One-Stop Guide to Korean Particles - 은/는/이/가 (Subject & Topic Markers) 

A person explaining his native language in a foreign language..... *RESPECT*

it’s like i understand it when i see it or hear it but my brain explodes when i try to think of the right places to put them myself 😅

i like how you say "interesting" instead of "harder"

The amount of times I thought “oh ok I get it” and then he kept going and adding more information I can’t even count. I can only take so much at once😂😂

At the beginning I was like "yeahhh ok this actually isn't that confusing", but then when you got to the compound sentences and stuff my head exploded 😂

These subject markers or particles in the Korean language may appear a bit confusing. However, it is actually extremely easy to use once you understand the difference between the two groups 은/는 and 이/가. It's simply a way of emphasizing a part of speech in sentences. In English, you stress a word to deliver your message and subsequently change the meaning by placing a stress on a word, for instance, (The word in parenthesis is pronounced with a pitch), 1. (I) didn't say he stole the money. (Someone else said it.) 2. I (didn't) say he stole the money. (That's not true at all.) 3. I didn't (say) he stole the money. (I only suggested the possibility.) 4. I didn't say (he) stole the money. (I think someone else took it.) 5. I didn't say he (stole) the money. (Maybe he just borrowed it.) 6. I didn't say he stole (the) money. (but rather some other money.) 7. I didn't say he stole the (money). (He may have taken some jewelry.) (Source: American Accent Training by Ann Cook, Chapter 24 P.185, 2nd Edition, 2000) * You can find the seven Korean translations at the end of this. The Korean language uses different subject markers, 은/는 or 이/가 to emphasize a part of a speech, either predicate or subject. It's relatively simple compared to the way English speakers change the meaning of a sentence as demonstrated above: { If you want to emphasize WHO or subject, use 이 or 가. If you want to emphasize predicate (What, Where, When, How and Why), then use 은 or 는. } Now, look at the following examples: Situation #1. A teacher comes in the classroom and finds out that it is nice and clean. The teacher asks students, "Who cleaned the classroom?" Question: If it is 'YOU' who cleaned the classroom, not other student, what would you say? a. 저는 교실 청소를 했어요. b. 제가 교실 청소를 했어요. The answer is b. Although both are translated into "I cleaned the classroom" in English, the right subject particle that emphases the action doer is '가', meaning it was ME who cleaned the classroom. On the other hand, the the first sentence simply means, "I cleaned the classroom." Situation #2. A teacher asked Mike when he turned in his homework assignment. Question: What would you say if Mike replied that he turned in his assignment yesterday. a. 저는 어제 숙제를 제출했어요. b. 제가 어제 숙제를 제출했어요. The answer is 'a'. Situation #3. Ms. Kim comes back home from her work and sees one of her two sons, 명수, watching TV in the living room. She asks 명수, "Where is 진수?" Question: Which one is the right translation for "Where is 진수?" a. 진수는 어디에 있니? b. 진수가 어디에 있니? The correct answer is 'a' because the question is about WHERE (predicate), not WHO (subject). So, if you want to emphasize WHO, use 이 or 가. All others, use 은 or 는!! Here's some more examples: A: Where is Tom going? (톰은 어디가니?) B: He is going to a bookstore. (톰은 서점에 가는 길이야.) A: What time are you going to be home? (너는 언제 집에 오니?) B: I will be home by 7. (저는 7시까지 집에 돌아올 거에요.) A: Why are you so late? (너는 왜 이렇게 늦었어?) B: I missed the bus. (저는 버스를 놓쳤어요.) A: Who broke the TV? (누가 TV를 고장냈어?) B: Tom did it. (톰이 그랬어요.) C: No, James did it. (아니야, 제임스가 그랬어요.) Now, 8 translations. 1. (I) didn't say he stole the money. (Someone else said it.) 그가 그 돈을 훔쳤다고 '내가' 말하지 않았어. (다른 어떤 사람이 말했어.) 2. I (didn't) say he stole the money. (That's not true at all.) 나는 그가 그 돈을 훔쳤다고 말하지 '않았어'. (그건 사실이 아니야.) 3. I didn't (say) he stole the money. (I only suggested the possibility.) 나는 그가 그 돈을 훔쳤다고 '말하진' 않았어 . (나는 단지 가능성을 제시했을 뿐이야.) 4. I didn't say (he) stole the money. (I think someone else took it.) 나는 '그가 or 걔가' 돈을 훔쳤다고 말하지 않았어. (내 생각엔 다른 사람이 그랬다고 생각해.) 5. I didn't say he (stole) the money. (Maybe he just borrowed it.) 나는 그가 그 돈을 '훔쳤다'고 말하지 않았어 . (아마도 그냥 빌렸을 거야.) 6. I didn't say he stole (the) money. (but rather some other money.) 나는 그가 '그' 돈을 훔쳤다고 말하지 않았어 . (다른 돈을 훔쳤지.) 7. I didn't say he stole the (money). (He may have taken some jewelry.) 나는 그가 '돈'을 훔쳤다고 말하지 않았어 . (아마도 그는 어떤 보석을 훔쳤을 거야.) * In Korean you say the word in single quotation marks with a stress in order to change your meaning just like in English.

