4. 기본 문장 성분 (Basic sentence particles)

Oi!! :)

Today, you are gonna learn about basic sentence particles in Korean that are essential to make sentences!

In this part, you should study little bit harder because only after memorizing these, you can understand and make a lot of Korean sentences.

First of all, you should know that Korean sentence components are very different from Portuguese and English so it is better just to memorize rather than compare to your language. Ok?

1. Nominative pronouns

Korean has nominative pronouns like Portuguese and English.

I = 나[Na]

You = 너[Neo]/당신[Dang-sin] ; 당신 is a polite word for 너.

He = 그[Gue]

She = 그녀[Gue-nyeo]

We = 우리[Woo-li]

They = 그들[Gue-deul]

But, the problem is that you should add additional particles before you use these nominative pronouns. 

The additional particles are..

English	I	You	He	She	We	They
Subjective	나는/내가	당신은 /당신이 너는/네가	그는/그가	그녀는 /그녀가	우리는 /우리가	그들은 /그들이
English	Me	You	Him	Her	Us	Them
Objective	나를 /나에게	너를/너에게	그를/그에게	그녀를 /그녀에게	우리를 /우리에게	그들을 /그들에게
English	My	You	His	Her	Our	Their
Possessive	나의 /내(나+의)	너의 /네(너+의)	그의	그녀의	우리의	그들의

* Examples

1) The subjective postpositonal particles  

- "은[Eun]/는[Neun]/이[E]/가[Ga]"

은 is added after a pronoun ended with a consonant sound = ㄱ,ㄴ,ㄷ,ㄹ,ㅁ,ㅂ, ... 

는 is added after a pronoun ended with a vowel sound = ㅏ,ㅔ,ㅣ,ㅗ,ㅜ...

Ex) 

The pronoun, 나  is ended with "ㅏ". So you should put 는 after 나.

The pronoun, 그들 is ended with "ㄹ". So you should put 은 after 그들.

나는 안다. = I know . [Na-neun An-da].

너는 안다. = You know. [Neu-neun An-da], 당신은 안다. = You know [Dang-sin-eun An-da]

그는 안다 = He knows

그녀는 안다 = She knows

우리는 안다 = We know

그들은 안다 = They know

2) The objective postpositional particles with the subjective postpositonal particles

- "을/를/에게"

을 is added after a pronoun with a consonant sound = ㄱ,ㄴ,ㄷ,ㄹ,ㅁ,ㅂ, ...

를 is added after a pronoun with a vowel sound = ㅏ,ㅔ,ㅣ,ㅗ,ㅜ...

을/를 are added after direct objectives

Ex)

The pronoun, 나 is ended with "ㅏ". So you should put 를 after 나.

The pronoun, 그들 is ended with "ㄹ". So you should put 을 after 그들. 

The verbs accompanying direct objectives are "사랑하다=love", "좋아하다=like", "존경하다=respect", "이해하다=understand"..etc. 

나는 너를 사랑한다. = I love you

나는 그를 사랑한다. = I love him

나는 그들을 존경한다. = I respect them

나는 그녀를 이해한다. = I understand her

에게 is added after all pronouns.

에게 is added after indirect objectives.

The verbs accompanying indirect objectives are "주다=give", "묻다=ask"..etc.

나는 너에게 사랑을 준다. = I give you love

너는 나에게 사랑을 준다. = You give me love

너는 나에게 기쁨을 준다. = You give me joy

나는 너에게 행복을 준다. = I give you happiness

그는 나에게 질문을 물었다. = He asked me a question

3) The possessive postpositinal particles

-"의"

너는 나의 사랑이다. = You are my love

나는 너의 사랑이다. = I am your love.

그는 그녀의 남편 이다. = He is her husband.

그녀는 그의 부인 이다. = She is his wife.

A video example lecture from TalktomeKorean.

