Learn Korean

Particles

Topic Particle - 는 / 은

This particles section is divided into several parts.

These are:

•는/은 - Topic particle       ┐ Subject particles

•가/이 - Identifier particle ┘

•도 - Additive particle

•를/을 - Object particle

•에 - Time/place particle

Note: 는/은 and 가/이 are 'Subject particles.' The explanations are given in the 'Subject Particles' section.

For example,

•나는 학생이다 = I am a student

는, the topic particle, is attached to the end of 나, which means the pronoun "I", to show that the 

topic is about "I" or the subject is "I".

•나도 학생이다 = I am a student, too.

In this sentence, 도, the additive particle, is attached to 나 to show that in addition to a person or 

people who are students, "I", too, am a student.

는/은 [Topic Particle]

The first particle, we'll learn, is 는/은, the topic particle. It is used for a subject or topic of a 

sentence. 는 is used for nouns without a final consonant, and 은 for nouns with a final consonant.

Let me explain,

•나는 = I am

•사람은 = A person is

나 consists of ㄴ+ㅏ

•ㄴ = n (an initial consonant)

•ㅏ = a (a vowel)

As you can see, 나 is a word without a final consonant, therefore 는 is attached to it.

On the other hand, 사람 which means 'a person' has 람 as a final character, and 람 consists of ㄹ+ㅏ +ㅁ

•ㄹ = r,l (an initial consonant)

•ㅏ = a (a vowel)

•ㅁ = m (a final consonant)

사람 is a word with a final consonant. Therefore, 은 is attached to it.

The reason for these two different types of the topic particle, 는/은, is that for words with a final 

consonant, it is easier to pronounce them with 은 rather 는.

Compare these two pronunciations,

•사람는 = sa-ram-nun

•사람은 = sa-ram-un → sa-ra-mun [사라믄]

As you can see, 사람는 is more rigid and awkward to pronounce, whereas 사람은 is more fluid and easy to pronounce. 사람은 is actually pronounced 사라믄. The final consonant of 람, which is ㅁ, is

transferred to 은 to make it sound 믄.

(사람은 sounds a bit like "Sarah Moon" whereas 사람는 may sound like "Saram Noon".)

Listen to the pronunciations for yourselves in the Google Translate.

The following are example sentences using 는/은, the topic particle.