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Particles

But say, you saw the sea at night and you may exclaim,

•바다가 까맣다! = The sea is black!

The sea in this sentence is identified as a particular sea at night, and both the speaker and listener 

know which sea is being talked about. This is not a general statement. Therefore the identifier 

particle, 가/이, is used in this case.

Of course, 바다가 푸르다 is also perfectly acceptable. However, the difference is that the sea in this

sentence is also a particular sea that is known by both the speaker and the listener.

•바다는 푸르다 = The sea is blue (A general statement)

•바다가 푸르다 = The sea is blue (The sea is identified and known by the speaker and 

listener)

It's similar to the way articles are used in English.

For example,

•An apple is red = 사과는 빨갛다 (A general or factual statement about an apple)

•The apple is red = 사과가 빨갛다 (A particular apple that the speaker identifies and 

indicates to the listener)

Additive Particle – 도

The additive particle, 도, is similar to subject particles 는/은 and 가/이 in that it is used for a subject

(or topic). However, 도 adds the meaning of 'too' or 'also' to a subject.

Here are example sentences:

•나도 학생이다 = I am a student, too

•그도 친절하다 = He is kind, too

•이것도 연필이다 = This is a pencil, too

•하늘도 높다 = The sky is high, too

•그녀도 공부한다 = She studies, too

•존도 갔다 = John went, too

•영수도 먹었다 = Young-su ate, too

As a further explanation, please have a look at the following example:

•다윗은 왕이었다 = David was a king

•솔로몬도 왕이었다 = Solomon was a king, too

도 always refers to the subject. For example, 솔로몬도 왕이었다 describes Solomon in terms of the

fact that he was a king, too. Not only was David a king but Solomon was also a king.

다윗 = David

왕 = a king

솔로몬 = Solomon

Here is another example,

•제니는 나갔어 = Jenny went outside

•유리도 나갔어 = Yuri went outside, too

제니 = Jenny

나가다 = go outside, leave

유리 = Yuri

As you can see, 도 is used when one wants talk about the same quality or description about a 

different subject.