* I'm also adding detailed explanations from http://www.westudykorean.com/

* These explanations are kind of intermediate level so you'd better just take a look at this moment. Otherwise, you might feel very overwhelmed and then hate learning Korean!!..haha :)

1. Subjective postpositional particles : 은/는/이/가

1) 은/는

-은/는

-은/는 is a topic particle that marks the topic in the sentence in order tell us what the sentence is about. -은 is used after the words that ends in a consonant(ㄱ,ㄴ,ㄷ,ㄹ....), and -는 is used after the words that ends in a vowel(ㅏ,ㅔ,ㅣ,ㅗ,ㅜ). Add -께서 before -은/는 for honorific expression (e.g. 어머니께서는).

Examples)

1. 벤은 강아지에요. As for Ben, (he) is a puppy.
2. 앤은 학생이에요. As for Ann, (she) is a student.
3. 사라는 제 친구예요. As for Sarah, (she) is my friend.
4. 오늘은 크리스마스예요. Today is Christmas.
5. 내일은 휴일이라서 문을 안 열어요. Tomorrow is closed because it's a holiday. (contrast)

-은/는 is also used to change the topic.

Examples)

1. 어디 갔었어? 시험은 어땠어?
Where have you been? How was the exam? (Now the topic is the exam)

2. 그 아파트 어때? 가격은 얼마야?
How’s the apartment? How much is it? (Now the topic is the price of the apartment)

3. 이 셔츠 얼마예요? 이 넥타이는요?
How much is this shirt? How about this necktie? (Now the topic is the necktie)

When -은/는 is NOT in the beginning of the sentence, the sentence is used for comparing and contrasting.

Examples)

1. 연필은 있지만 볼펜은 없어. I have pencils, but I don't have pens.

2. 수지는 얼굴이 예뻐. Susie's face is pretty.

수지가 얼굴은 예뻐. (하지만 성격이 너무 나빠.) Susie's FACE is pretty. (but her personality is really bad.)

3. 그 식당은 음식이 맛있어. The restaurant’s food is delicious.
그 식당이 음식은 맛있어. (하지만 비싸) The restaurant’s FOOD is delicious. (but expensive)

To talk about the past information.

Examples)

1. 여행은 누구랑 갔어? Who did you travel with? 
2. 이 책은 어디에서 찾았어? Where did you find this book? 
3. 어제 잠은 몇 시에 잤어? What time did you go to bed yesterday?

When brining up a new topic to the conversation, -이/가 (marking the subject) is used for questioning, and -은/는 (marking the topic) is used for answering the question.

Examples)

1. 전공이 뭐예요? (major '전공' is the subject of the sentence) What is your major?
전공은 미술이에요. (the topic is changed to a major) (My) major is art.

2. 생일이 언제에요? (birthday '생일' is the subject of the sentence) When is your birthday?
생일은 9월 6일이에요. (the topic is changed to a birthday) My birthday is September 6th.

3. 취미가 뭐예요? (hobby '취미' is the subject of the sentence) What is your hobby?
취미는 기타 치는 거예요. (the topic is changed to a hobby) My hobby is playing a guitar.

2) 이/가

-이/가

-이/가 marks the subject in the sentence. -이 comes after a noun that ends in a consonant, and 가 comes after a noun that ends in a vowel.

Examples)

1. 마크가 운동을 한다. Mark does exercise.

마크(Mark) is the subject, and 운동(exercise) is the object.

2. 지갑이 없어졌다. (My) wallet is gone.

지갑(wallet) is the subject.

3. 수잔이 집에 있다. Susan is at home.

수잔(Susan) is the subject.

* What's the difference between -이/가 and -은/는?

To talk about new topics, use -이/가 at first, and then use -은/는.

Examples)

1. 나비가 하늘을 날아다닙니다. 나비는 꽃에 다가갔습니다.

The butterfly flies in the sky. It approached to flowers.

2. 저기 패트릭이 온다. There, Patrick comes.

-이/가 is for general statements, while 은/는 is for comparing statements.

Examples)

1. 하늘이 파랗다. The sky is blue. 
2. 강아지가 짖는다. The puppy barks.

3. 하늘은 파랗다. (하지만 비가 온다.) The sky is blue. (But it rains) 
4. 강아지는 짖는다. (하지만 고양이는 안짖는다.) The puppy barks. But the cat doesn't (bark).

-이/가's focus is the noun in front of the sentence, while -은/는 focuses the noun in the end.

