Level 1 Lesson 9 / topic,subject marking particles / 은, 는, 이, 가Level 1 Lesson 9 / topic,subject marking particles / 은, 는, 이, 가
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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!
Lesson PDF in other languages (Participate in the translation!)
Discussion( leave a comment )
So, I’m just checking for understanding.
eun/neun- can be used to emphasize a word. Moreover, it makes the word mean that nothing else matters, I don’t care for anything else, I don’t know about the rest, the others are bad but this one is what it is.
i/ka- can also be used to emphasize a word. Moreover, it makes the the word mean that compared to others this one, at least this one is what it is.
is that right? Or did I misunderstand something?
Gamshamnida! ^-^~b
Hi AJ,
If you want to compare the subject with other things, then it will be better to use eun/neun, because 은 [eun] / 는 [neun] has the nuance of “about” something, “as for” something, or even “unlike other things” or “different from other things.”
이 [i] / 가 [ga] has the nuance of “none other than” “nothing but” and also, when used inside a complex sentence, the role of marking the subject without emphasizing it too much.
1) 오늘은 날씨 좋네요. [o-neul-EUN nal-ssi jot-ne-yo]
(The weather hasn’t been so good lately, but TODAY, it’s good.)
2) 오늘 날씨는 좋네요. [o-neul nal-ssi-NEUN jot-ne-yo]
(Today, not necessarily everything else too, but at least the weather is good.
I really dont understand why we put Nuen in Ex: 1 After o-neul
and why we put Neun after nal-ssi in ex: 2??!
Help! i really tried to listen to this lesson 2 times to understand T_T!
as I know 은 comes after a word ends with consonant, and 는 comes after a word ends with vowel.
hope it help!
Thanks so much for the lessons. These lessons are helping me a lot.
same here I am sooooooo glad for this website. I plan to study korean in college next year. But for now, this is the only thing I have to learn from and I am sooooooooo greatful for it.
감사합니다!!!
Kyeong Eun noona have cute voice.. I love listening to her voice and I’m learning korean .. yey!.
안녕하세요 선생님
I’m a little confused. I tried to help myself understand by constructing the following sentences. Please correct me.
1. 현우는 물이 마셔요
= only 현우 is drinking water (although he may be drinking other things at the same time)
2. 경은이 물은 마셔요
= 경은 is drinking only water (and not other drinks)
In (2), there are other people doing the same thing as 경은 but I’m only interested in talking about her.
I hope you understand what I’m asking.
감사합니다! :)
In the sentencese, 물 is in the object position so it can not be a subject or topic in the sentence.
So you should say 현우는 물을 마셔요 or 경은은 물을 마셔요.
However you can say 현우는 물을 마셔요 or 현우가 물을 마셔요.
안녕하세요 선생님
Thanks for you explanation. I understand but still a little confused. I think my problem is that I’m not sure what the difference is between the topic and the object of a sentence. Can you help me with that?
감사합니다! :)
안녕하세요! Thank you very much for this lesson!
First of all, I want to make sure whether my understanding about this topic is right or wrong:
By using 은 and 는, we are comparing and contrasting something.
Meanwhile, by using 이 and 가, we are referring to someone or something.
If that is correct, then I want to ask a question regarding your example, “오늘은 날씨가 좋아요”.
Why the meaning of this sentence is “The weather today is not good…but today itself may still be wonderful!”? I read your explanation in some comments, but still I don’t get it.
What I get from this sentence is “Today (unlike the other days), the weather (I’m talking about the weather / referring to the subject) is good.” (so we are discussing about today’s good weather). I’m afraid that I missed the point here, but I don’t know where. Can you please tell me?
I would be grateful if you could explain it more. 감사합니다!
I think you understand it correctly.
The meaning of the sentence “오늘은 날씨가 좋아요” is “today’s weather is good”. As there is “은” after “오늘”, the sentence can have the nuance that the weather hasn’t been so good lately, but TODAY, it’s good.
안녕하세요 ^^ i come from Indonesia and this lesson really hard, it just hard to compared, some how they seems similar~~ but it’s great to listen over and over again. it help me much! thank you! 감사합니다 선생님 :)
But eventually I understood the “는” it’s mean “are”, and “은” it’s mean “is”
it’s that right or wrong?!
i’ll show you my sentence!!
“내일은 저는 시험 있어요”
It’s just only me or someone else is having trouble viewing the .pdf files?
감사합니다 for the lessons, they’re helping me a lot and I’ve learned so many things! and it’s so fun to listen to you guys, it’s quiet enjoyable.
