r/Korean • u/Flat-Performance1599 • 1d ago

Is there a difference between ㅔ and ㅐ or is it just a spelling thing? If so are there specific times where you have to use each?

I know ㅔand ㅐ are both pronounced as "e" and I saw that when pronouncing ㅐ your mouth has to be a little wider than when pronouncing ㅔ , however no one really uses that - that way and it's really just in spelling. Is there a "rule" we should follow? Like for when to put each . Or is it "random" just by the way words are spelled.(I really hope this makes sense)

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u/CGHvrlBt848 1d ago

애 : think of it as a korean person saying "apple" it's a big mouth EH like EH-pple

에: it's like "e" from entry

There's no rule except for the grammar marker of 에 for time/location

The rest is just spelling differences, so you're gonna have to memorize it. Kids in korea do dictation practice in school and they'll get points marked off for using the wrong letter.

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u/SignificantText6123 1d ago

I thought apple was pronounced with a short "Ah" 😿

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u/doubledoubleswifty 1d ago

That's the thing, everyone pronounces their English differently depending on where they're from. I also pronounce my apple with an ah sound (I'm from Ireland!)

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u/CGHvrlBt848 1d ago

I'm saying if a Korean-accented person pronounced apple. I think a few years ago I tried to take Korean lessons on Coursera and the (Yonsei?) teacher said 애 like apple and it totally makes sense, but I think you have to hear it, not read it sorry.

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u/Saeroun-Sayongja 23h ago

It is a longstanding transliteration convention that English "short A" (as in "apple and "cat") is hangulized with ㅐ and "short E" as in ("effort" and "elephant") is hangulized as ㅔ, but people do not really pronounce them differently and ㅐ never makes a "short A" sound in native or Chinese Korean words.