Hanja

• Hanja (article)

Hanja Lessons

• Important 한자
• Important 한자 2
• Important 한자 3
• Writing Hanja

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Hanja characters

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FAQ

What is the point in learning Hanja?

A great deal of Korean words are made up of hanja. Learning the hanja will allow you to memorize the words faster. It's like knowing Latin root words in English. Knowing the root of a word can help you understand its meaning and remember it later.

Does every Hanja character have only one sound representation?

No, some Hanja characters have more than one representation.

In some cases the pronunciation depends on where it appears in a word. For example the character 年(year) is pronounced as 연 if it appears at the beginning of the word, and 년 if it appears elsewhere. See the table below

Character	Korean representation	Notes	Examples
年 (year)	연, 년	Pronounced 연 at the beginning of a word, 년 elsewhere	연초 <年初> - the beginning of the year 연말 <年末> - the end of the year 작년 <昨年> - last year 내년 <來年> - next year
立 (stand, establish )	입, 립	Pronounced 입 at the beginning of a word, 립 elsewhere	입식 <立式> - 독립 <獨立> - independence 조립 <組立> - construction, set-up
女 (girl, woman)	여, 녀	Pronounced 여 at the beginning of a word, 녀 elsewhere	여자 <女子> - woman, female 여학생 <女學生> - a female student 소녀 <少女> - a young girl 미녀 <美女> - a beautiful girl
不 (negation)	불, 부	No rule, some words just use one or the other	부정 <不正> - unlawfulness, dishonesty 부득이 <不得已> - unavoidably, inevitably 불편 <不便> - discomfort 불가능 < 不可能 > - impossibility