I don't even know English grammar well yet I'm trying to learn Korean grammar. 😂

Learning korean be like: *this is the rule* BUT LOOK AT THIS WHOLE BUNCH OF EXCEPTIONS THAT YOU CAN DO NOTHING ABOUT AMD THEY'RE GONNA HAPPEN IN EVERY SINGLE RULE YOU LEARN YAY

The nature of these particles are so easy to understand...until you try to use it and realize in casual conversation, the particles can be absent and then you gotta think of when to omit particles and the confusion happens all over again 😂😂😂😂

Even i am Korean they sound so hard lol. Now i understand how it could be hard to korean learner

Had a sudden realization that might help others. In compound sentences the inner structure becomes the topic of the sentence. For example: (제가 만든 이 비디오) 는 아주길어요 (This video i made) is very long. The subject of the sentence is "this video i made." Might be simple to some but might help someone like me lol

8:25 "The teacher is confused!" Don't worry, me too bro, me too.

Very good explanation. Will repeat 10 times until I remembered.

This is by far the best explanation I have heard to date. I can tell a lot of time went into making this video. The editing is amazing and makes following and understanding the concept so much easier and enjoyable!

*Me after learning easily the different functions about the particles:* *Sigh of relief* It was a piece of cake! But then... 9:50 *Me:* *Silently sitting on a corner, rethinking about life choices*

wow i just spaced out, this may be the most difficult part of korean so far 😂

every time hyunwoo says " here's where it gets more interesting" im just like shit its gonna get harder jkjk this was very helpful 'going to have to watch it a few more times but i understood most things until we got to the compounds

I want to keep Hyunwoo in my pocket to teach me Korean. haha

I think I finally start to get it ! I'm studying Korean in uni but talktomeinkorean teachers explain so much better than my teachers ahaha, my teachers are like "mh it's not really possible to explain the difference between topic and subject you just need to get used to it" guy you have a master degree in teachng korean don't tell me you can't explain

I think this might also help: after teaching ELAR (English Language Arts/Writing & Reading) for a while, I realized that (some) native English speakers might not be aware of the grammar rules in the English language since we just naturally speak it. So maybe after watching this video and you still do not understand (and you are a native English speaker/or you understand English) - how about starting with learning a sentence structure - learn what subject, object, particle is first. Then you can go a step further to learn the parts of speech (noun, verbs, adjective e.t.c) then come back to this video. Hopefully, this helps somebody.

maybe I must watch it again and again.... it's so confusing

how i wish i have a korean friend to talk to so i can practice korean

The compound sentences literally hit me like a bus... Mean Girls kinda hit by a bus

I have come to realize that when Hyunwoo says "it's about to get interesting" he means it getting harder.

