How to Pronounce ㅅ and ㅆ | Korean FAQ

[@jadin8317]

Billy's son: 엄마, can dad come play Billy's wife: Dad's working honey Billy in the background: ㅆㅆㅆㅆㅆㅆㅆ쌀!!

[@saritafinn4331]

ㅅ and ㅆ has been the most difficult to distinguish between for me and this was really helpful! Thank you!!

[@nikitahart4377]

Omg my jaw dropped at 4:40 I made up the same system for pronuncing 가가 vs 가까 and 사사 vs 사싸, 바바 vs 바빠 when I used to teach my friends Korean. I also realsied and i’m pretty sure about this, that back in the day ㄱ was described as k/g and ㅂ was b/p etc…HOWEVER they’re not a mix of the two BUT the pronunciation is either one or the other depending on if the letter is used in the first character of a word or in the second: Example: 가게 so the first ㄱ sound in 가 is more like a K and the ㄱ in 게 is more like a G sound. 바보 the first ㅂ sounds like a P and second ㅂ sounds like a B.

[@jmd42]

Thanks for the tips. Producing these two sounds correctly and consistently is definitely my biggest pronunciation problem left to solve. It's hard for me to practice because the more I focus on it, the harder it gets to distinguish them!

[@derpderp9281]

The tissue tip is actually genius! It really helps to test the sounds Once I asked about the difference between 시 and 씨, and someone said the first sounds like "si", and the other like "ssi" 😑 I guess it's a difficult thing to explain lol, but this video really helped me out 😀

[@PaulCHa]

I don’t think there is a difference in this case. They both sound like SH.

[@CristtiãnoPaes]

I still dont know the difference between "시" and "씨".

[@agnel1320]

It was not my experience, but one person, who is, I think, a translator in Korea, told in one of his lectures that he did have 살 vs 쌀 situation in there. He said they were talking about wedding traditions, someone wanted to mention throwing rice, but it ended with everyone super confused why people throw meat at the newly weds xD

[@shaunastock7940]

The explanation of where in the mouth you're pronouncing them was super helpful! Being able to picture that made a huge difference to my pronunciation immediately.

[@alejandrarivera9130]

This was a really useful video. I loved how many tips and tricks you shared today. Thank you so much. I look for something similar for ㅈ, ㅉ

[@JChang-kn6mx]

Summary of points from the video (plus ones I've seen from other sources too): Aspiration: ㅅ is aspirated (breathy like s + ha almost) ㅆ is not aspirated (little air) Tensing: ㅅ is softer/relaxed with bigger gap between upper and lower teeth + tip of your tongue ㅆ is tensed with tongue building pressure behind your teeth Duration: ㅅ sound is quicker ㅆ sound can be sustained longer Pitch: ㅅ-starting syllables are lower in pitch ㅆ-starting syllables are very noticably higher in pitch & emphasised Commoness ㅅ is the 'base' sound and so is used much more often ㅆ is more rare. If you had to guess which one, the chances are it is ㅅ and not ㅆ. Loan words: As ㅆ is closer to English 's' and ㅅ is quite unique, when you hear borrowed words from English, they tend to pronounce them with ㅆ and not how it is written (often ㅅ). 받침 ending sound rules: All Batchim rules apply for ㅆ just as they apply to all other double consonants. For example, expensive is 비싸 (bissa) and instead of being prounced as [bi + ssa] seperately, its pronounced [bis-ssa] which the ㅆ sound bleeding into the end of the consonant of the previous syllable. Note: In real life speech, natives don't always follow all these pronounciation differences exactly, nor 100% of the time. They may speak fast or more fluidly and it can sound different to what you expect. There are also different dialects and variations amongst generations. However, as you learn and get used to more conversational Korean, you can usually easily tell by context. Plus, you can always ask the speaker to repeat, or repeat what you are saying to communicate clearly. This is just from what I have seen and put together, feel free to share your thoughts.

[@kiyk7273]

I still struggle with differentiating all the time. I hope you make more about the other double consonants as well. Love from Jamaica.

[@user-lt6qi6kg6h]

I needed this explanation and also I requested for it in his live stream yesterday. Thanks Billy😭❤

[@ellemariea2620]

THE BEST KOREAN TEACHER

[@jeff__w]

This video was *great,* really. I’ve been looking around for a long time (years) for something explaining the difference between ㅅ and ㅆ and most “explanations” don’t mention the aspiration (that puff of air) with ㅅ as opposed to ㅆ. _But,_ for me, the hardest sounds to say and discriminate in hearing are 시 and 씨. Can you do a follow-up video on those?

[@JChang-kn6mx]

kzbin.infoq2jF2zRqFjM also a great video explaining differences between ㅅ and ㅆ. That video emphases on asipration which Billy didn't emphasise too much here. The asipration difference makes sense and parallels the basic (slightly aspirated) ㄱ vs tense ㄲ, as well as every other consonant pair too.

