a short tick, a horizontal line, then a circle.
Last updated: