51 KiB
Lesson 2: Korean Particles 이/가
Vocabulary
Nouns
나라 = country
Common Usages:
- 우리 나라 = “our country” (usually used to refer to Korea by Korean people)
Examples:
- 어느 나라에서 왔어요? = What country did you come from?
- 미국은 민주적인 나라예요 = The US is a democratic nation
- 한국은 좋은 나라예요? = is Korea a good country?
- 한국이 곧 좋은 나라가 될 것이다 = Korea will become a good country soon
- 한국은 다른 나라보다 땅이 작아요 = Korea’s land is small compared to other countries
가방 = bag/backpack
Common Usages:
- 배낭가방 = backpacker style backpack
- 가방을 매다 = to put a bag on your shoulders
- 가방을 들다 = carry a bag
Notes:
This is used to refer to a backpack and also other types of bags like purses.
Example:
- 이 가방은 너무 무거워요 = This bag is too heavy
- 이 가방은 가벼워요 = This bag is light
- 저는 가방을 들었어요 = I carried the/my bag
- 저는 가방을 어깨에 맸어요 = I put the bag on my shoulders
- 저는 가방에 책을 넣었어요 = I put my books into my backpack
- 가방을 아무 데나 두세요 = Put your bag down anywhere
창문 = window
Common Usages:
- 창문을 열다 = to open a window
- 창문을 닫다 = to close a window
- 창문 너머로 = through a window
Examples:
- 너무 더워서 창문을 열었어요 = I opened a window because it is too hot
- 저는 창문 너머에 봤어요 = I looked through the window
- 저는 팔을 창문 너머로 내밀었어요 = I stuck my arm through the window
- 창문이 커튼으로 가려져 있어요 = The window is covered by the curtains
- 아버지는 창문을 잠갔어요 = Dad locked the window
잡지 = magazine
The pronunciation of this word is closer to “잡찌”
Common Usages
- 잡지를 읽다 = to read a magazine
- 잡지 기사 = magazine article
- 잡지구독 = magazine subscription
- 잡지사 = magazine company
- 잡지 편집장 = magazine editor
Example:
- 저는 잡지를 읽었어요 = I read a magazine
- 저는 잡지를 탁자 위에 놓을 거예요 = I will put the magazine on the table
- 이 잡지를 가져가도 돼요? = May I take this magazine?
방 = room
Common Usages:
- 안방 = used to refer to the main bedroom of a house (“the master bedroom”)
- PC방 = internet café
- 난방 = the heating of a room
- 냉방 = the cooling (air conditioning) of a room
- 놀이방 = daycare
- 노래방 = “singing room” – Korean style karaoke
- 방이 좁다 = for a room to be small (“narrow”)
- 방이 넓다 = for a room to be big (“wide”)
- 방을 비우다 = to check out of a room
Examples:
- 저의 방은 너무 좁아요 = My room is too small/narrow
- 이 방은 좁아요 = This room is narrow
- 남자는 방에 들어왔어요 = That man came into room
- 저 책상은 이 방에 알맞아요 = That desk looks good in this room
- 저는 어제 저의 방을 청소했어요 = I cleaned my room yesterday
냉장고 = refrigerator
Notes: The word for “freezer” is 냉동실.
Common Usages:
- 김치냉장고 = kimchi refrigerator (these actually exist – most Korean families would have [at least] one)
- (음식을) 냉장고에 넣다 = to put (food) in the fridge
- (음식을) 냉장고에서 꺼내다 = to take something out of the fridge
Examples:
- 저는 야채를 냉장고에 넣었어요 = I put the vegetables in the fridge
- 자석을 냉장고에 그냥 붙여 놓았어요 = I just stuck the magnet onto the fridge
- 저는 당근을 칼로 잘라서 냉장고에 넣었어요 = I cut carrots with a knife and then put them into the fridge
개 = dog
Notes:
The word “강아지” is usually used for dogs that are pets.
강아지 = puppy
Common Usages:
- 강아지를 키우다 = to raise a puppy
Notes:
The word “개” is usually used for dogs that are not pets.