I needed to watch the video 3 times at 3 different occasions in order to understand it. So for everyone who's frustrated by this, it's okay, it takes time. if you're persistent, you'll figure it out eventually. good luck!

legend says they still don't know who broke the desk up to this day

I really can’t stress enough how helpful your videos are! Grammar usually bores me so much that I end up pretty much falling asleep without even realizing it (I have adhd) but you somehow manage to make me pay attention and actually have fun throughout the entire lesson! Your explanations are already so clear but the examples you use make it even more understandable. I appreciate it!

は: “Hey, が?” が: “Yeah?” は: “These guys remind me of someone." が: “Yeah... too bad I can’t remember who...”

What makes me laugh is when I ask my Korean friends about this, they look at me like they don't "get it" either. hahaha. Seriously, my best friend had NO idea how to explain it to me. Thanks again. Even though I have been learning for a few years, now, I still get tripped up on the more sophisticated usages. Will keep practicing!

The difference between these particles is now very clear to me! Now to read a lot of examples ! hahaha Thank you for the video~

I think the one sentence, '오늘은 날씨가 좋아요' makes me understand the difference between 은/는 and 이/가 perfectly!! 오늘 is the topic. What am I talking about? I am talking about today. = 오늘은 The subject (이/가) is always related with the verb. What does the verb describe? The weather is (being) nice. 날씨가 좋아요. What is being nice? The weather. Therefore 날씨 becomes 날씨가. I think it will become easy to understand by simply asking the following questions: "What am I talking about" = topic = 은/는 "What is (verb)" = subject = 이/가

I realy like this teacher 🌚✋🏻

The way I understood these was just by listening to people speak. But the compounding will always trip me up!

The most confusing particles, gosh thank you ! ☀︎

This is such a good explanation. So much clearer to think of 이/가 as answering a question and 은/는 as establishing the topic and giving new info. I’ve been using duolingo to start learning Korean, but they do a poor job of explaining grammar concepts. The way their programs work doesn’t really lend itself to learning a language with completely different grammar from your native language. I think I’ll start supplementing my learning on there with TTMIK materials. You guys have a grammar workbook, right?

I've been learning Japanese for 3 years and I still struggle with the topic/subject particles は versus が. I just started learning Korean and honestly this video is really helpful for both languages because 은/는 has the same role as は and 이/가 has the same role as が. So much of the usage is learned through experience and just seeing how they're used in context, but your examples really help explain it in a different way from what I've seen so far. Thank you for helping me with my Korean AND my Japanese!

My problem is that even though I totally understand the concept of everything, when I need to talk or formulate sentences it all gets messed up in my head hahah anyway, thank you once again for an amazing explanation, I will study it harder... 그리고 선현우 선생님의 목소리 항상 너어어어무 좋아요 :)

Please teach us more sentence ending~ we'll be grateful. I aspire to be someone like you ha....

When I first encountered this concept, I was so confused. I'm using the Korean Grammar books, and they have been great, but I couldn't rap my head around the topic and subject markers. I remember holding my head and moaning "topic and subject are synonyms." Anyway, I then asked my friend from Korea. And she explained that 은 and 이, and 는 and 가 were used depending on whether the last word ended in a vowel or a consonant. I understood that part and said, "but what is different between 은 는 and 이 가?" She looked down at what she had written, and suddenly got this really funny confused look on her face, then looked up at me and said "I don't know." Then she waved her arms vaguely and said "Its just a feeling." It was so funny. I couldn't stop laughing. This video helped though. I think I'm going to have to study this concept hard though because it makes me want to tear my hair out. Thank you Talk To Me in Korean. I have learned so much from you. 감사합니다.

i'm honestly so thankful for this video!! after a week of frustration and not getting anywhere with my studies because of how confusing the particle markers were, this video finally helped! i love TTMIK ♡

MAAAAAN I've been struggling with this for almost an year or more and I've finally understood it I'm literally crying thank you so much

I’ve been studying for 5 months and this is the one part that makes my head hurt, but this video has been the most helpful, thank you so much for giving me hope😭

Breakdown of the lesson: Greeting 00:00 ... 1. introduction to the particles 0:45 2. Basic usage of 은 & 는 1:36 3. 은/는 To show contrast 4:31 4. Basic usage of 이/가 7:27 5. When both are used together 9:47 6. Compound Sentences 13:15

i write all my Korean notes in a book and this topic took like 6 pages. this vid helped a lot

