Lesson 3 - The Particles that Make it All Clear - Subject and Topic Particles
Hey everyone! We’re back with another grammar point, and today it’s all about the basic particles!
What are particles? And why do you need them in Korean?
The answer is pretty simple: it’s because they help people distinguish the parts of the sentence. There are several particles with different functions: there are the Location, Topic, Object, Subject particles and so on. Today we’ll cover both the Topic and the Subject particles. They have similar functions, but they’re different from each other. Let’s start!
Other than having similar functions, they have the same form, and sometimes they don’t have an exact English equivalent, it just makes sure that the noun to which it’s attached to gets the grammatical function of the particle itself.
It seems a bit complicated, said like this, but practising will make you understand it fully. So, don’t worry too much about it!
Let’s start with Subject particles.
These particles are called ‘Subject particles’ because they’re attached to the Subject noun of the sentence. They’re -이 (which is usually attached to the nouns ending with a consonant) and -가 (which is usually attached to the nouns ending with a vowel).
These two particles put the spotlight onto the nouns to which they’re attached to, making them result in the main subject of the sentence spoken /written.
피자 is a noun ending with a vowel so the particle that will be attached to it will be -가:
피자가 아주 맛있어요
The Pizza is very delicious!
책, instead, ends with a consonant, so -이 will follow:
책이 많이 있어요
There are lots of books
Sometimes the subject particle might not be translated as the subjects of the sentence in English. Take a look at the sentence above: 책이 많이 있어요. In Korean, the noun 책 is attached to the subject particle -이 which makes the noun the subject of the Korean sentence. However, in English, the noun would be the object of the sentence as its translation is ‘There are lots (Subject) of books (Object)’.
The nouns 나 and 너 change form when attached to the subject particle and they turn into 내가 and 네가.
내가 책을 읽어요
I read books
네가 잠들었어
You fell asleep
Now let’s look at the Topic Markes /Particles:
The form of these particles is the same as the one of the subject ones. They’re directly attached to the noun which you need to be highlighted or is put as the main focus of the sentence.
There are two different markers depending on the ending of the noun to which they’re attached to. For example, -은 will be linked to a noun ending in a consonant, and -는 when you have a vowel-ending noun.
그 is a vowel ending noun, therefore the particle used will be -는:
그는 한국에서 살아요
He lives in Korea
그것 is a noun ending with a consonant, which makes the marker -은 the one needed in this case:
그것은 핸드폰이에요
That’s a mobile phone
The Topic Markers have two more functions other than the one they have in common with the Subject Particles, which is probably why some people find it confusing to use, at first.
I’ll list the three types altogether:
- 1. To mark the noun as the main topic of the sentence (what the sentence is about):
민수 씨는 피자를 싫어해요
Minsoo dislikes pizza
- 2. To mark the noun as old/given/assumed information:
A: 이것이 뭐예요?
What’s this?
B: 그것은 책이에요
That’s a book
- 3. To point up a contrast:
민수 씨는 피자를 싫어해요. 지민 씨는 피자를 아주 좋아해요
Minsoo doesn’t like pizza. Jimin really likes pizza.
As I said, the two particles I’ve just explained may cause some difficulties among some of you, so I’ll explain the difference between them.
이/가
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은/는
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Subject particles
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Topic particles
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The subject is not always the topic of the sentence
오늘은 날씨가 좋아요
The weather (subject) is good (verb) today (topic)
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The topic can be any part of the sentence (object, time noun, subject, place noun)
오늘은 날씨가 좋아요
The weather (subject) is good (verb) today (topic)
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Sometimes they’re interchangeable
이 책이 재미있다
This book is interesting
이 책은 재미있다
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In a NEGATIVE SENTENCE ending with the negative version of the verb ‘to be’, 이/가 are the particles to use
책이 아니예요
It’s not a book
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In a 있다/없다 SENTENCE, you always need to use the particles 이/가
선생님이 없어요
There isn’t the teacher / The teacher isn’t (somewhere)
책이 많이 있어요
There are a lot of books / The books are many (somewhere)
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When there are TWO NOUNS IN A SENTENCE and a DESCRIPTIVE VERB (also called ADJECTIVE) USED, use 은/는 with the first noun and 이/가 with the second one
오늘은 날씨가 좋아요
The weather is good today
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When you want to show contrast or emphasize a noun, 은/는 should be used
이 사진이 좋은데 그 사진은 정말 아름다워요
This picture is good, but the other one is really beautiful
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