The counter for animals is “마리.” See Lesson 10 for more information.
The sound a dog makes in Korean is “멍멍.” This is like saying “woof woof” in English.
Examples:
- 어렸을 때 강아지를 키우고 싶었어요 = When I was young, I wanted to raise a puppy
- 저는 저의 강아지를 묻었어요 = I buried my dog
- 그 강아지의 주인은 누구예요? = Who is the owner of that dog?
- 고양이는 강아지와 달라요 = Cats are different than dogs
- 그 강아지의 꼬리는 아주 귀여워요 = That puppy’s tail is very cute
- 경찰관은 강아지의 주인에게 십만 원의 벌금을 물렸어요 = The police officers gave the owner of the dog a 100 000 won fine
- 강아지는 무서워서 죽는 척했어요 = The dog/puppy pretended to be dead because it was scared
고양이 = cat
Notes:
The sound a cat makes in Korean is “야옹.” This is like saying “meow” in English.
Examples:
- 고양이는 강아지와 달라요 = Cats are different than dogs
- 고양이는 의자 밑에 있어요 = The cat is under the chair
- 개는 고양이랑 쥐보다 더 커요 = Dogs are bigger than cats and mice
- 어미를 찾아도 이미 고양이 새끼가 다 죽었어요 = Regardless of if you find the mother, the baby cats (kittens) all died
쥐 = rat, mouse
Common Usages:
- 다람쥐 = squirrel
- 박쥐 = bat (the animal)
- 쥐 죽은 듯이 조용하다 = An idiom for “to be as quiet as a mouse” (literally, as if a mouse died)
Example:
- 쥐는 너무 더러워요 = Rats are very dirty
- 저는 쥐를 들었어요 = I heard a mouse
- 개는 고양이랑 쥐보다 더 커요 = Dogs are bigger than cats and mice
- 우리 아빠가 쥐를 집에서 한 마리씩 쫓아냈어요 = Our dad chased the rats out of our house one by one
펜 = pen
Common Usages:
- 펜으로 쓰다 = to write with a pen
- 펜이 안 나오다 = for a pen to not work (literally “the pen [ink] isn’t coming out)”
Examples:
- 저는 그것을 펜으로 썼어요 = I wrote that with a pen
- 나는 펜 네 개를 샀어 = I bought four pens
- 나는 펜을 가지고 있어 = I have a pen
전화기 = phone
Notes:
A 전화기 usually refers to a typical land-line style phone that nobody uses anymore, and thus, is not said as often as it used to be said. A more common word to use is “핸드폰” (hand-phone, or cell-phone)
Example:
- 요즘에 아무도 전화기를 안 써요 = These days, nobody uses a phone
커피 = coffee
Common Usages:
- 커피를 마시다 = to drink coffee
- 커피숍 = coffee shop
- 커피를 젓다 = to stir coffee
- 드립 커피 = drip coffee
Notes:
Notice that there is no “F” in Korean, and thus, Korean people use “ㅍ” to make the “F” sound
Example:
- 저는 친구들이랑 커피를 마셨어요 = I drank coffee with my friends
- 스타벅스 커피가 너무 달아요 = Starbucks coffee is too sweet
- 커피에 설탕을 안 넣어도 돼요 = I/you don’t need to put sugar in my/your coffee
- 저는 커피를 낮에만 마셔요 = I drink coffee only during the day
식당 = restaurant
The pronunciation of this word is closer to “식땅”
Common Usages:
- 식당 주인 = restaurant owner
- 한식당 = Korean restaurant
Notes:
The Konglish word 레스토랑 is commonly used as well.
