Nothing new structurally: this is the vowels and the consonants put together into open syllables — C+V only, no final consonant. Everything below can be sounded out from what you already have, which is the point of doing it before 받침 arrives in lesson 104.
The words are grouped by the three-way contrast, so each row is a drill on plain / aspirated / tensed as much as it is vocabulary.
ㄱ · ㅋ · ㄲ
| Plain ㄱ | Aspirated ㅋ | Tensed ㄲ |
|---|---|---|
| 가지 — eggplant | 카드 — card | 어깨 — shoulder |
| 가위 — scissors | 카메라 — camera | 꼬리 — tail |
ㄷ · ㅌ · ㄸ
| Plain ㄷ | Aspirated ㅌ | Tensed ㄸ |
|---|---|---|
| 다리 — leg | 타조 — ostrich | 메뚜기 — grasshopper |
| 두부 — tofu | 토끼 — rabbit | 귀뚜라미 — cricket |
ㅂ · ㅍ · ㅃ
| Plain ㅂ | Aspirated ㅍ | Tensed ㅃ |
|---|---|---|
| 바지 — trousers | 피자 — pizza | 오빠 — elder brother (woman speaking) |
| 아버지 — father | 포도 — grape | 뿌리 — root |
ㅅ · ㅆ
Only two here — ㅅ has no aspirated partner.
| Plain ㅅ | Tensed ㅆ |
|---|---|
| 사과 — apple | 싸다 — to be cheap |
| 소리 — sound | 비싸다 — to be expensive |
싸다 and 비싸다 are worth noticing as a pair: 비- negates, so expensive is literally not cheap.
ㅈ · ㅊ · ㅉ
| Plain ㅈ | Aspirated ㅊ | Tensed ㅉ |
|---|---|---|
| 쥐 — mouse | 기차 — train | 가짜 — fake |
| 주소 — address | 고추 — chilli pepper | 진짜 — real, genuine |
진짜 does a lot of work in speech beyond its dictionary meaning — as an interjection it covers everything from really? to seriously.
ㅁ · ㄴ · ㄹ
| ㅁ | ㄴ | ㄹ |
|---|---|---|
| 머리 — head, hair | 나비 — butterfly | 라디오 — radio |
| 모자 — hat, cap | 누나 — elder sister (man speaking) | 러시아 — Russia |
ㅇ · ㅎ
ㅇ is silent in the initial slot, so 어머니 and 의자 open on the bare vowel.
| ㅇ (silent) | ㅎ |
|---|---|
| 어머니 — mother | 하마 — hippopotamus |
| 의자 — chair | 화가 — painter, artist |
오빠 and 누나 both appear above, and they are not interchangeable. Korean sibling terms encode the speaker’s gender as well as the sibling’s — a woman’s elder brother is 오빠, a man’s is 형. The full set is in lesson 105.
Work culture: thank you
Two verbs, both meaning to thank, each with a formal and a casual polite form.
| Root | Formal polite | Casual polite |
|---|---|---|
| 감사하다 | 감사합니다 [gam-sa-ham-ni-da] | 감사해요 [gam-sa-hae-yo] |
| 고맙다 | 고맙습니다 [go-map-sseum-ni-da] | 고마워요 [go-ma-wo-yo] |
감사하다 is Sino-Korean, 고맙다 is native Korean. They are near-perfect synonyms; 감사합니다 is marginally more formal and is the safe choice at work.
Work culture: sorry
Same shape — two roots, two levels each.
| Root | Formal polite | Casual polite |
|---|---|---|
| 죄송하다 | 죄송합니다 [joe-song-ham-ni-da] | 죄송해요 [joe-song-hae-yo] |
| 미안하다 | 미안합니다 [mi-an-ham-ni-da] | 미안해요 [mi-an-hae-yo] |
죄송하다 is the more deferential of the two. Use it upward — to a manager, to a customer. 미안하다 to peers and juniors.
Work culture: “you’re welcome”
천만에요 is what textbooks give for you’re welcome, and it is almost never said. Using it marks you immediately as someone who learned Korean from a textbook rather than from people.
What is actually said:
| Level | Phrase | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| — | 네 [ne] | Yes / sure. The commonest response by a distance |
| Formal polite | 괜찮습니다 [gwaen-chan-sseum-ni-da] | It’s okay, no trouble |
| Casual polite | 괜찮아요 [gwaen-cha-na-yo] | It’s okay |
| Formal polite | 아닙니다 [a-nim-ni-da] | Not at all (literally “it is not”) |
| Casual polite | 아니에요 [a-ni-e-yo] | No problem |
| Casual | 별말씀을요 [byeol-mal-sseu-meu-ryo] | Don’t mention it |
| Casual | 뭘요 [mwo-ryo] | It was nothing |
| Either | 감사합니다 / 감사해요 | Thanking them back |
That last row is not a mistake. Answering thanks with thanks is entirely normal in Korean, and often warmer than deflecting.