Learn Korean

Particles

•나는 학생이다 = I am a student

•그는 친절하다 = He is kind

•이것은 연필이다 = This is a pencil

•하늘은 높다 = The sky is high

•그녀는 공부한다 = She studies

•존은 갔다 = John went

•영수는 먹었다 = Young-su ate

나 = I (pronoun)

학생 = a student

그 = he

친절하다 = kind

이것 = this

연필 = pencil

하늘 = sky

높다 = high

그녀 = she

공부하다 = study

18존 = John

가다 = go

영수 = Young-su (a male name)

먹다 = eat

Use Google Translate to listen the pronunciations of these words.

Note: There are no articles in the parts of speech in Korean. "A, an and the" which are used to 

identify and specify a noun in English and other languages are absent in Korean grammar.

Identifier Particle - 가 / 이

가/이 is used similarly as 는/은 in that they indicate a subject but 가/이 is used when it is necessary to identify the person or thing that is talked about in a sentence.

For example,

•나는 샀다 = I bought

•내가 샀다 = I bought

Note: 나 is changed to 내 when it is used before 가.

Both of these two sentences mean "I bought" but 내가 샀다 puts more emphasis on the subject of 

the sentence, "I".

In the sentence, 내가 샀다, it is more concerned about 'who' bought rather than 'what' I did.

On the other hand, 나는 샀다, is more concerned about 'what' I did.

•내가 샀다 = I bought [It wasn't anyone else but I who bought]

•나는 샀다 = I bought [I bought rather than doing something else]

It is similar to the way in English where a person stresses a certain word to give it more emphasis or importance.

For example,

•Who bought a new t-shirt?

•내가 샀어 = I bought it.

Note: It is incorrect to say, 나는 샀어, because the person is asking about who bought a new t-shirt 

rather than asking about what they did.

•What did you do in the park?

•나는 잤어 = I slept (I took a nap)

Note: The person may be asking to several people about what they did in the park. One person 

might say they took a stroll while another person may have had lunch there. But as for me, what I 

did was 'sleeping'.