A block can end in a consonant written underneath, the 받침 (batchim): 택 is ㅌ + ㅐ + ㄱ. At the end of a syllable every batchim is said as one of seven sounds - k, n, t, l, m, p or ng - so ㅅ, ㅈ and ㅊ at the bottom all sound like t. When the next block starts with a silent ㅇ, the batchim slides over into it: 호텔에 is said ho-te-re.
Examples
- 택시
- taxi - 택 ends in ㄱ: taek-si
- 호텔
- hotel - ㄹ at the bottom is an l: ho-tel
- 인터넷
- internet - ㅅ at the bottom is said t: in-teo-net
The mistake to avoid
ㅇ is silent at the top of a block but ng at the bottom: 쇼핑 is syo-ping.
Where this fits in
한글: the Korean alphabet, Korean A1: Read Hangul block by block and sound out your first Korean words - many of them borrowed from English.