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Ultimate list of Korean Particles
October 5, 2021
Smriti

Learning grammar is one of the most difficult things for Korean language learners. On this blog we will try to help you learn Korean grammar in the quickest and easiest way possible.

This blog will be helpful for those who are studying Korean language and want to improve their grammar skills.

Today we’ll see the list of all the particles with some example sentences.

Ultimate list of Korean Particles

1. 같이

의미 : This pattern is equivalent to the phrase Like Something / Someone and is used just like N +처럼. It should be noted that this is different from N +와 같이

  • 저는 한국 사람 같이 한국어를 잘 할 수 있으면 좋겠어요.
  • 저도 미영 씨 같이 요리를 잘 할 수 있을까요 ?
  • 우리 개는 사람 같이 행동해요.

2. 에

의미 : Used to indicate location, direction or time.

The grammar point 에 is used with verbs like 가다 오다 도착하다 돌아가다 내려가다 올라가다. It shows the direction in which the reaction proceeds. In English it would be the same as to / from.

The second basic meaning of this particle is when it is used with 있다 or 없다. When used with these it expresses the location of a person or thing. In English it would mean " in / on " 

  • 날마다 학교에 가요. 
  • 화장실 갔다 왔어요.
  • 소파 위에 가방 있어요.

3. 이/가

의미 : The subject marker 이/가 is used to indicate that the preceding noun phrase is the subject of the sentence. 가 Is used after the word which ends with a vowel. 이 Is used with the word ending with a consonant. 

  • 고양이가 집 뒤에 있다
  • 날씨가 좋네요
  • 이름이 뭐예요 ?

4. 은/는

의미 : Korean particle 은 or 는 marks preceding words as a topic of the sentence. The use of 은/는 is somewhat similar to a subject marking particle 이/가  but there is a subtle difference between the two. 

In a very rough sense the word followed by 은/는 has more attention than that followed by 이/가 

은 is used when the preceding word ends with the consonant and 는 is used with the preceding word ends with the vowel. 

  • 이 김치는 너무 매워요
  • 참기름은 안 쌌어 ?
  • 한국말은 재밌어요.

5. 을/를

의미 : Is attached to the noun to show the object of the sentence. So when making a sentence in Korean the object of the sentence must have 을/를 at the end. 

When the object ends in a vowel 를 is used and if the word ends with a consonant 을 is used. 

  • 그 옷을 원하고 싶다.
  • 사과를 아주 좋아요. 
  • 버스를 놓쳤어 
  • 아이패드를 샀어요.

6. 처럼

의미 : By attaching the word 처럼 to a noun you can create the meaning of " like (that noun) " 

N 처럼 is similar to N 같이

  • 밤이 낮처럼 밝았네요
  • 너처럼 게으른 아이 처음 보였다
  • 그 여자는 영화배우처럼 예뻐요

7. 고

의미 : The basic grammar point is used as " and ". A verb comes before the 고 and also after the 고. It's the short of 그리고 which means and 

V/A - 고 V/A

8. 까지

의미 : Finishing point of time or place.

  • 3시 까지 기다릴 거예요.
  • 그 여자를 지금까지 좋아했어요.
  • 방금까지 달렸어요.

9. (으)나

의미 : (으)나 Is repeated to list alternatives creating an idiomatic expression. The two alternatives have a symmetrical relationship to each other. 

  • 비가 오나 눈이 오나 매일 출발한다.
  • 어머니는 자나 깨나 공부만 하라고 해요.

10. 도

의미 : The Korean grammar point 도  is used after a subject and object nouns to show the listing at subjects and objects or an addition of a subject or object to one mentioned previously. Basically the grammar point is the same also and too in English. 

  • 무엇도 보이지 않았다.

11. (으)로

의미 : This particle is used to indicate the direction, means, method, capacity, materials, cause etc. 

It is equivalent to saying towards, to, heading for. 

  • 저는 기차로 고향에 가요.
  • 네 생각을 말로 표현해 봐.
  • 이 옷은 세탁기에 넣지 말고 손으로 빠세요.

12. 보다

의미 : It is equivalent to saying rather than in English. 

  • 그 여자보다 그 남자가 옷을 잘 입어요.
  • 주스보다 물을 (더) 좋아해요.
  • 어제보다 오늘이 따뜻하다.

13. 부터

의미 : It is used with a noun to show that from a noun an action will start or has started meaning beginning with, first, starting from in English.

  • 이런 주접스러운 생각부터 했다
  • 손부터 씻고 먹어요.
  • 할 일이 많아서 무엇 부터 해야 할지 모르겠어요.

14. (이)나 , 거나, 아니면

의미 : Both ~ (이) 나, and ~거나 can be used in sentences to mean "or'' in Korean, but they cannot be used interchangeably. ~ (이) 나 can be attached to nouns, and ~거나 can be attached to verbs.

In Korean, when you want to say "or" you must attach ~ (이) 나 to the first noun.