Have you tried right-clicking on the link and choosing ‘Save Target As…’ or ‘Save Link As…’ (depending on your browser)? (It might even say ‘Save File As…’ or something like that)
Okay, so I find this subject very hard!! I’m from Holland by the way, but speak dutch and english fluently.
Ah, I really don’t understand when to use 은 and는, or 이 and 가.. I do know 이 comes after a consonant, and 가 after a vowel, but when do you use them (aside from when you want to clearify the subject)? And when do you use 은 and는?
And I also read something about 을 and 를… and what is that? :O
I really have no clue about this… I’d understand when someone says that, but I don’t know what to say myself, because I’m afraid I’ll say the wrong thing.
Thank you so much by the way, I already learned a lot here, even though I’m still stuck in level 1 =D
A tip for other students: by watching korean dramas and variety shows (especially those), you can learn more words and expressions =D
I had difficulty with it too, so I spent maybe three days of research on it D: but now I can use topic and subject marking particles with ease (relief!). I’ll try to say what I know, in addition to what already been stated in the audio/pdf.
Subject marking particles (eun/neun) seem to be a little simple that topic marking particles, and can only be nouns. To identify the subject if you know what the verb is, such as: “The computers need to be replaced” [What need to be replaced?] the “computers”, so the computers are the subject. Subject seems to actually be “subject of the verb”, so what performs the action. Unlike the topic marking particle, it STRESSES a word, putting emphasis it’s the subject (of the verb).
Topic marking particles (i/ga)though, I’ve found are a little more intricate… the topic marking particle can be an inanimate object or noun. Firstly, to identify the topic (which is usually the same as the subject), it’s like writing. The topic sentence holds all the neccessary information and the body of the paragraph expands on it, like a theme. So, for “Nancy(neun) gave everyone cookies.” Nancy is the subject (because she’s the GIVING the cookies) AND the TOPIC. Nancy is the main focus, and that’s the VERY basic of what you’re talking about. If all details were taken away except for the topic (marked with neun) we’d still know that I’m talking about Nancy, I may not know what she’s doing or who she is, but I know that she’s the focus.
Topic particles also relate to a topic already mentioned in earlier context. Such as if you said “This is good.”, I want to put emphasis when I ask what IS BEING good, which is putting emphasis on the subject: This. So I ask, “What(ga) is good?” (“what” is referring to “this) and they’d replay “This(eun) is good.” because “this” is already a familiar topic/established in the conversation. Topic marking particles, you should note, add weight/emphasis, but they don’t stress anything. And as you should know already, [eun/neun] have the nuance of “about” something, “as for something” or even “unlike other things”, which is how they put emphasis and contrast on different parts of a sentence. Subject marking particles [i/ga] as said, STRESSES words a little more than emphasive, so they don’t have a particular nuance.
(this part I’m a little unsure if it’s correct, you can see for yourself)The topic marking particle can also seem to put more emphasis on the verb, in the example:
“I bought it”
1. “I(ga) sold it” – I(It was ME who) sold it
2. “I(neun) sold it” – I(As for me), I sold it.
Sentence 1. would answer me is I asked “Who sold my teddy?” and sentence 2. would answer “What did you do with my teddy?”
Sorry if my explanation is a little hard to understand, but please, anyone correct me if it seems a little faulty. :O
Hm, it is also little hard for me to explain the subject/topic marking particles, so I made this video. I will keep making this video series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKrXrmMB-vg
을 and 를 is object marking particle so I hope you to check out this lesson.
http://www.talktomeinkorean.com/lessons/level-2-lesson-2-%ec%9d%84-%eb%a5%bc-object-marking-particles/
Ah thank you so much! Both of you :3
Michelle, your explanation really made clear a lot =D Thank you so much for it~~ Kamsahamnida~~<3
Seokjin, thank you so much for making another video<3 It cleared up a lot! Talktomeinkorean is a great help for me to study korean, and I'm even teaching a friend of mine Korean by the help of your videos (hehe homework :3)
So I just wanted to say; thank you for everything~~!
Is there a difference if I say;
저는 학생이에요 or 저 학생이에요.
I’m not sure if I understand about the particles… If I say with the particle -는 does it talk about I and if I don’t say it with the particle is it like I am saying; This is a student?
By adding subject/topic marking particle, you can give some nuance to the sentences.
Regarding 저는 학생이에요, it has a nuance that generally “I am a student” or other guys are not students but me.
If you add 가 after 제, like 제가 학생이에요, it has a nuance that “I mean that I am a student”.