Yeah this is DEFINITELY the one I had to review after the book. It melted my brain. ㅋㅋㅋ Edit: 16:13 has given me life.

yes. finally! I've been waiting for this. 😭

The problem for me is, I don't know the difference of a topic and a subject 😭

I am so glad that in the actual audio lesson you clarified that this was not used in every day speech. Other resources that I have used in the past treated the particles as if they were common parlance. I really appreciate this tip

The best explanation I can find, please keep doing this videos, it's really helpful

I love this video! I understood the first time I studied this lesson, but this video went deeper into the matter and now I am confident about it haha I feel like I understand the dynamics of the language better, as well as the dynamics of these particles. 고마워요! 좋은 하루 보내요 :))

This made more sense as a visual/audio learner. Thank you for this video and I will be reviewing this from time to time.

This is my favorite channel for learning Korean I have found so far. Thanks for making these videos and the course!

The most important video about particles thank you

선현우씨!! 감사합니다! To you and your team... the examples in the video helped tremendously. Completely understand now . . . that is before you got to the compound sentences. Greatly appreciate it!

after years of struggling with this, it FINALLY makes sense to me. this video made it feel like puzzle pieces were connecting in my head, thank u soooo much !!!

This video made it so much easier to understand these than the audio lesson did. Thank you 🙏🏼

You might also find our AUDIO LESSON (accompanied by a free PDF e-book) very useful: talktomeinkorean.com/curriculum/level-1-korean-grammar/lessons/l1l9/ Check out our free Korean lessons here: talktomeinkorean.com Take a Korean level test and find the right materials for you!: talktomeinkorean.com/level-test/

very helpful!! was trying to understand this and could not differentiate between subject and topic particles. Its much clearer now.

I saw this video a few weeks ago, and was very confused, but now watching it again I get it... for those who are confused I hope you come back later and give it another listen (especially after getting use to the concept of subject and object markers)... it gets easier to understand. Thanks Hyunwoo!

I've been learning Korean for almost 3 years and it's the first time i understand that! Thank you~~

は/が still haunt me I see....

The example of teacher and students was very interesting 😂

I've had two different tutors for learning Korean and it feels you really understand how to convey the concepts to make them feel very simple. Particles and subject markers has been my biggest struggle. Thank you!

Your english voice is so nice. I can improve my english and korean while im watching your video. Great!!

Watching this again and again and over again and one more time and another time for months... Until I am really good at this subject. Fighting everyone! And thank you so much for making this video and for helping us online and through your books. TTMIK is the best resource I have ever seen when it comes to learning Korean! I will study harder and harder.

This video was so useful. I feel like I finally understood the difference, but I'm definitely coming bock to this video later just to make sure I really get it. 😅

Oh my goodness! I’m glad I checked to see if there was an additional explanation on these. This video helped SO MUCH! I will probably watch it a few more times so it sticks, but it’s exactly what I needed. Thank you!

I thought I understood how it works but after this video I’m a little confused again, I don’t know if I can remember everything. I think I’ll just watch this video again and again many times and someday I’ll be like yes! That’s it I got it!

This video is excellent! I live in Korea and speak Korean on a daily basis, but still find the finer points of subject/object marking particles confusing. This video was extremely helpful even to a more advanced learner like me! The only thing I will say is that I am still a little confused about how to use these particles when it comes to reported speech. Any chance we could get a lesson on that? Thank you so much!!

Korea language is very easy if you take time

this is more complicated than I thought, I've been learning Korean for just one months, I will come back after two months

At times, I have found Korean Grammar books confusing, but your presentations are crystal clear and very, very helpful. Thank you so much for your informative and well-made lessons. Obviously, you put a lot of thought and effort into your work, and it shows!!

For god's sake, I have listened to the same thing 2 times on spotify and I watched it here on RU-vid too, but I still dont understand 😭

What I struggle most with regarding particles is if the thing I talk about (in a longer sentence mostly) should be seen as a subject or an object. It's hard to explain but I feel like "This camera" can be talked about as a subject but it is an object.