Examples:
- 좋은 식당에 가고 싶어요 = I want to go to a good restaurant
- 식당은 은행 옆에 있어요 = The restaurant is beside the bank
- 우리학교에서 식당까지 10분 걸려요 = It takes 10 minutes to get from our school to the restaurant
- 호텔에 식당이 있어요 = There is a restaurant in the hotel
- 그 식당이 오래되었다 = That restaurant is old
- 우리 아버지는 식당에 실망했어요 = Our dad was disappointed in the restaurant
- 저는 식당에서 혼자서 먹었어요 = I ate by myself (alone) at the restaurant
건물 = building
Common Usages:
- 건물 내에 = inside a building
- 건물 외에 = outside a building
Examples:
- 그 건물은 너무 높아요 = That building is very high
- 그 건물은 어제와 달라요 = That building is different from yesterday
- 저 학교는 역사적인 건물이에요 = That school is a historical building
- 한국은 문화적인 건물이 많아요 = Korea has a lot of cultural buildings
- 건물을 지나가서 오른 쪽으로 가세요 = Go past the building, then go right
[This word appears in my Korean Sign Explanation Video 4]
텔레비전 = television
Common Usages:
- 텔레비전을 보다 = to watch television
Notes:
Originates from the English pronunciation of “Television.”
This is often shortened to “TV” which sounds like “티비” in Korean.
Example:
- 텔레비전을 오랫동안 보지 마세요! = Don’t watch TV for a long time!
미국 = USA
Common Usages:
- 미국 사람 = an American
- 미국인 = an American
- 미국 국기 = the American flag
- 미국 대사관 = American embassy
- 미국 대학교 = American college
- 미국 대통령 = American president
Examples:
- 미국 사람이에요? = Are you an American?
- 저는 다음 주에 미국에 갈 거예요 = I will go to the US next week
- 우리는 이틀 동안 미국에 있었어요 = We were in America for two days
- 저는 1년에 두 번 미국에 가요 = I go to America twice per year
- 미국은 대통령을 민주적으로 선출해요 = America elects its president democratically
- 캐나다와 미국이 문화적인 차이가 있다 = Canada and the US have a cultural difference
- 저는 미국에서 친구를 만날 거예요 = I will meet a friend in America
캐나다 = Canada
Common Usages:
- 캐나다 사람 = Canadian
Example:
- 저는 캐나다에서 왔어요 = I am from Canada
- 저는 캐나다에 가고 싶어요 = I want to go to Canada
- 캐나다는 미국과 같아요 = Canada is like the US
- 부장님! 혹시 캐나다에 언제 가실 거예요? = Boss! When are you going to Canada?
- 캐나다 사람들은 땅콩을 많이 먹어요 = Canadians eat a lot of peanuts
- 저는 캐나다에서 유학했어요 = I studied abroad in Canada
- 캐나다에 언제 돌아올 거예요? = When are you coming back to Canada?
- 저는 캐나다에서 태어났어요 = I was born in Canada
호텔 = hotel
Common Usages:
- 5성급 호텔 = five star hotel
Examples:
- 호텔에 식당이 있어요 = There is a restaurant in the hotel
- 호텔은 학교 옆에 있어요 = The hotel is beside the school
학교 = school
The pronunciation of this word is closer to “학꾜”
Common Usages:
- 학교를 다니다 = to attend a school
- 초등학교 = elementary school
- 중학교 = middle school
- 고등학교 = high school
- 대학교 = university
Examples:
- 저는 학교에서 공부했어요 = I studied at the school
- 저는 학교 안에 있어요 = I am inside the school
- 저는 내일 학교에 갈 것입니다 = I will go to school tomorrow
- 어제 학교에 몇 번 갔어요? = How many times did you go to school yesterday?
