O in Korean: the Vowel ㅗ (오)

In dictionary order ㅗ (o) is vowel number 9 of 21, after ㅖ and before ㅘ. With 2 strokes, ㅗ (o) has the same stroke count as 4 other vowels, namely ㅏ, ㅓ, ㅜ, and ㅢ.

Round the lips into a small circle and keep them still. ㅗ is close to the o in English 'go' without the w at the end.

ㅗ is a horizontal vowel, so it sits under the consonant: 고, 노, 소. Alone it is 오 (five).

A flat vowel like ㅗ goes under the consonant. In 고 (go) the ㄱ (giyeok) rides on top and the block becomes tall.

With ㅗ (o), a vowel can never stand alone in the spelling. In the case of ㅗ (o), when a syllable starts with the vowel sound, Korean writes the silent ㅇ in front, so ㅗ appears as 오 (o).

ㅗ takes two strokes in total.

Because ㅗ sits below the consonant, the consonant gets wider and flatter: compare 가 and 고. Trace 고, 노 and 도 to feel the shape change.

ㅗ and ㅜ are mirror images across the line: the short stroke points up in ㅗ (오) and down in ㅜ (우). 오 has rounder, more open lips than 우.

Learners often let 오 slide into 'oh-oo', as in English 'go'. Keep the lips fixed so the vowel stays pure.

A word pair shows the contrast: 오리 (duck) versus 우리 (we). For ㅗ (o), in the first word the vowel is ㅗ (o), in the second it is ㅜ.

In the Hunminjeongeum design ㅗ is the flat earth line with the dot above it. The dot became the short stroke pointing up.

ㅗ shows up in 오, the first block of 오이 (cucumber), read o.

ㅗ shows up in 고, the first block of 고기 (meat), read go.

ㅗ shows up in 소, the first block of 소리 (sound), read so.

ㅗ shows up in 도, the first block of 도시 (city), read do.

ㅗ shows up in 보, the first block of 보라색 (purple), read bo.

Pair ㅗ (o) with the fourteen basic consonants and you get a row that begins 고 (go), 노 (no), 도 (do), and 로 (ro); only the front of the block changes.

To hear how steady ㅗ (o) stays across different consonants, say the row from start to finish.

Under the silent ㅇ and ㅗ, six common finals give 옥 (ok), 온 (on), 올 (ol), 옴 (om), 옵 (op), 옹 (ong).

Listen for ㅗ (o) in the middle of each block, because it keeps its shape while the final consonant closes the sound.

Put ㄱ at the bottom of 오 for 옥 (ok), closing on a quiet k. Put ㄴ at the bottom of 오 for 온 (on), closing on a hummed n. Put ㄹ at the bottom of 오 for 올 (ol), closing on a tongue-tip l.

Put ㅁ at the bottom of 오 for 옴 (om), closing on a lip-closed m. Put ㅂ at the bottom of 오 for 옵 (op), closing on a lip-closed p. Put ㅇ at the bottom of 오 for 옹 (ong), closing on the ng of song.

Next is ㅘ (wa), which joins ㅗ and ㅏ. Then compare 오 and 우 on the vowel chart; print ㅗ worksheet.

The worksheet for ㅗ (o) is a single printable page made from the same data as this page: it has the stroke order, tracing rows and a find-the-letter game.