One of the first hurdles you face when learning Korean is the use of marking particles. It is certainly one of the biggest differences between the English and Korean languages and as such, it is often quite difficult for beginner (and established) learners to get their heads around!
In this blog, we will be looking at the four most commonly occurring marking particles that will be instrumental in your journey to learning Korean. These are...
We will be going over how and when to use them whilst also providing some sample sentences to help you familiarise yourself with them. So, without any further ado, let's get into marking particles!
Topic-Marking Particles:
Topic-marking particles are usually the first particles we are introduced to in our Korean learning journey. As the name suggests these particles are used to identify the topic of the sentence, but what does that mean?
What is a topic?
The topic of a sentence is the main focus, the part of it that you want to emphasise.
What are the topic-marking particles?
The topic-marking particle in Korean comes in two varieties, 은 and 는. Their use depends on their phonetic environment, which means that they conjugate based on the letter before them.
Conjugation:
Verb stem ending in a consonant + 은
Verb stem ending in a vowel + 는
How do we use topic-marking particles?
We would typically use topic-marking particles in sentences such as these...
E: Hello, I'm insert name here. Nice to meet you.
H: 안녕하세요, 저는 insert name here, 만나서 반갑숩니다
Here the topic-marking particle is used to show that I am talking about myself - I am the topic of the conversation. (This is commonly dropped in spoken Korean as it gets tedious!)
E: I don't like apples, but I like oranges.
H: 사과는 안 좋아는데 오렌지 좋아해요
Here the topic-marking particle is showing contrast. While, yes, the apples are the topic of the conversation, the use of the particle stresses the word 'apple' more than orange. It's saying "As for apples... I don't like them. I do like oranges though."
E: Compared to yesterday, the weather is good!
H: 오늘은 날시가 좋아요!
Here is another example of when the use of the particle can add stress and importance to a word. As a literal translation, this sentence says "Today the weather is good" but with the use of the marking particle stressing "Today" we would interpret it as "specifically today (compared to yesterday or a future day we have been speaking about) the weather is good."
You may have noticed that I sneaked in a subject-marking particle into the example above as a delicious little segue into our next topic... Why not kill two birds with one stone, hey?
Subject-Marking Particles:
Now we move on to the subject-marking particle. Interestingly, this particle can often be switched out with the topic-marking particle, so if you use the wrong one, don't worry, people should understand you just fine!
What is a subject?
The subject of a sentence is the person, thing or place that is performing the action of a sentence. It is basically any word that you put before 'is', 'was' or 'will be'. This is why it can often be interchanged with the topic of a sentence.
What are the subject-marking particles?
As with the topic marking particle, the subject marking particle comes in two varieties 이 & 가. Which one you use depends on the letter preceding the particle.
Conjugation:
Verb stem ending in a consonant + 이
Verb stem ending in a vowel + 가
How do we use subject-marking particles?
Subject-marking particles are used in many different kinds of sentences where a person, place or thing is performing an action. In these examples, we will focus on sentences where this is more explicit - e.g. sentences that contain an 'is' as we are working in the present tense.
E: This bag is pretty.
H: 이 가방이 예뻐요.
In this sentence we have the bag committing the act of being pretty - This bag is DOING something and that thing is being pretty.
E: This food looks delicious, I will eat well!
H: 이 음식이 보는 맛있어요, 잘 먹겠습니다!
Though I have omitted the 'is' in this sentence, we understand it as "the food is looking delicious" it is in the process of looking delicious. The final part of this sentence is a common phrase in Korean and is used to the same (but not quite) effect as bonne appetite*.
*There is a more direct Korean translation of this, but we shall learn that another time!
E: My friend is meeting me at the movies tonight
H: 제 친구가 저녁 영화장에서 만나요.
Here we can see an example of the other kind of subject-marking particle that we use when the noun it follows ends with 받침 (final consonant). The subject of the action in this sentence is my friend. They are the 'thing' meeting me.
As with the topic-marking particle section, this final example also includes a glimpse at our next marking particle... can you guess what it is?
Location-Marking Particles:
Compared to the other three marking particles mentioned in this blog, the location-marking particle is a bit of an outlier as it is a little more self-explanatory in terms of its use, but also conjugates in a different way.
What is a location?
The location of a sentence is the place at which the events of a sentence are taking place. This means that it can be a physical location or a specified time, just like in English. We use 'to' and 'at' in English to specify a location. In Korean, we use the following particles.
What are the location-marking particles?
