Korean Particles part1

There are lots of particles in Korean, some books call them markers.  I will call them particles here. Korean Particles mostly attached to a noun, so there is no space between nouns and particles.  Let’s see what kind of particles are in Korean.

1. Subject particles -이/가 
Noun(ends with a consonant) + 이
Noun(ends with a vowel) + 가
Subject particles attach to a noun to tell us that noun is a subject in a sentence.  For example,
     선생님이 여자예요.  The teacher is a female.
     의자가 어디에 있어요?  Where is the chair?

Koreans often drop the subject particle –이/가  when they make conversations.
i.e) 사과 있어요? Do you have apples?
사과 없어요. I don’t have apples.
돈 있어요?    Do you have money?

2. Object particles -을/를
Noun(ends with a consonant) + 을
Noun(ends with a vowel) + 를
Object particles attach to a noun to tell us that noun is an object in a sentence. For example,
    밥을 안 먹었어요.   I didn’t eat a meal.
    커피를 마셔요.  I am drinking coffee.

3. Topic particles or comparison particles -은/는
Noun(ends with a consonant) + 은
Noun(ends with a vowel) + 는
When -은/는 are topic particles, they substitute subject particles or object particles, which means you cannot use -이/가(or 을/를) and 은/는 at the same time.  Thus, many students get confused by subject particles and topic particles.  I explain these two particles in this post(click). For example,
     선생님은 한국 사람이에요.  The teacher is Korean.
     저는 진우예요.  I am Jin-woo.

-은/는 also can mean ‘comparison’.   For example,
     사과는 좋아해요. 그런데 수박은 안 좋아해요.  I like apples, but I don’t like water melons. (사과를 => 사과는  수박을 => 수박은 )
     제 친구는 영어를 잘해요. 그런데 저는 영어를 못해요.  My friend speaks English very well, but I don’t. (제 친구가 => 제 친구는, 제가 => 저는 )

If you are confused subject 이/가 and 은/는, please click here and learn more.

4. Time and place particle -에 
-에 has lots of meanings, however I only want to talk about time and place here.  For example,
1)  어디에 있어요?  Where is it? : It means ‘existence‘, so it is used with 있다/없다/살다
2)  학교에 가요. I am going to school.  : It means ‘destination‘, so it is used with 가다/오다/다니다
3)  2 시에 만나요.  Let’s meet at 2.  : It means ‘time‘ for this verb/adjective happens.
(However some nouns such as 지금, 어제, 오늘, 내일, 매일, 언제etc don’t add -에)

5. Place particle -에서 (at, in, on)
-에서 is a place particle with “action verbs“.  Many students get confused this with -에, but remember this is for “action verb” and -에 is for ‘있다/없다’.  For example,
백화점에서 만나요.  Let’s meet at the department store.
식당에서 점심을 먹어요. I am eating at a restaurant.

It also means ‘from somewhere’, for example
서울에서 왔어요. I am from Seoul.
서울에서 부산까지 멀어요.  It is far from Seoul to Busan.

6. -하고 : ‘and’ and ‘with’ = 와/과 or (이)랑
-하고 has two meaning, which are ‘and’ between two nouns and ‘with someone/animal’.  For example,
1) 수박하고 사과를 안 먹어요.  I don’t eat watermelons and apples.
2) 엄마하고 백화점에 갔어요.  I went to the department store with my mom.
* For formal form of 하고 is 와/과.  For example,
1) 수박 사과를 안 먹습니다.
2) 의사 이야기하세요.
* You will see (이)랑 sometimes instead of 하고.  (이)랑 is very casual form, so you only use it in a casual situation.  For example,
1) 수박이랑 사과를 안 먹어요.
2) 엄마 백화점에 갔어요.

7. -도  : ‘also’ and ‘even’ 
As I said earlier, it is a particle, so we shouldn’t use this as an adverb.
1) 고기를 먹었어요. 그리고 소주도 마셨어요.  I ate meat and also drank Soju.
고기를 먹었어요. 도 소주 마셨어요. (X)
2) 한 명도 안 왔어요. Even one person didn’t come.  : -도 is usually used with numbers, and means ‘even’.

8. -만 : ‘only’
Many students use this like an adverb because in English ‘only’ is an adverb. BUT 만 is ONLY attached to a noun.  For example,
사과만 안 먹어요.  Apples are only fruit I do not eat.
저만 한국 사람이에요.  I am the only Korean person.

9. -밖에 + negative word: ‘only’ 
It means similar to ‘-만’, however it needs an negative word such as ‘안’,  ‘못’,  ‘없어요’ or ‘몰라요’. For example,
저는 사과밖에 안 먹어요. I only eat apples.
저밖에 안 왔어요. I am the only one who came.
영어밖에 몰라요. I only know English.

You can listen to the audio by clicking this link. 

If you want to study ‘Korean particles part 2’, please click here. 

#에 #에서 #도 #이가 #이/가 #은/는 #을/를 #하고 #만 only #밖에 only #subject particle #object particle #place particle #particle #이 subject #가 subject #은 topic #는 topic #marker #time particle

[Grammar] 조사 particles

조사 particles

 

There are lots of particles in Korean such as the subject particle, the object particle, the place particle, the time particle and the destination particle etc.  What are particles’ function?  Particles tell us constituents of a sentence, which means particles tell us which one is a subject, an object, place, time or a destination. In English, it is similar to preposition.  For example,

엄마 아들 사랑해요 (mom, son, love)

In this sentence, I can’t tell who love whom.  So we need particles like this,

엄마 아들 사랑해요. (The mom loves her son.)

아들 엄마 사랑해요. (The son loves his mom.)
and are subject particles, – and are object particles.

Or,

학교 회사 있어요. (school, company, is)

I can’t tell whether ‘There is the company in the school’ or ‘There is the school in the company’.

학교 회사 있어요. (The company is at the school.)

학교 회사 있어요. (The school is at the company.)
is the place particle.

 

If you want to learn more particles, please click

한국어 조사1 here
한국어 조사 2 here