- 저는 3일 동안 학교에 안 갔어요 = I didn’t go to school for 3 days
- 학교는 학생들한테 교과서를 제공하지 않아요 = The school doesn’t provide textbooks to the students
- 우리 학교가 세운 지 10주년이에요 = It is the 10th anniversary of our school opening
은행 = bank
Common Usages:
- 은행원 = a banker
- 한국은행 = Bank of Korea
- 농협은행 = Nonghyup Bank
- 국민은행 = Kookmin bank
Examples:
- 호텔은 은행 옆에 있어요 = The hotel is beside the bank
- 아버지는 은행에 들어갔어요 = My dad went into the bank
- 저의 친구는 은행 안에 있어요 = My friend is in the bank
- 저는 친구를 만나고 나서 은행에 갈 거예요 = I will meet a friend and then go to the bank
- 친구가 오기 전에 저는 은행에 갔어요 = Before my friend came, I went to the bank
Adverbs
안 = inside
Common Usages:
- 집 안에 = inside a house
- 방 안에 = inside a room
Notes:
Position words are typically placed after a noun to indicate in which direction in reference to that noun something occurs. ~에 is typically attached to a word of position. For example:
- 저의 친구는 은행 안에 있어요 = My friend is in the bank
- 개는 집 안에 있어요 = The dog is in the house
안 can also be used to indicate that some action is completed “within” or “inside” a time period. This usage is discussed in Lesson 24. For example:
- 우리는 한 시간 안에 그 일을 끝내야 돼요 = We need to finish that job/task within one hour
위 = on top
Notes: ㅅ is often added to 위 as a 받침. This is discussed in Lesson 131.
Common Usages:
- 윗도리 = clothes worn on the upper part of one’s body
- 윗사람 = one’s superior
Example:
- 잡지는 탁자 위에 있어요 = The magazine is on the table
- 우리 집은 언덕 위에 있어요 = Our house is on top of the hill
- 새는 구름 위에 날고 있어요 = The bird is flying above the clouds
밑 = below
Example:
- 고양이는 의자 밑에 있어요 = The cat is below the chair
옆 = beside
Common Usages:
- 옆집 = the house next to another house
- 옆방 = the room next to another room
- 옆구리 = one’s side/flank
Example:
- 학교는 은행 옆에 있어요 = The school is next to the bank
- 은행이 학교 바로 옆에 있어요 = The bank is right (immediately) next to the school
- 강 옆에 큰 산이 있어요 = There is a big mountain next to the river
- 저는 병원을 공원 옆에 지었어요 = I built a hospital beside the park
- 나는 학교 옆에 서 있어 = I’m standing next to the school
뒤 = behind
Notes: ㅅ is often added to 뒤 as a 받침. This is discussed in Lesson 131.
Common Usages:
- 뒷면 = the back side
- 뒷산 = refers to a mountain usually “behind” one’s house
- 뒷다리 = the back (hind) legs of an animal
- 뒷담화하다 = to talk behind one’s back
Examples:
- 병원은 박물관 뒤에 있어요 = The hospital is behind the museum
- 저는 학교 뒤에 있어요 = I am behind the school
- 저는 큰 박스 뒤에 숨었어요 = I hid behind a big box
앞 = in front
Common Usages:
- 앞면 = the front side
- 앞다리 = the front legs of an animal
- 눈앞에 = in-front of one’s eyes
- 앞으로 = in the future
Example:
- 집은 가게 앞에 있어요 = The house is in-front of the store
- 저는 집 앞에 있는 눈을 다 치웠어요 = I cleaned up the snow in-front of the house
여기 = here
Notes:
The placement of “~에” is usually assumed and therefore omitted. 여기 and ~에서 combine to form 여기서
Common Usages:
- 여기저기 = here and there
Examples:
- 여기에 빨리 오세요! = Come here quick!
- 어떤 남자는 어제 여기에 왔어 = Some man came here yesterday
- 친구를 만나기 위해 여기로 왔어 = I came here to meet a friend
- 할아버지가 여기에 계신지 몰랐어요 = I didn’t know you were here, grandpa
- 저의 친구는 (여기) 근처에 살아요 = My friend lives close (to here)
- 여기서 산이 안 보여 = I can’t see the mountains from here
- 여기에 주소를 써 주세요 = Please write your address here
- 저는 여기에 한 달에 세 번 와요 = I come here three times per month
- 저는 오늘 이 책을 여기까지 읽었어요 = Today, I read up to here in this book
- 사과도 여기서 파나요? = Do you sell apples here too?
- 여기부터 서울까지 두 시간 30분만 걸려요 = It only takes two and a half hours to get from here to Seoul
- 친구를 만나러 여기로 왔어요 = I came here to meet a friend
Verbs
있다 = to be at a location
Notes:
- ~에 is typically attached to the location where something/somebody is. For more information, see the explanation in of this lesson.