  1. ~이나 gets added to a noun ending in a consonant.
  2. ~ 나 gets added to a noun ending in a vowel.

You can use ~ 거나 to connect two verbs to each other with "or."

~ 아니다 means "to not be"or something, (the meaning depends on the usage). By combining 아니다 with ~면, we get "아니면"which literally means "if not."

15. 에게 / 한테 / 께

의미 : Used to indicate that you are doing (usually giving) something to somebody. 에게, 한테 and 께 all have the same meaning, but ~ 한테 is usually used in conversation, ~에게 is usually written (although it is still said in conversation very often) and ~ 께 is used when the person you are giving with respect. 

께 is the honorific form of 에게 / 한테.

  • 아버지는 아들에게 돈을 준다.
  • 나는 학생들 한테 한국어를 가르쳤 어.
  • 저는 부장님께 그 사실을 말할 거예요.

16. 에서

의미 : Location of an action occurrence or the origin. It is used with Nouns.

  • 회사에서 일해요.
  • 베트남에서 왔어요.

17. 쯤

의미 : Can use Noun 쯤 to say something was about or approximately.

  • 오늘 몇시쯤 만날까요?
  • 한국에 한 달쯤 갈 거예요.

18. 밖에

의미 : This pattern basically means ONLY. This pattern requires tense after 밖에 such as 없다 or any other negation 안 못 etc. 밖에 Means outside so saying N 밖에 없다 would mean there is nothing besides N, you don't have anything outside of N or you only have N.

  • 한국말을 조금밖에 못해요.
  • 지금 200원밖에 없어.

19. 와/과

의미 : This is a conjunction, which connects noun and noun or noun phrase and noun phrase. Same with 'and' in  English but '-과'and-와 'are used only to connect nouns and noun phrases. This meaning can also sometimes mean 'with' 삼촌과 살아요.

In spoken language, however, people prefer using'(이) 랑 'to using'-과 'and'-와 '

  1. N +와 : If there is no 받침 or if the adj / verb stem ends with a ㄹ 받침.
  2. N +과 : If there is a 받침 at the end of the adj / verb stem.
  • 빵과 우유를 먹었어요.
  • 친구와 영화 보러 갈 거예요.

20. (이)랑

의미 : This pattern is equivalent to the phrase with someone / something and is similar to N +와 같이.

This pattern is a colloquial style, so it is not commonly used in a written form.

  1. N + 랑 : If there is no 받침 or if the adj / verb stem ends with a ㄹ 받침.
  2. N + 이랑 : If there is a 받침 at the end of the adj / verb stem.
  • 저는 존 이랑 여행 갔어요.
  • 저는 미영 씨랑 영화 보러 갈 거예요.

21. 하고

의미 : 1st : Used when listing more than one item. It is often used in spoken Korean while 'N 과 /와'are mostly used only in written Korean. In this case, 'N 하고' can be translated into 'N and'.

2nd : Used to show the person with whom you do a certain action. In this case, 'N 하고' can be translated into 'with Noun '

  • 빵하고 우유를 먹었어요.
  • 저는 엄마하고 살아요.

22. 의

의미 : Korean particle 의 is similar to English 'of' (except the order of nouns before and after 'of'). It is mainly Used to combine two nouns and specifies a possessive role of preceding noun. It can be omitted in many compound nouns.

  1. 너의 책 = Your book = Book of yours
  2. 도시의 소음 = A noise of the city
  3. 엄마의 일기장 = Mom's diary
  • 남 선생님 (의) 종이에요?
  • 팀의 스토리를 정말 좋아해요.
  • 제 이름은 팀이에요.

23. 마다

의미 : This particle means every or each.

  • 일요일마다 서점들이 문을 닫습니다.
  • 사람마다 성격이 달라요.

24. 만

의미 : This Korean grammar point is used with Noun and 만 literally means only/just.

** The above information has been provided with the help of kGrammar app available on playstore for free to download. It’s a great app for grammar learning and I would recommend you to check it out. I am thankful to the creators for making it available for free use.

To understand TOPIK Test structure, application process, Levels and Passing scores etc. check these pages:

  1. TOPIK – The Complete Guide & 2. TOPIK Levels and Passing Marks. You can also Practice Online with TOPIK GUIDE Mock Tests.

If you are going to take the TOPIK Test for the first time, or if you want to give your score a boost so that you can pass a higher level, we would strongly advise you to get the Complete Guide to TOPIK – Self-Study Package. It is a digital study package that has everything you need to get a great score in the TOPIK test – all the past TOPIK papers with answer sheets, grammar and vocabulary study material, video tutorials explaining the test structure, strategies to solve them and much more. You can check out more details about this study package HERE.

Learning Korean can be tricky, especially when the goal of your learning is conversation. If you’ve ever attempted to speak Korean but were unable to, then hopefully you’ll find this post helpful.

Thank you for reading. If you have any questions or suggestions. Comment down below.

    • It helped me learn Korean though and I’ve been able to speak with native’s and we understand each other tho, Also Improve your Grammar!

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