If you omit it, then it won’t have a nuance and it will just mean that I am a student in general.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKrXrmMB-vg
I have a question.about that topic marking particles.
Is my understanding correct if I say,
“Oneuleun dun eopsseoyo.” means
TODAY is the only day that I don’t have money.
and,
“Oneul duneun eopsseoyo.” means
Today, MONEY is the only thing I don’t have.
Hope I can clear myself on this. I’m a bit confused about these particles so hope you can help me.
Kamsahamnida. :)
yeah, I think your are understanding it rightly. :)
asd
I have a question about topic marking particles.
Am I understanding it correctly if I say,
“Oneuleun dun eopsseoyo.” means
TODAY is the only day I don’t have money.
and,
“Oneul duneun eopsseoyo.” means
Today, MONEY is the only thing I don’t have.
I am a bit confused about this but I’m getting my way there.
Hope you can help.
Kamsahamnida. :)
I am also not sure about this: basically the position of [eun] or [neun] in the sentance changes WHAT the person is talking about? Is that correct?
Thanks!
So, here’s where I guess some of my confusion is coming from.
If you’re not going to use un/nun for emphasis or any of it’s other uses that you mentioned, is it better just to leave it off? Or do formal situations require it? In which case, how do you make sure you’re still saying what you intended?
The same goes for i/ga.
Kamsahamnida!
Hi Hinze,
The subject/topic marking particle helps you to clarify the nuance of the sentence. Yeah, you can also omit it when you speak Korean. Many Korean will still understand what you are meaning.
안녕하세요.
I am struggling with Lesson 9, topic and subject marking particles. I understand them, but I’m not 100% sure how to tell the difference between wether to use a subject particle or a topic particle. Like how can you tell which is which? In short how do you know If the thing you’re talking about is the topic or the subject?
감사합니다
Thank you very much for these lessons! They are fun and not too difficult which keeps me motivated :) Both of you have lovely voices and listening to you two tease each other is so funny ^__~
감사합니다 !
yey!!! i finally understood the lesson after listening to the mp3 many times … XDD 고마워 <3
Hi,
I never really understood how to use topic, subject and object markers since I started learning Korean! It’s so important because sometimes even when I understand every other Korean word in a sentence, I still get confused about what that sentence means! haha..
‘Topic marker’가 뭐인지,어떻게 써야되는지 조금 더 알것같아요. 그래서 신나해요. 하하… 앞으로도 잘부탁 드립니다!
I dont get it guys :( i must hav a learning problem
I think I understand the lesson now after some research >.<
Are my sample sentences correct?
오늘은 뭐 하고 싶어요? [ As for today, What do you want to do? ]
제가 영화 보고 싶어요. [ I, for sure, want to watch a movie]
오늘은, 저는 이책 읽고 싶어요. [ As for today, as for me, I want to read this book ]
And this sentence can also change to
오늘, 제가 이책 읽고 싶어요. [ Today, I, for sure, want to read this book ]
Can I also say
이책이 읽고 싶어요. [ This book, for sure, is what I want to read ]
I think I understand the lesson now after some research >.<
Are my sample sentences correct?
Please correct them if they are not but if they are :D *HAPPY FACE*
오늘은 뭐 하고 싶어요? [ As for today, What do you want to do? ]
제가 영화 보고 싶어요. [ I, for sure, want to watch a movie]
오늘은, 저는 이책 읽고 싶어요. [ As for today, as for me, I want to read this book ]
And this sentence can also change to
오늘, 제가 이책 읽고 싶어요. [ Today, I, for sure, want to read this book ]
Can I also say
이책이 읽고 싶어요. [ This book, for sure, is what I want to read ]
제가 영화 보고 싶어요. > 저는 영화 보고 싶어요.
오늘은, 저는 이책 읽고 싶어요. > 오늘, 저는 이 책을 읽고 싶어요.
이책이 읽고 싶어요. > 이 책을 읽고 싶어요.
안녕하세요 :)
I could find the way how to write the most part of the words from this lesson in hangul, like 목소리, 화장 and 잘했어요, but I can’t find the way how to write “chonmalyo” and something like “karakyo” that I heard at 14:50 , so could you help me please, or otherwise I could say 미쳐서 about myself soon :D
감사합니다
안년하세요
Seems like comments aren’t submitting properly :D
Ah.. could you please write down the new phrases sounding at last 3 minutes?