Examples:
- 저는 은행에 있어요 = I am at the bank
- 개는 집 안에 있어요 = The dog is in the house
- 엄마가 어디에 있어요? 병원에 갔어요? = Where is mom? Did she go to the hospital?
- 서울에 있는 공연을 보러 갈래요? = Shall we go to the show in Seoul?
- 내가 한국에 있을 때마다 한국어로 말하고 싶어 = Every time I am in Korea, I want to speak Korean
Adjectives
있다 = to have something
Common Usages:
- 할 말이 있다 = to have something to say
- 할 게 없다 = to have nothing to do
- 할 게 많다 = to have a lot to do
Notes: ~이/가 must be attached to the object that is being possessed. For more information, visit Lesson 2.
Examples:
- 저는 펜이 있어요 = I have a pen
- 저는 많은 돈이 있어요 = I have a lot of money
- 질문이 있어요? = Do you have a question?
- 저는 내일 할 일이 있어요 = I have something I need to do tomorrow
- 한국에서는 모든 집에 밥솥이 있어요 = All houses in Korea have a rice cooker
There are 1050 vocabulary entries in Unit 1. All entries are linked to an audio file. You can download all of these files in one package here.
You might also want to try listening to all of the words on loop with this [Vocabulary Practice video]
Introduction
In Lesson 1 you learned about simple Korean particles. To review, you learned that:
- ~는 or ~은 are used to indicate the subject (or main person/thing) in a sentence.
- ~를 or ~을 are used to indicate the object in a sentence.
For example, in this sentence: “I ate a hamburger”
- “I” is the subject of the sentence
- “Hamburger” is the object
- “Eat” is the verb
In this Lesson, you will learn about the particles ~이/가 and specifically how it can compare with ~는/은. In all situations, ~이 is attached to nouns in which the last letter is a consonant (like ~은) and ~가 is attached to nouns in which the last letter is a vowel (like ~는). For example:
- 책 ends in a consonant (ㄱ), so “~이” is added: “책이.”
- 소파 ends in a vowel (ㅏ), so “~가” is added: “소파가.”
But, in what situations should we use ~이/가? Before we get to that, I would like to teach you how to use the word “있다” in sentences. Let’s get started.
있다: To have
The word “있다” has many meanings. To a beginner of Korean, we can simplify and generalize these meanings into two forms or usages:
- 있다 = to have
- 있다 = to be at a location
Let’s talk about the first usage, “to have.” In English, “to have” is a verb that can act on an object. For example:
- I have a pen
- I have a car
This usage of 있다 in Korean is an adjective. This is hard for a learner to wrap their head around. At this point, this is important to you for one reason.
You learned in Lesson 1 that sentences with adjectives cannot act on an object. Thus, you cannot have a word with the particle ~을/를 attached to it if the predicating word in a sentence is an adjective (because ~을/를 indicates an object in a sentence).
If this weren’t the case, we could do the following:
- I have a pen
- I 는 pen을 있다
- 나는 + 펜을 + 있다
나는 펜을 있다 = I have a pen
However, the sentence above is incorrect. 있다 is an adjective and cannot act on an object like this. Therefore, the use of ~을 on “펜” is incorrect. To get around this, we can attach ~이/가 to the object instead of ~을/를 in sentences with 있다. This is one usage of the particle ~이/가; that is, to indicate the thing that a person “has” in sentences with “있다.” Look at the following example sentences:
- 나는 펜이 있다 = I have a pen
- (나는 펜이 있어 / 저는 펜이 있어요 )
- 나는 차가 있다 = I have a car
- (나는 차가 있어 / 저는 차가 있어요 )
- 나는 잡지가 있다 = I have a magazine
- (나는 잡지가 있어 / 저는 잡지가 있어요 )
- 나는 가방이 있다 = I have a backpack
- (나는 가방이 있어 / 저는 가방이 있어요 )
Again, note that ~을/를 is not used to indicate the object that a person “has.” Instead, ~이/가 are used.