[@sil285]

In the past when I started studying Korean I struggled with this and watched several explanations on it but this one is the best one I've seen so far, very well done!! ^^

[@sharicutty]

Thanks! I enjoyed this video and look forward to more of these videos.

[@jds4eva]

Gosh Billy your amazing! All of your videos are so helpful and I really appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge. Thank you

[@karlfrias2863]

The part when you yell the pronunciation of the double consonant, it made me laugh hard HAHHAHAHAAHAHA. This made the learning process so much fun! Thank you for the tip about these pronunciations. I kind of like some more of these kinds of pronunciation tips, especially the double consonants.

[@333damanha]

I CANNOT BELIEVE I FINALLY UNDERSTAND IT 😭 Thank you so much!

[@yugimotta]

they still sounds the same to me 😭

[@jinmyluv]

This is by far the most useful lesson about double consonants, especially ㅅ & ㅆ. I didn't have a problem with double consonants, but I did have a hard time with ㅅ & ㅆ. Everyone else explained it as "double s" which is very confusing. But your explanation made me understand and be able to pronounce it perfectly! Thank you very much Billy!!!

[@julianrolheiser6061]

Thank you! This was lingering in my mind for a bit

[@gangnamkorean3054]

This reminds me of the way to pronounce 'b' and 'p' when I was learning English! Interesting!

[@คนจลาด]

감사합니다 선생님

[@Fluglecheese]

Koreans have always told me I can't pronounce this (or distinguish it when others say it). After watching this, I think I might be able to... I will find someone and ask them soon!

[@manasavedantham3841]

It's really helpful!!! 갑사합니다

[@4thanatos]

could the ㅆ sound be similar to something like "tsa" because of the way your mouth tenses up from the "t"?

[@i2ikorean]

For me, ㅆ is like the sound from "sun, son, sign..." ㅅ is similar to s in 'smile'

[@4thanatos]

@@i2ikorean yeah thats true thanks

[@karlaevans6175]

Great tips!

[@dreamxpaili]

wow i think this is the first time i finally understood the difference! thank you so much!

[@learnkoreanwithKorean]

이렇게 설명하면, 되겠네요. 항상 놀라워요.

[@auricia201]

Awesome explanation!! 😃 Thank you!

[@tesaniteages2217]

Billy ur great

[@arbeetv001]

새해 복 많이 받으시고 건강하세용 🎁🧧🎊

[@aphr0d]

I was having a really hard time with this after trying to practice and i finally got it! But it freaked out my cat and she kept come over to me and meowing and sniffing me 😂😂😂 i guess it freaked her out to keep hearing me say 스 and 쓰 back to back

[@neverforsakenbyhim1]

감사합니다!!!!

[@runtsgal]

That was very helpful. I can practice speaking them correctly now. Hearing the difference is another matter though 😣

[@wonderpuffjho]

I badly wanna learn

[@funime2211]

고맙다

[@NikkiVee]

Thank you for making this video!!

[@otherworldRestaurant]

한국은 설날이네요 빌리 새해 복 많이 받아요~

[@veronicaanton695]

Amazing video, of great help, thank u

[@watchp0int]

Just screaming at a tissue lmao (But also very helpful, thank you)

[@dianalauralopezdelgado6770]

It's a great explanation! I still have it difficult to tell 시 and 씨 apart. T_T

[@sue4341]

🤔 서 so. 써 saw This is sort of what I'm hearing. Not exact but close.

[@anyonenoone9968]

Can you please do one on ㅈ and ㅊ?

[@GoBillyKorean]

My "Beginner Korean Course" teaches all of those and more :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/qamTqqyHptCjp9E

[@pablojavier7965]

Something about billy saying “사랑해” to a paper made me laugh

[@sweetnighthoneynight]

This was really helpful, though my pronunciation isn't the same as yours. Will have to practice that. Sometimes it soundds like ㅆ in the middle of a word is pronunced like a 't' (might be another letter) or is completely silent. Those are my biggest troubles.

[@MAnca-tt7nv]

Very helpful!

[@kazeppa]

As native Tagalog speaker, it was easy to pronounce and recognize aspirated and unaspirated stops, but with this weird S, I don't know.

[@xronniex6723]

THANK YOU OMG

[@rakronssi6698]

Is duo good to learn ?

[@sebastianmartin8665]

Who woulda thought the tissue paper woulda done the trick

[@spacemonkey7951]

I find all these weird consonants and double consonants to be the most difficult part of learning Korean

[@animallove6991]

Hi Billy, could you do a similar video for ㄱ, ㄲ & ㅋ? Mainly, I feel like I'm going crazy trying to pronounce ㄱ. I've watched just about every video I can find on youtube and nothing has clicked for me. It's between a G and a K , voiced vs unvoiced, where the sound comes from your mouth, etc. I feel like I'm just making a g or a k sound. It's driving me crazy! Along those same lines, I think I can distinguish between ㄱ,ㄲ & ㅋ but when I try basic dictation test I'm wrong just about every time. Or if you have any advice that would be much appreciated! Thank you!