Examples)

말리가 서점에 갔어요. Marley went to a book store. (The sentence is focused on Marley) 
말리는 서점에 갔어요. Marley went to a book store. (The sentence is focused on a book store)

For endings -겠습니다, -으ㄹ까요, use -이/가.

Examples)

1. 제가 도와드리겠습니다. I will help (you). 
2. 제가 먹을까요? Shall I eat (this)?

2. Objectvie postpositional particles : 을/를/에게

; 을/를 are for direct objectives. Ex) I love you = 나는 너를 사랑해. 

; 에게 is for indirect objectives. Ex) I give you my love = 나는 너에게 나의 사랑을 준다.

1) 을/를 

-을/를

을/를 is usually used to mark the direct object, which refers a noun that goes through the action indicated by the verb. When the following noun ends in a consonant, use 을. When the following noun ends in a vowel, use 를.

Examples)

1. 신문을 읽어요. (I) read the newspaper. 
2. 텔레비전을 봐요. (I) watch a television. 
3. 그는 사진을 찍어요. He takes pictures. 
4. 그녀는 매트리스를 사요. She buys a mattress. 
5. 스파게티를 먹어요. (I) eat spaghetti. 
6. 우리는 자전거를 타요. We are riding bicycles.

You can also change a noun into a verb form by simply adding -을/를 해요 to a noun.

Examples)

1. 샐리가 수영을 해요. Sally swims. 
2. 릭이 숨바꼭질을 해요. Rick plays hide-and-seek.
3. 테리가 노래를 해요. Terry sings songs. 
5. 낸시가 말을 해요. Nancy talks.
6. 해리가 일요일에 일해요. Harry works on Sunday.

2) 에게

-에게, -께 and -한테

Those all mean "to" in English, which are used to mark the animate objects. -에게 is used in formal/written language, -께 is used to indicate the esteemed person or someone higher position. -한테 is used in colloquial language.

Examples)

1. 제이콥에게 Dear Jacob (letter) 
2. 팻에게 안부 전해주세요. Please give my regards to Pat. 
3. 학생들에게 설문조사를 했다. (I) surveyed students. 
4. 선생님께 꾸중을 들었어요. (I) was scolded by a teacher.
5. 사장님께 연락했어요. (I) made a phone call to the president. 
6. 학부모님께 Dear parents of the students (letter) 
7. 나한테 묻지 마. Don’t ask me.
8. 강아지한테 먹이 줬어? Did you feed the puppy?
9. 그 종이 캐시한테 있어. Cathy has the paper.

By adding -서 to -에게, or 한테, the meaning changes to "from (someone)"

Examples)

1. 샘한테(서) 선물을 받았어. (I) received a gift from Sam.
2. 팀한테서 답장을 기다려요. (I) wait for a reply from Tim.
3. 빅터에게서 전화를 기다립니다. (I) wait for a phone call from Victor.
4. 교수님에게(서) 추천서를 받았습니다. (I) received a letter of recommendation from a professor.

3. Possessive postpositional particle

의 

-의

It indicates a possessor and relationship between two nouns in the sentence. The particle -의 is '...'s', and 'of' in English such as Andy's (앤디의), and the professor's (교수님의).

For the personal pronouns, 나/저 (I) becomes 나의(내)/저의(제), 너 (you) becomes 너의(네), and 우리/저희 (we, us, our) becomes 우리의/저희의, etc. For -의, you must put -것(거) 'thing' after -의.

Examples)

1. 그는 나의 (내) 친구예요. He is my friend. 
2. 이것은 저의 (제) 컵이에요. This is my cup. 
3. 그 시디는 나오미 거예요. The CD is Naomi's thing 
4. 그 신발은 니키의 것이에요. The shoes is Nicky's thing.

However, -의 is not necessary for colloquial settings.

Examples)

1. 이 가방은 누구의 것이에요? Whose bag is this? (formal) 
이 가방은 누구 것이야? Whose bag is this? (informal)

2. 그 지갑은 베니의 것이에요. That wallet is Benny's thing. (formal) 
그 지갑은 베니 것이야. That wallet is Benny's thing. (informal)