Remember that the example sentences provided in Lessons 1, 2, 3 and 4 are not conjugated. While one/two forms of conjugations are provided in parentheses below each example sentence, the grammar within these conjugations is too complicated for you to understand right now. For now, focus on what is being presented in these first four lessons before you start to worry about conjugating sentences and using honorifics.
Indicating a Place or Time: ~에
In the previous lesson, you learned how to use the particles ~은/는 and ~을/를 to denote the purpose of certain words in a Korean sentence. The particle ~에 is also used to denote certain words in a sentence. Specifically, ~에 denotes a place or time. When used to identify a place, it is similar to the underlined words in the English sentences below:
- I am at school
- I went to the park
- I put a sticker on the wall
- I put water into the bottle
- I put the baby in the crib
~에 is also used to denote the time in which something happens. This is similar to the underlined words in the English sentences below:
- I ate breakfast at 10:00
- I will go to school on Saturday
- I was born in 1990
Yes, it is possible to have ~에 *used twice in a sentence. For example, the Korean translation of the sentence “I went to the park at 10:00” would have ~*에 attached to the word “park” and “10:00.”
It would be too much to discuss how ~에 can be used in all of these situations in this lesson. In this lesson (just below), you will learn how to use ~에 to indicate where one is – in order to create the sentence “I am at school” from above. In later lessons, as you learn more complex words and grammar, you will see how ~에 can be used in the other situations. For example, in the next lesson we will introduce you to sentences that use ~에 to denote a place in which one goes to. In Lesson 6, you will see examples of sentences that use ~에 to denote that something happens at a particular time of the day. In Lesson 8, you will learn how to attach ~에 to days of the week. In later lessons, you will learn how to create all of the sentences shown above.
For now, let’s focus on the sentence “I am at school,” which will require you to learn about 있다.
있다: To be at a location
있다 can also be used to indicate that something/someone is “at a location.” In the previous section of this lesson, you learned about the particle ~에 in Korean. You learned that this particle is used to indicate the place and/or time of something in a sentence. Therefore, “~에” is often used in sentences with “있다” to indicate the location of something/someone.
- For example: I am at school
If we wanted to write this sentence with Korean structure and particles, we would write:
- I는 school에 am at
- 나는 + 학교에 + 있다
This is irrelevant to you now, but when 있다 is used like this, it is again seen as an adjective. This is confusing, but for now, try to ignore it. I begin to discuss this more in Lesson 5 when I discuss the conjugations of 있다.
- 나는 학교에 있다 = I am at school
- (나는 학교에 있어 / 저는 학교에 있어요 )
or,
- 나는 캐나다에 있다 = I am in Canada
- (나는 캐나다에 있어 / 저는 캐나다에 있어요 )
Notice the very big difference in meaning between the following sentences, and the role that particles have in each case. Because 있다 has two different meanings, changing the particles in a sentence can drastically change the meaning. For example:
- 나는 학교가 있다 = I have a school – this could make sense, but in most situations, you would probably want to say:
- 나는 학교에 있다 = I am at school
- 나는 잡지가 있다 = I have a magazine
- 나는 잡지에 있다 = I am at the magazine (this doesn’t make sense)
We can also use position words to indicate specifically where someone/something is with respect to another noun. The most common position words are:
- 안 = inside
- 위 = on top
- 밑 = below
- 옆 = beside
- 뒤 = behind
- 앞 = in front