[@GoBillyKorean]

Have you checked out my "Beginner Korean Course" yet? There are lessons which cover all of those sounds :)

[@kevinrosenau7048]

I tried the thing with the paper towel but it moves in both cases, despite me pronouncing them differently. And no matter how I try to pronounce the 싸, it always moves lol

[@GoBillyKorean]

It might move a tiny bit because your hands are moving, and air still does come out. ㅆ should just be significantly less than ㅅ.

[@DeannaWillistonOFS]

Lol but flesh is very different from uncooked rice 🤣 Great explanations, as usual!

[@shinobuu__]

I was wondering if your beginner books have sections on pronunciation? I have seen a lot of things about it and they all seem to be following rules I dont know that make it hard on how things are supposed to be said. like ㄱsounding different depending on placement in word or if its followed by a vowel and such and makes it really confusing on how things are to be said lol

[@GoBillyKorean]

They do have sections on just pronunciation :)

[@shinobuu__]

@@GoBillyKorean ty

[@Ariber1]

It sounds as if the single ㅅ has a ㅎ following it, and the ㅆ not, and same with ㅈ vs ㅉ etc.?

[@twicepinkvelvet5691]

I want to ask when ㅅ is placed between two vowels does the air coming out from our mouth reduced while we're pronouncing this? Like 아사 and 해서. Or it's still the same on how it pronounced in the beginning like ㅅ in 살?

[@GoBillyKorean]

It will still be pronounced as ㅅ.

[@twicepinkvelvet5691]

@@GoBillyKorean like in the beginning as in 살?

[@aditi7367]

When we say 씨 it is pronounced as 'shi' right? For example, 지민씨. So in what all cases is ㅆ pronounced as 'sh'?

[@GoBillyKorean]

Yes, I teach how/when to pronounce it like that in my Learn Hangul series, or my Beginner Korean Course series on my channel :)

[@aditi7367]

@@GoBillyKorean I remember now 😁 went through that chapter in your beginner series once again just now. I got confused there for a moment 😅 Thank you so much 💜

[@sarahsami2998]

Hello billy! Just a quick question.. is the past continuous tense different from the present continuous tense? Like when we want to talk about the structure of the sentence. Also how can I differentiate between the casual speech and the informal speech? Did you make some lessons about them? I can't find any on KZbin cause everyone is saying there's only 2 levels of speech 😊

[@GoBillyKorean]

Can you give me an example of what you mean? And there are more than only 2 levels of speech :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/aoGbpmqOjd5_gNk

[@sarahsami2998]

@@GoBillyKorean thanks for replying! well, for example when we say "I was doing the laundry" and "I am doing the laundry" and want to say that in korean, will it be different? I'm asking casue I've seen a lot of channels where teachers explain the progressive tense but they never explain the past one, just the present. So do they both have the same structure? and since there are more than 2 levels, are casual and plain the same?

[@GoBillyKorean]

@@sarahsami2998 You'd use what's called the Progressive Tense, and it can be used in the present or in the past tense. I have several videos about the Progressive Tense on my channel :-) As for casual and plain, no those are separate forms. I also have videos about casual speech (반말), and the Plain Form on my channel.

[@sarahsami2998]

@@GoBillyKorean I feel so stupid right now :') thanks for taking from your time and answering my questions!

[@GoBillyKorean]

@@sarahsami2998 No worries! These are only "obvious" questions after you've really learned the answers. I had the same kind of questions and more before I was able to speak fluently. You're doing great!

[@diabolic42090]

oh crap i think i've been pronouncing these two backwards lmao

[@pinkgreenmelon2209]

i was just asking myself this?! whaat

[@hayamabdo2726]

Can you make a video about ㄱㄲㅋ And ㄷㄸㅌ And ㅂㅃㅍ Please 🙏🏻. I can understand from you more than any other teacher so far. Thank you for this one as well ☺️

[@GoBillyKorean]

All of those are covered in my beginner course here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qamTqqyHptCjp9E

[@carsonfred371]

Suh dude

[@heedayahs8095]

how about "햇" 했"

[@GoBillyKorean]

I give an example in this video about how to say 했어 vs 해서.

[@heedayahs8095]

@@GoBillyKorean ouu i meant '햇' sounds "haet" right? so there's no word that end with ㅆ

[@GoBillyKorean]

@@heedayahs8095 It would also be pronounced with a ㄷ sound at the end.

[@seajames1690]

Every grandma and grandpa in 경상 is confused by this video.