This lesson will introduce the topic marking particles and the subject marking particles in the Korean language. The topic marking particles and the subject marking particles play a very important role in Korean so it’s very important that you learn them well. But even some advanced-level speakers of the language can make mistakes regarding these particles, so please don’t worry even if you don’t get them right away. You will eventually be able to use them naturally after some practice. Today’s lesson is our first introduction to the particles. Make sure you read the PDF file as well. Thank you! Please feel free to ask any questions in the comment!
You can download a free PDF for this lesson here, or if you want to study with our TalkToMeInKorean textbooks, you can get them here. And after you learn the basics, try writing your own Korean sentences and get corrections from native speakers through HaruKorean, our 1:1 correction service.
안녕히세요.. 나는 나비라 입니다. I still dont understand how to use 은, 는 please teach me again. 정말 감사합니다.
This video help a lot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO37JB72QcM
hi.tanks for toturial.I can’t download level9 mp3 .please help me.
감사함니다
it is really helpful
i can understand it even more:)))
안녕히 가세요 ㅠ0ㅠ
So, are there two topics in this sentence? ….. 내일은 저는 일해요.
Yeah, two topic marking particles are used in the sentence but it is rare to use same marking particle twice in one sentence.
It is natural to say 내일은 제가 일해요.
I have already studied these particles several times but really it was very hard to understand.
Today i took a lecture on TTMIK about this particles.
now i am confidient to use them easily.
thanks a lot to all of the teachers of TTMIK.
the excellent explanation.
저는 벌써 이것을 공부하지만 못이해했습니다.
오늘은 여기에 공부하고 정말 쉽게 이해했어요.
제일좋은 설명이 드립니다.
그문장 에 잘못으면 죄송합니다.
정말많이 많이 감사합니다.
if there is any mistake in the above sentences which i have written in Korean language, then please help me to make those sentences correct.
it is my humble request.
지금 TTMIK 으로 다시 공부하는 중 입니다.
Hi 아브데시 새인거,
Oh, I think that you did a good job!
Let me check your sentences.
저는 벌써 이것을 공부하지만 못이해했습니다.
> 저는 벌써 이것을 공부했지만(past tense), 이해 못 했어요.
오늘은 여기에 공부하고 정말 쉽게 이해했어요.
> 오늘은 여기에서 공부하고 정말 쉽게 이해했어요.
그문장 에 잘못으면 죄송합니다.
> 그 문장에 잘못이 있으면 죄송합니다.
정말많이 많이 감사합니다.
> 정말 많이 많이 감사합니다.
Thanks for trying to make Korean sentences.
감사합니다, finally I know a different of 은/는 and 이/가. Because before I read a pdf and listen the mp3 in talk to me in korean, I don’t understand to use them. Thank you very much….
aaah so hard
i will study it again and again … i can not even make the questions i wanna ask ‘cuz of my confuse feeling about this lesson ..
is this right 저는 한굴 학생예요
tell me please if i said this to a Korean person how he will understand it
also .. i am watching a k drama now and they say a ni e ra .. is this like anieyo ?
감사합니다 you are really amazing and helpful
i will work hard to learn so i can travel to Korea and get my dream there ^^
but where is my comment
Let’s say I’m at restaurant ABC and I want to recommend ABC’s gimbap. Can I say ABC 는 김밥이맛있요 . If so, can I also use 여기는since I’m at that restaurant.
wow it is very confusing because this im still a beginner in korean language but thanks to both of you for a very clear explanation… i will study this topic again and again…
I’m having troubles with the subject marketing particles TT
At the end of the lesson Hyunwoo says
목소리가 좋아요. But doesn’t that make the voice the subject instead of the object of the sentence?
E.g. if I like her voice I would write or say:
제가 목소리를 좋아요.
Making me (I) the subject and the voice is the object. Or did I misunderstand something? Thank you in advance.
Sorry, you can ignore my question from earlier since I think the verb is 좋다, right? Which is why the voice can be the subject…
Let me try and explain this in a nutshell for my own benefit. Is this correct?
Topic particles add emphasis to a word. ‘THIS idea, rather than that idea is….’
Subject particles add clarity or precision to the sentence. ‘THIS idea specifically is…(blah blah)
Let me try and explain this in a nutshell for my own benefit.
Topic particles add emphasis to a word. ‘THIS idea, rather than that idea is….’
Subject particles add clarity or precision to the sentence. ‘THIS idea specifically is…’
Is this correct?
Let me get this straight…
Topic particles add emphasis to a word: ‘this idea, RATHER THAN that idea is…’
Subject particles add clarity to a sentence: ‘this idea SPECIFICALLY is…’
Am I right..?
hello, thank you for your lesson. i’ve been quite confused with this topic previously.
i wanna ask, in your pdf notes, you gave this example:
내일은 저는 일해요. [nae-il-eun jeo-neun il-hae-yo]
= “As for tomorrow, I work.”
i’m quite confused with this. why are two topic particles used in this sentence? which is the main topic that is emphasized here then?
thank you again!