As I am sure you are expecting, the location-marking particles also come in two varieties, 에 and 에서, though which of these versions you use is not dependent on the phonetic environment.
Conjugation:
(A location you are going to/ stating a location) Noun + 에
(A location at which something is happening) Noun+ 에서
A note on the conjugation:
에 is used for all locations where a thing exists (있다), locations you are travelling to (가다) or locations you are looking at (보다). If you were to be in a location looking at something(else) you would use 에서 with the 보다 verb.
How do we use location-marking particles?
In this instance, I am going to give two examples of each usage rather than 3 overall examples as the context of the sentence and the actions are more important with location-marking particles.
E: This morning I am going to the park
H: 오늘은 아침 공원에 가요
Here though both 'morning' and 'park' are locations we have only marked the most important one. You could mark both if you wanted to be very specific that it is the morning that you are going, but otherwise, this would be unnecessary. As this is a location we are simply 'going' to (not specifying any action when we arrive there) we use 에.
You can see also that we have marked 'today' with the topic-marking particle specifying that these activities are happening today.
E: Tomorrow I am studying at school
H: 내일 학교에서 공부해요
In this example we can see that we are completing an action (studying) at school (location) therefore we use 에서 instead of 에. You may also notice that I have chosen to negate the topic-marking particle on the 'tomorrow' as it is not actually needed for this sentence to make sense.
E: Lunch is at 12 O'clock
H: 점심이 12시에 예요
I wanted to make sure I included a time location as these always use 에 as you can't be doing something in a time, only at a time.
You may also spot the sneaky subject-marking particle in there. Hopefully, this shows you how commonplace these particles really are. Most sentences will have at least one if not a combination of these particles as your sentences become more complex. ,
E: I am reading a book in the library
H: 저는 더서관에서 책을 읽어요
Another example of the use of 에서 - here we are reading (action) in the library (location). Additionally in this sentence, we are reading a book (object) and thus we are introduced to our final marking particle for this blog.
Object-Marking Particles:
Object-marking particles are often the most tricky to get to grips with simply because we don't define the 'object' of a sentence all that clearly when writing and speaking English. I have often had to go back and look at definitions of terms (topic, subject, object) in the English language throughout my Korean learning journey and I AM English!
I guess it just goes to show how little I understood my own language before choosing to learn a new one!
What is an object?
The object of a sentence is the noun upon which the verb acts. To recap - the subject is a noun that acts, and the object is a noun that is acted upon. e.g. I read a book ( a book is read). I ate a pizza ( a pizza is eaten).
What are the object-marking particles?
The object-marking particle, like all the others, has two different conjugations, 을 and 를. Like the topic and subject-marking particles, the choice of which one to use is made based on the preceding letter.
Conjugation:
Verb stem ending in a consonant + 을
Verb stem ending in a vowel + 를
How do we use object-marking particles?
Unlike topic-marking particles and, occasionally, subject-marking particles, object-marking particles can rarely be neglected. That is to say, you almost always have to use them in both written and spoken Korean.
E: I wear a pretty skirt to school
H: 저는 학교에 예쁜 치마를 입어요
The skirt is being worn therefore it is the object of the sentence.
E: Let's eat bibimbap together for dinner!
H: 저녁에 비빔밥을 같이 먹어요!
Here, if we had not specified bibimbap, the dinner would have been the object, but because we have made a specification, the marking particle marks the more prominent piece of information.
E: I am reading a very interesting book.
H: 저는 되게 재미있는 책을 읽어요
A nice simple example for the end, no sneaking in any extra marking particles here! In this case, it is the book that is being read, therefore the book is the particle.
The end:
So there we have it - the four most common marking particles. Hopefully, this blog proves to be useful to you as a learning resource, but also as a checking one - you wouldn't believe how often I had to go back to my initial notes on these topics when writing this blog!
Learning a language takes up a lot of brain power, so don't be disheartened if you forget things occasionally and have to pop back here to check. It's what it's here for!
*A note about grammar:
As this blog post is aimed at those who have not met these marking particles before, I have tried to avoid the other more complicated grammar that would usually be more appropriate for these sentences. However, I thought it might be best to state this piece of grammar for those of you that might be interested!
In many of the above sentences, the protagonist is in the process of doing something, e.g. reading or wearing. For ease of communication, I have left these verb endings in the 아/어/여요 form. For those who would like to learn a little more grammar today (brave and after my own heart <3) the correct grammar for expressing 'currently doing something' is Verb + 고 있어요.
Enjoy!
Immy
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