WHAT ARE

KOREAN
PARTICLES?
Particles function as indicators
and markers in a sentence. It
indicates the role of the words
in the sentence, whether it’s
topic, subject, object, etc…
Particles are necessary to give
a clearer meaning to the
sentence. It’s essential in
Korean sentence structure.

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 1. TOPIC MARKING PARTICLES
은/는
• A topic particle tells everyone what’s being talked about. Any noun followed by 은
(eun) or 는 (neun) is being emphasized and elevated as the topic of conversation.
• 은 and 는 are the same.
• 은 is used if the preceding noun ends in a consonant, and 는 is used for nouns
that end in a vowel. This is for ease of pronunciation. For
example, 책 (chaeg), which means “book,” and 집 (jip), which means “house,”
both end in consonants, so we use 은 for them:

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책은 무겁다 .
(Chaeg-eun mu-geop-da.)
The book is heavy.

집은 크다 .
(Jib-eun keu-da.)
The house is big.
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On the other hand, 저 (jeo), the polite form of the Korean “I,” ends with the
vowel ㅓ (eo). So, we use 는 with it.
When you want to talk about yourself, you say 저는 (Jeo-neun), which means “I
am.”

• 저는 한국말을 못 합니다 .
(Jeo-neun han-gung-ma-reul mo-tam-ni-da.)
I don’t speak Korean.
• 저는 스물네 살입니다 .
(Jeo-neun seu-mul-ne sal-im-ni-da.)
I’m 24 years old.
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Again, marking the noun with 은 or 는 serves to highlight the topic of the
conversation.
• So, in the above examples, when you’re saying that you’re American or 24 years
old, you’re elevating yourself to the topic of conversation. When somebody else
introduces a noun with the topic marker, it changes the conversation’s focus.
• Another thing to know is that the topic marker implies a contrast.
• In the above example, when you say 집은 크다 (Jib-eun keu-da), which means
“the house is big,” you’re contrasting the house to other things. You’re implying
that the house is big and that other things aren’t big.
• So, besides the actual statement, the topic marker also conveys an unspoken
contrast.

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 2. SUBJECT PARTICLES:
이 AND 가
• Here, the subject is often about the verb or adjective. The marker helps answer the
following questions:
• Who is the doer of the action?
• Who/what is being described?
• The subject particle is either 이 (i) or 가 (ga).
• We use 이 when the preceding noun ends in a consonant and 가 when the noun ends in a
vowel.
• So, we use 가 after a noun like 날씨 (nal-ssi), which means “weather,” because it ends
in a vowel. And we use 이 for nouns like 가방 (ga-bang), which means “bag” and ends
with a consonant.
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For example:
• 날씨가 좋다 .
(Nal-ssi-ga jo-ta.)
The weather is nice.
• 가방이 낡았다 .
(Ga-bang-i nal-ga-dda.)
The bag is old.
As you can see, the subject particle marks the noun that acts as
the subject of the sentence.
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• 이 and 가 are also used when you want to say that
you have something.
For example, if you want to say that you have a ball or a dog, you’d
say:
• 저는 공이 있어요 .
(Jeo-neun gong-i-i-ssuh-yo.)
I have a ball.
• 저는 개가 있어요 .
(Jeo-neun gae-ga i-ssuh-yo.)
I have a dog.
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• 이 or 가 immediately follows the thing that you have.
We’ve already talked about how topic particles imply a contrast while a
subject particle doesn’t. They also differ in where they direct the focus of the
sentence.
For example:
• 나는 파리를 죽였다 .
(Na-neun pa-ri-reul ju-gyuh-dda.)
I killed the fly.
• 내가 파리를 죽였다 .
(Nae-ga pa-ri-reul ju-gyuh-dda.)
I killed the fly.
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 3. OBJECT PARTICLES:
을 AND 를
• In Korean, sentences follow the S-O-V (Subject-
Object-Verb) pattern, which means you’ll find the
object before the verb.
• You use either 을 (eul) or 를 (leul) to tag the object.
• Use 을 when the preceding noun ends in a consonant
and use 를 if the preceding noun ends in a vowel.
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For example:
• 나는 김치를 먹었다 .
(Na-neun gim-chi-leul muh-guh-dda.)
I ate kimchi.
• 그녀는 물을 마신다 .
(Geu-nyeo-neun mul-eul ma-sin-da.)
She drinks water.

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 4. CONJUNCTIVE PARTICLES
와 / 과 , 하고 , 이랑 / 랑
와 (wa), 과 (gwa), 랑 (rang), 이랑 (i-rang) and 하고 (ha-go).
• 와 and 과 work well with speeches, presentations and written
forms while 랑 , 이랑 and 하고 are used in daily conversation.
• 와 is used when the preceding noun ends in a vowel. 과 is used
when the preceding noun ends in a consonant.
• For the other pair, 랑 is used when the preceding noun ends in a
vowel, and 이랑 is used when the noun ends in a consonant.
• 하고 can be used freely with both vowels and consonants.
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For example:

• 사과와 오렌지
(Sa-gwa-wa o-len-ji)
Apples and oranges

• 소금과 후추
(So-geum-gwa hu-chu)
Salt and pepper
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 5. PLURAL PARTICLE:
들
• You use 들 when you want to erase any ambiguity in your
statement or when you want to emphasize that there’s more
than one thing.
• And even then, 들 is only used for people or living things—it’s
rarely used for objects.
Here are some examples:
• 사람 (sa-ram) — person → 사람들 (sa-ram-deul) — people
• 학생 (hag-saeng) — student → 학생들 (hag-saeng-deul) —
students
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 6. POSSESSIVE PARTICLE:
의
• his last one is the equivalent of the English apostrophe + s and is
about expressing ownership or possession.
• 의 (ui) moderates the relationship between two nouns and is found
between them.
• The order of the nouns is crucial. The first noun is the owner, and
the second noun—the one following 의— is the thing owned.
• Let’s look at the example 형 의 차 (hyeong-ui cha). 형 means
“older brother” and 차 means “car.” So, it means “older brother’s
car.”
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Here are some more examples:
• 오늘의 게임
(Oneul-ui ge-im)
Today’s game
• 메리의 머리카락
(Me-li-ui muh-li-ka-lag)
Mary’s hair
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• In speech, 의 is often pronounced as 에 (e).
• With pronouns like 나 (na) and 저 (jeo), which both
mean “I” or “me,” and 너 (neo), which means “you,”
adding 의 to get the possessive forms “my” and
“your” results in a contraction:
• 나의 becomes 내 (nae) — my
• 저의 becomes 제 (je) — my
• 너의 becomes 네 (ne) — your
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