These words are placed after a noun to indicate where an object is with respect to that noun. The particle “~에” is then attached directly to the position words. For example:
- 학교 앞에 = in front of the school
- 사람 뒤에 = behind the person
- 집 옆에 = beside the house
- 저 건물 뒤에 = behind that building
These constructions can now act as the location in a sentence:
- 나는 학교에 있다 = I am at school
- 나는 학교 앞에 있다 = I am in-front of the school
- (나는 학교 앞에 있어 / 저는 학교 앞에 있어요 )
Let’s make some sentences:
- 나는 학교 뒤에 있다 = I am behind the school
- (나는 학교 뒤에 있어 / 저는 학교 뒤에 있어요 )
- 나는 학교 옆에 있다 = I am beside the school
- (나는 학교 옆에 있어 / 저는 학교 옆에 있어요 )
- 나는 은행 안에 있다 = I am inside the bank
- (나는 은행 안에 있어 / 저는 은행 안에 있어요 )
- 개는 집 안에 있다 = The dog is in the house
- (개는 집 안에 있어 / 개는 집 안에 있어요 )
- 고양이는 의자 밑에 있다 = The cat is under the chair
- (고양이는 의자 밑에 있어 / 고양이는 의자 밑에 있어요 )
- 식당은 은행 옆에 있다 = The restaurant is next to the bank
- (식당은 은행 옆에 있어 / 식당은 은행 옆에 있어요 )
- 호텔은 학교 옆에 있다 = The hotel is next to the school
- (호텔은 학교 옆에 있어 / 호텔은 학교 옆에 있어요 )
You have learned that ~이/가 can be attached to nouns in sentences to indicate the object that a person “has.” ~이/가 can also be used to indicate the subject of a sentence, similar to ~는/은. What is the difference? We will talk about this in the next section.
~이/가 as a Subject Marker
One of the most difficult things for a new learner of Korean to understand is the difference between the particles ~는/은 and ~이/가. Earlier in this Lesson, you learned that you should use ~이/가 on the object that a person “has” when using “있다.”
In addition to this, there are more functions of ~이/가 that you should know about.
In Lesson 1, you learned that you should add ~는/은 to the subject of the sentence. To use an example using the grammar taught earlier in this Lesson, you could say:
- 고양이는 집 뒤에 있다 = The cat is behind the house
- (고양이는 집 뒤에 있어 / 고양이는 집 뒤에 있어요 )
In this sentence, notice that the particle ~는/은 indicates that the “cat” is the subject.
However the sentence above could also be written like this:
- 고양이가 집 뒤에 있다 = The cat is behind the house
- (고양이가 집 뒤에 있어 / 고양이가 집 뒤에 있어요 )
The two sentences could have exactly the same meaning and feeling. I emphasize “could” because in some situations the meaning of the two sentences is exactly the same, but in other situations the meaning of two sentences can be subtly different.
The reason why they could be identical:
- 고양이는 집 뒤에 있다 = The cat is behind the house
- 고양이가 집 뒤에 있다 = The cat is behind the house
~이/가, like ~는/은, is added to the subject of the sentence. In some situations, there is no difference in meaning or feel between adding ~이/가 or ~는/은 to the subject.
The reason why they could be subtly different:
~는/은 has a role of indicating that something is being compared with something else. The noun that “~는/은” is added to is being compared. In this example:
= 고양이는 집 뒤에 있다 = The cat is behind the house
The speaker is saying that the cat is behind the house (in comparison to something else that is not behind the house). The difficulty here is that there is only one sentence; which gives the listener no context to understand what “the cat” is being compared with. However, if I were to make up a context that fits into this situation, it could be that “The dog is in the house, and, the cat is behind the house.”
However, saying:
- 고양이가 집 뒤에 있다 = The cat is behind the house
…is simply stating a fact, and “the cat” is not being compared to anything.
Another example:
- 커피가 냉장고에 있다 = The coffee is in the fridge (This sentence is simply stating that the coffee is in the fridge, and there is no intention of comparison)
- 커피는 냉장고에 있다 = The coffee is in the fridge (This sentence could simply be stating that the coffee is in the fridge. It is also possible that the speaker is trying to distinguish between the location of another object. For example, perhaps the tea is on the table, but the coffee is in the fridge).
