라 Hangul syllable Ra

What 라 means

Its meaning depends on the Korean word or ending around it. 라 can be part of a word, name the musical note la, or do grammatical work. After quoted words, it can shorten the quotation marker -라고; in 쓰라 (“write it”), it is part of a direct written command. A lone 라 gives no reliable clue to a sender’s mood, so read the surrounding phrase.

Why is 라 a block?

It combines ㄹ and ㅏ into one Hangul syllable block. Hangul was devised under King Sejong to represent Korean speech and make reading more accessible. It was created in 1443 and introduced in 1446 in a book titled 훈민정음 (Hunminjeongeum, “Correct Sounds for Instructing the People”).

Unicode can store the same syllable as the single block 라 or as the two-character sequence 라. Text normalization can switch between those forms without changing the intended reading.

How do I type 라?

On a Korean Dubeolsik keyboard, press f, then k. With Korean input active, f enters ㄹ and k enters ㅏ; the input method combines them as 라. If you get Latin letters, switch to Korean input. If you get separate jamo, check that Hangul composition is enabled.

The ending -라 can sound direct and literary; it is not a polite ending to add casually.

A lone 라 has no fixed reaction meaning; read the whole Korean phrase before replying.

Who writes 라

Loading…

What it means when someone sends it to you

3 readings

A shortened form of -라고, marking quoted or reported wording.

Don't confuse it with

1

ㄹ

Hangul Letter Rieul

라 vs ㄹ: ㄹ is only the consonant; 라 is a complete syllable that adds the vowel ㅏ.

Related characters

2

ᄅ

Hangul Choseong Rieul

The leading consonant letter in the two-character Unicode form 라 of 라.

ᅡ

Hangul Jungseong A

The vowel letter after ᄅ in the two-character Unicode form 라 of 라.

Questions people ask

1

Why do I see 라 written as ra or la?

In Korean romanization, 라 is normally written ra because ㄹ is represented as r before a vowel. La can name the solfège note; in Korean key names, 라장조 and 라단조 mean A major and A minor. That music-note reading does not make la the usual romanization of the syllable.