I just love listening to you teaching idk what it is but, you make everything so much easier when you explain it. You are such an amazing teacher and I love TTMIK. I have learned so much in the past 6 months I’ve been studying Korean because TTMIK was one of my #1 Choices out of 10 different sites I use.Thank you all for your hard work.

I was so stuck for months, trying to understand how to use them and also what the difference was between a subject and a topic. But after this video I understood everything so clearly I FEEL SO SMART I UNDERSTAND NOW

This is the best video I've seen explaining particles. As far as language learning difficulties are concerned, mastering Korean particles, is akin to mastering English prepositions. ^^

1:14 help I’m already lost. 😂💕

I really understand in a very good way. TTMIK is amazing👍👍👍. Now I can write, speak, and even talk in Korean fluently. TTMIK are the best ever.

OMG I'm litterally crying😭😭😭!! It's been days that I'm looking at videos and textbooks and I've finally got the hang out of it with this amazing and suuuuuuuuuuuuuper helpful video!!!!!! 감사합니다!!!!💗💗💗

I think the part I'm struggling with, is understanding the difference between 'Topic' and 'Subject'. They seem to interchange, so is there ever a time when they absolutely can't?

this was the easiest thing for me to understand before i even had a lesson on it omg

It's amazing how closely these differences track with the differences in the usage of the Japanese particles は and が.

당신은 좋은 선생님 이시고, 양질의 콘텐츠를 가져 주셔서 감사합니다.

I got a Korean history ad... *I guess my phone is really watching the* If anybody's confused difference between 네가(nega) or 니가(niga) still Well 니가(Niga) is used in spoken word 네가(Nega) is for writing, We dont use this word because.. We will be confused and be like "wait are you talking about me or you?" So its better to say niga but to write you can use nega but you can sometimes use niga or sth because I've seen so many lyrics like that Just a little reminder.. Btw you will hear nega in k dramas because its scripted right?? So yeah..

When i think i understood it and he just added more complications and m just like now you go again at the level where you were earlier 😂😂

AHH THANK YOU SO MUCH!! I'VE BEEN STRUGGLING WITH THIS FOR SO LONG

I'm clear about what is subject markers and topic markers 😊if i watch this video again i would be very clear about this 👍Gahmsahmnida hyunwoo seonsaengnim 💜

정말 감사합니다 ^^

Wooow this gives me such a headache... it is my aim to understand this asap!!!

THIS IS THE MOST USEFUL THING EXPLAINING THESE PARTICLES, THANK YOU VERY MUCH♡♡♡

This video really cleared this concept up for me. 감사합니다 !

Aaand finally I finished ! Guys do you believe I literally used *9 pages* of a book 24x32cm JUST for this lesson ?! I'm jungshook 😂😂 I repeated a lot of times this video, I basically spent hours only on this I first listened to the explanations and then I wrote everything on my book, with all details and explanations possible, so I can really understand and have no doubts Aand good news for me: although this is a little confusing, I'm confident about this lesson, I understood everything and I feel extremely proud of myself ✌😆

Thanks you so much! All information about these particles will be useful! But I have a question: what is the difference between 저 and 제? Both mean "I", isn't it? In what situations do we use each one? Thanks again!

At first I thought I was confused by the end of the video, but when I went to do sentence practice afterward, I kept getting the answers right. I realized, I picked up more than I thought!

This was HUGELY helpful! I was one of those people who found the lesson 9 Core Grammar lesson to be unhelpful. No matter how many times I listened to it and read the accompanying transcript, it didn’t help. This video is awesome! You’re right that it will take forever to assimilate it into easy use, but at least now it all makes sense. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into this video lesson! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Thanks for the video! What about 를? When do we use it?

Okay You lost me at the end ahahah... But well, i'll come back to it once I get my books to work on what's before this lesson ahah !

This video has given me some hope after suffering from major confusions regarding particle usage. thank you.

You really made it clear Sir... Thank you so much! 👍🏻