———————————-
You also might be wondering why “안” isn’t used if we are indicating that the coffee is in the fridge. In cases like this, where the location being described happens to be “inside” of something, “안” can be omitted. You can see the similarities of using “안” and not using it in the following English and Korean sentences:
- 커피가 냉장고에 있다 = The coffee is in the fridge
- 커피가 냉장고 안에 있다 = The coffee is inside the fridge
———————————-
In both pairs of examples (using ~는/은 or ~이/가), the translation does not change by altering the subject particle. Rather, the only thing that changes is the subtle feeling or nuance that something is being compared.
Note that this “comparative” function of ~는/은 can be used in much more complicated sentences, and can be attached to other grammatical principles – neither of which you have learned yet. In future lessons, not only will you see examples of increasing complexity applying this concept, but its usage with other grammatical principles will be introduced specifically. You need to remember that the example sentences given at this level are incredibly simple and do not really reflect actual sentences that you are likely to hear as one-off sentences from Korean people. Real speech is much more complex and it usually is an intricate combination of many clauses and grammatical principles.
Our lessons don’t really get into the use of multiple clauses until Lesson 24. Creating sentences with more than one clause opens an entire other can of worms that you don’t have the tools to deal with yet. I encourage you to NOT read ahead to that lesson. Rather, I encourage you to keep the information from this lesson in mind as you eventually do reach that level.
As you progress through our Lessons, you will see both “~는/은” and “~이/가” used as the subject particles in the thousands of example sentences we have provided. As almost all of our example sentences are just written as one sentence (without any background, prior context, or explanation of the situation), there is no way to tell if something is being compared to – and thus – their usage is usually arbitrary. That being said – every Korean example sentence throughout all of our lessons is always checked by a native Korean speaker to make sure that nothing is awkward (or incorrect).
In addition to the distinction discussed in this lesson, there are other situations where it might be more appropriate to use ~이/가 or ~은/는. However, I am not able to fully describe the distinction between these two particles with the limited amount of grammar (and vocabulary) understanding you have to this point. The purpose of this lesson is to give you a general understanding of ~이/가, and to introduce you to the comparison between ~는/은.
At this point, I would like you to continue to Lesson 3 to continue learning other grammatical principles you need to deepen your understanding of Korean in general.
In Lessons 17 and 22, we will come back to this problem and dive into more ways we can distinguish the functions of ~이/가 and ~는/은. I want to stress that I do not want you to read these now, but you should know that there is more to distinguishing ~는/은 and ~이/가 than is described here.
If you haven’t reached Lesson 17 (and especially if you haven’t even moved on to Lesson 3) you won’t understand what is being described in that lesson. Being able to fully understand the difference between ~이/가 and ~는/은 is important, but not as important (at the moment) as understanding other aspects of Korean grammar. I can’t stress this enough – your understanding of the difference between the two will progress with your Korean development in general.
The good thing is, even if you make a mistake with the usages of ~이/가 and ~는/은 (either because you are confused or because you haven’t reached the later lessons yet), 99.9% of the time, the listener will be able to understand exactly what you are trying to express. Likewise, if you listen to somebody speaking, you will be able to understand what they are trying to say regardless of if you have learned the more complex usages of ~이/가 and ~는/은. The difference between these two particles is about nuance and does not dramatically change the meaning of the sentence.
Making a mistake between other particles, however, would cause other people to misunderstand you. For example, using ~를/을 instead of ~는/은 would (most likely) make your sentence incomprehensible.
That’s it for this lesson. Please keep all of this information in your mind for future lessons. We will continue this discussion in Lesson 17.
For now, please continue to Lesson 3.
Summary
Want to try to create some sentences using the vocabulary and grammar from this lesson?
This YouTube video will prompt you to translate English sentences into Korean using the concepts from this lesson.
[Round 1]
[Round 2]
Want to practice your listening skills?
This YouTube video will prompt you with Korean sentences to dictate using the concepts from this lesson.
[Round 1]
[Round 2]
Want to practice reading some sentences?
These YouTube videos will prompt you with some written Korean sentences, and you can try to figure out the meaning of the sentences!
Want to apply what you learned in this lesson?
This YouTube video will prompt you with English sentences using the grammar from this lesson, but vocabulary you haven’t been exposed to yet!
[Word Listening]
[Lesson Recap]