감사랍니가
Hi, there.. I have some questions about the difference between the two.
i samgyupsal-eun joayo (I don’t know about the other foods, but THIS samgyupsal is good)
samgyupsal-i joayo (nothing but the samgyupsal is good)
Did I understand the concept correctly??
안년하세요
i have a question to ask, in the sentence 내일은 저는 일해요. since there are 2 topic marking particle, does that means 내일 and 저 are the topics to be emphasized in the sentence? please answer me :)
감사합니다 :)
oooh ok I think i got it now!
If I want to compliment a person I must drop the particles?
so I should say 목소리 좋아요 which litteraly means “your voice is good”
because if i say 목소리는 좋아요 I’d be saying “your voice is the only thing that is good” ??
so 는 or 은 could also mean something like “only this…” ??
and 이 & 가 are just for answering questions am I right?
oh I think i got it now!
so 은 & 는 could mean like “only this” or “the only” ??
for ex.
목소리는 좋아요 “only your voice is good” (because the other things in that person are not good)
so if I’m with my friends I can say: 저는 학생 이에요 “only I am a student” (because the people that is with me are not students)
and if someone asks me what I am I can answer:
저가 학생 이에요 “(I’m not talking about anyone else, and i don’t know about other people, but) I’m a student”
did I get it right?
Im still confused as to when uen/nuen & i/ga are used.
In English, topics and subjects are pretty much the same thing. A sentence could be about a topic and it could also be about a subject. One difference (in English) is that topics cover broader things than subjects. For example “the effects of global warming” would be a topic and “global warming” would be a subject.
In Korean, however, I think they are almost interchangeable.
Just remember that with “은/는” you may be misunderstood because of the emphasizing effect of the particles. In the PDF, it is mentioned that “이/가” doesn’t emphasize a topic too much so I guess you don’t have to worry with the subject particles.
안녕! :)
선생님, 저 질문 있어요. 도와 주세요.
Do you have a 한국 term for “topic marking particle” and “subject marking particle?
Example, korean term for NOUN is 명사.
I tried checking several Korean dictionaries but I can’t seem to find it.
좋은 하루 보내세요.
As always, 수고 하셨습니다. :)
The Korean word “보조사” is used for the marking particle.
Hi i have aquestion so with subject marking particles (smp) i and ga the pdf says i can use them to emphasize WHO, so an example of this would be . cho-aniyo. it was __xyz____ ,not me. so my question is how would i say the second part in korean, useing the smp in this sentece . im just guessing but the smp would go after the name of the person or xyz and then cho a-ni-yo. thanks ttik team. keep up the good work
ps
love ya Kyeong-eun i consider you my top teacher !! gam-sam -ni-da
I’ve learnt this lesson but I always get confused if I want to mix them.
Is this true? 학생들은 스마트. (The students are smart.)
감사합니다 :)
Hi 디나,
It is weird. You can say 학생들은 똑똑해요 (The students are smart (or clever)).
Thanks for your comment.
So from my understanding …은 is to describe something and 는 to describe someone. Like that? is it correct?
은, and 는 are topic marking particle and their function is letting the other people know what you are talking about or going to talk about.
Words ending with a last consonant + -은
Words ending with a vowel + -는
Dear Talktomeinkoreanteam
I understand why the particles are so important but I´m confused with a example in your pdf file. This is what im talking about:
내일은 저는 일해요. [nae-il-eun jeo-neun il-hae-yo] = “As for tomorrow, I work”
I understand the why neun is after the word 내일/tomorrow because it says something like “usually i wouldn´t work tomorrow but as for tomorrow, i work” (hope i interpreted it correctly) But i don´t know why eun is after the subject 저/ I . So whats the reason behind a particle after the word joe/ I? Or better asked why is it false to write it this way “내일은 저 일해요” ?
I hope you are able to understand my question because my original language is german ( I´m austrian). So im learning korean trough english. It´s Kinda strange but still working^^!
Back to the topic. I would appreciate your help in this case so i can better understand the korean language in it´s beauty.
Greetz Max
Hi Max,
When you add “-eun” to “내일” you are emphasizing that “내일” is unlike other days (in the context of the sentence). The subject marker “-eun/neun” can also be interpreted as “as for (this item)” and “about (this item)”, again adding emphasis.
Concerning 저는, the subject marking particle 는 is used to express “as for” me.
It is okay to omit the subject/marking paritlce sometimes. We often simly say “내일은 저 일해요”. However if you want to clarify the nuance of what you are saying, it will be better to add the subject/topic marking particle.
Thanks for your comment.
I hope this video will help you a little.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKrXrmMB-vg
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