안녕하세요! 🤗 Today you'll learn about the time marker 에. If you are following my free course, you may notice, this is the fourth 에! It has a lot of uses! Well, don't worry. I'll guide you about this time marker 에 one by one as usual. Don't forget to check out free printable worksheets and flashcards as well!
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1. Time-related words
Here are some time-related words. Those are pretty basic words, so try to memorize them!
when | |
what time | |
a.m. / Before noon | |
p.m. / Afternoon |
⚐ Language Tips!
오, in this case, means "noon". So 오전 is before noon and 오후 is after noon. From here, you can learn 전 means 'before' and 후 means 'after.'
morning/breakfast | |
around noon/lunch | |
daytime | |
evening/dinner | |
night | |
dawn |
⚐ Language Tips & Fun Facts!
밥 means cooked rice (steamed rice). In Korea's agricultural society, 밥 has been the staple food for a long time. So, the meaning of 밥 expanded, not only just cooked rice but also meal.
아침, 점심 and 저녁 means morning, around noon, and evening. With the word 밥, they mean the meal of that time. So, 아침밥 is breakfast, 점심밥 is lunch, and 저녁밥 is dinner.
However, 밥 for those words can be omitted! So instead of saying 저녁밥 you can just say 저녁 to mean "dinner". Then how can we distinguish whether it means meal or evening? You have to figure it out with the provided context.
For example, the verb "먹어요" means "eat". So, if you say "아침을 먹어요" that means you are eating breakfast. (Since you can't eat morning!)
2. The Korean Time Marker: 에
What is 에?
에 is the Korean time marker. It comes after a time word or specific time and indicates when an event happens. You can understand it like "in," "on," or "at" which comes with time in English.
I drink coffee in the morning. | |
I drink coffee at 8:00. |
In the chart above, you can see 에. It comes after the time-related word like 아침 or a specific time like 여덟 시. Since 에 is a grammatical marker, you must attach it to a noun! There should be no space between the word and the marker.
I drink coffee in the morning. |
Here is one more example for you. There are two 에 in this sentence. The red one is attached to the time word. So, it is a time marker. The blue one is attached to a place (school). That means it is a place marker.
Conjugation
Good news! No conjugation is needed! It only has one form. That means you don't have to worry about the final consonant of a noun.
몇 시에 가요? What time do you go?
두 시 반에 가요. I go at 2:00.
Omission
However, some words are not allowed to have 에, even though they are time-related words! Check the list below.
when | |
now | |
the day before yesterday | |
yesterday | |
today | |
tomorrow | |
the day after tomorrow |
I'll show you some words in the diagram as well. Do not attach 에 to these words!
For example, you can say "아침에 학교에 가요. (I go to school in the morning,)" attaching 에 to 아침. But you can't say "오늘에 학교에 가요," because 에 can't be attached to 오늘. You must say "오늘 학교에 가요. (I go to school today.)"
3. Question Forms
Let's take a look at expressions. To ask the questions with "when," you start the sentence with 언제. Make sure not to put the time marker 에. 언제 is one of the words you are not allowed to attach 에!
언제 가요? [When do you go?
언제 집에 가요? When do you go home?
To ask the questions with "what time" start the sentence with 몇 시 with the time marker 에, 몇 시에.
몇 시에 가요? What time do you go?
몇 시에 집에 가요? What time do you go home?
⚐ What time is it?
By the way, if you are curious how to ask time like "What time is it?" check out my other post; how to ask and answer time in Korean.
4. Examples
1
가: 언제 학교에 가요? When do you go to school?
나: 여덟 시 반에 학교에 가요. I go to school at 8:30.
반 means half. "여덟시 반(eight and a half)" also can be said 여덟 시 삼십 분(eight thirty)". Because 30 is half of 60 minutes.
2
다: 언제 학교에 가요? When do you go to school?
라: 여덟 시 반에 가요. I go (to school) at 8:30.
This example is the same as example 1. However, this time 학교에(to school) part is omitted.
It happened because both the speaker and listener knew about that. The subject parts (I and you) are also omitted for the same reason.
3
마: 언제 티비를 봐요? When do you watch TV?
바: 저녁에 봐요. I watch (TV) in the evening.
When you answer "언제 when" you can give the specific time or the range of the time (time-related words), just like you answer the "when" questions in English.
4
사: 몇 시에 점심을 먹어요? What time do you eat lunch?
아: 열두 시에 먹어요. I eat at 12.
Unlike 언제 when, if you are asked by "몇 시 what time", it is natural to give the specific time to answer.
5
자: 오늘 영화관에 가요? Do you go to the movie theater today?
차: 아니요, 내일 가요. No, I will go tomorrow.
오늘(today) and 내일(tomorrow) can't be followed with the time marker 에. 아니요 is a polite version of no.
6
카: 내일 친구를 만나요? Will you meet your friend tomorrow?
타: 네, 내일 다섯 시에 만나요. Yes, I will meet (my friend) tomorrow at five.
Surprise fact! You learned 아/어/여요 as a preset tense, but guess what, you can talk about the future using this form as well!
5. Wrap-up & Materials: The Korean time marker 에
In this post, you learned about the time marker 에. Here is the summary for you.
에 is attached to a specific time or time-related words
It tells the time an event happens.
Some time-related words can't be followed by 에.
Those are 언제 (when), 지금 (now), 오늘 (today), etc.
To ask "when," start a sentence with 언제.
To ask "what time," start a sentence with 몇 시에.
Here are some worksheets for you! They are free and printable!
Time words that need 에.
Time words that can't be used with 에.
How was your lesson? If you have any questions, please ask in the comments below. Please subscribe for notifications on my latest lessons! Next lesson, you'll learn how to say "each" in Korean.
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