Hi Claira,
When two subject marking particles are used like it, you should check the verb and what does it modify.
Then you will find the main subject is 저.
Well, it is not comment to use the two same subject/topic marking particles in a sentence.
Anyway, the 은 after 내일 emphasize nuance of the date. As for tomorrow, but not other day, I, but not other person, work.
Thanks for your comment.
Thanks a lot! that was AMAZING!
seriously, i dont understand this
i thought this would be easy for me, but i’m stucked here
my mother tongue isn’t english
my mother tongue is spanish…
im depressed
Hi Daniela,
I understand that it must be hard to understand this marking particle which doesn’t exist in other countries.
However I hope you not to give up. The purpose of these marking particles is to add nuance to the subject and in most cases, they are often omitted in conversation.
If it is too hard to understand here, then why don’t you just skip this lesson?
Thanks for your comment.
I’m not 100% sure I got it but I’m beginning to grasp the concept. It’s very hard and very new to me but I will NOT give up. Fighting! To everyone else still studying and thanks guys for explaining. I’m sure once I listen I this lesson and study it a bit more i will get it.
hello teacher…I have a question…
could i summarize the idea of this grammar like this??
1- the topic marking participles is used for things like /water – books/ .
2- to change the topic of the first sentence for example:
William is a teacher , I am a student.
/William seon sang i ya yeo . cheo nin hak seang i yea yeo./
3- to give a negative meaning for other things except what i am talking about , for example: this book is good
/i cheakin cheo yeo /
================
thanks teacher a lot for your efforts and for this website ,it;s really helpful….
although , my mother tongue is Arabic, I can understand the mp3 files because your English is simple and your accent is clear enough to understand…. thanks a lot…………
This video help me a lot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO37JB72QcM
ah…i find it so confusing. why is it 아니 에요 instead of 예요?
sorry. should have posted under lesson 8.
Hi Ling,
When it comes to noun, like 가위, 가방, it is right to add 예요 to 가위 and 이에요 to 가방.
however the word 아니 is not noun in the expression and it is a predicate.
So it is conjugated to 아니에요.
선생님들 재미있어요
고마워요
Hi, first of all: thank you for all your great classes, they’re helping me a lot, and hopefully I’ll be able to maintain a basic conversation when I travel to Korea (hopefully in about 3 or 4 months).
But I have one question: after listening to this class three times (and read the pdf twice, and even watched the GoBillyKorean video), I didn’t understand the difference between [eun]/[neun] and [i]/[ga] when it comes to emphasizing something, since [eun]/[neun] can have the meaning of “unlike other things” or “different from other things” and [i]/[ga] can mean “none other than” or “nothing but”, which, for me, are basically identical. Can someone explain me when to use one and not the other when I want to emphasize something?
Thank you again.
I am finding it very hard to differentiate between the topic and subject of a sentence. Aren’t they quite the same thing?
Am I right in saying that the topic covers the conversation while the subject is specific and different for every sentence that is used?
O__o……. I’m so confused….. I don’t even know where to begin… lol I am trying to make sure that I really understand each level before moving on to the next, so I want to listen to 1-10 again before I go to the rest of Level 1, but this lesson is really causing me to panicking. How important is it to understand the topic & subject marking particles at this point? Will we revisit the subject in future lessons?
I am also waiting until I can speak Korean (somewhat) before I try to read/write in Korean. Do you think this is a good idea? Should I learn the alphabet first?
Okay…I think maybe I get it…Maybe? If I wanted to ask someone at the convenient store, “What is good?” and I wanted then to be specific, would I say “뭐 가 조 아 요?” (mwo-GA jo-a-yo?)
In my head the conversation is happening like this…(Person 1) 뭐 가 조 아 요? (mwo-GA jo-a-yo?) (Person 2) 우 유 조 아 요. (u-yu jo-a-yo.) (Person 1) 우 유 조 아 요? (u-yu jo-a-yo?) (Person 2) 아 니 요. 바 나 나 우 뉴 가 조 아 요. (Aniyo. ba-na-na-u-yu-GA jo-a-yo.) …Can you tell me if this is correct or not? I think the topic and subject marking particles has been the hardest thing for me to figure out so far! Thanks! Kelsey.
Hi everyone. I am first time in this home page. I never heard about this web.I need korean some of the worksheets. Couz I have lots of mistakes of grammar. Could you help me about it?
아넝하세요
Thanks for the lesson. In general I find it very useful and informative. A couple times so far in level 1 you’ve said things like “Korean people came up with the device” and I feel like as someone teaching language it is rather disingenuous to suggest that particles are somehow added to a language as a conscious choice by one group of people. It would be just as inaccurate to say “English people decided to order their sentences ‘Subject verb object’ since without particles that’s the only way it would make sense.” Languages always make sense to whoever speaks it natively. A language could be order “Object Subject Verb” with no particles and still make sense. It makes it sound like you’re being culturally superior by suggesting that Koreans came up with these necessary linguistic developments.
Sorry if I cam off as too critical but this kind of thing is frustrating to me.
For the lessons though, 감사합니다.