Hanja

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Hanja Lessons

  • Beginners 한자
  • Intermediate 한자
  • Advanced 한자

Hanja By Level

with English interpretation of Korean meanings, and supplemental meanings.


Hanja characters


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 (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

How do I find a certain character in a dictionary?

In What order do I stroke a character?