Hangul syllable Tass

The phrase around it tells you which verb is meant. Forms such as 탔다, 탔어, and 탔어요 contain this syllable. They come from past forms of the Korean verb 타다, which has different senses including riding, burning, and tanning. The rest of the phrase supplies the sense: 버스를 탔어 means “I rode the bus,” while 고기가 탔어 means “The meat burned.”

Hangul was designed for Korean, which differs from Chinese; writing Korean with Chinese characters was difficult for many people to learn. The guide Hunminjeongeum introduced the new script. The script's creation is dated to 1443, and the guide was published in 1446. Hangul arranges sound letters into syllable blocks, so ㅌ + ㅏ + ㅆ forms 탔.

Hangul moved from translations and learning materials into everyday and practical writing, and became the official national writing system in 1894. Korean spelling used ㅅ-series consonant clusters for tense sounds in the 15th century, and these clusters continued through the 19th century. Doubled consonants such as ㅆ became standard in the 20th century.

How do I type 탔?

On the Korean 2-beolsik keyboard, press X, K, then Shift+T. With Korean input on, X enters ㅌ, K enters ㅏ, and Shift+T enters final ㅆ; the input method combines them as 탔.

A Hangul syllable is written as one block even though its consonant and vowel letters are separate. If you enter ㅌ, ㅏ, and ㅆ without a Korean input method composing them, they may stay as separate jamo, or individual Hangul sound letters, instead of becoming 탔.