In this lesson, you'll learn about how to say "only" or "just" in Korean using the marker 만. It's not difficult, so please follow my lesson with no pressure!
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1. 만 Grammar
만 is a marker that means "only" or "just". For example, if you want to say there are only books on the desk, no other things, say this.
Q: 책상 위에 뭐가 있어요? What is on the desk?
A: 책만 있어요. Only books. = There are only books.
Then what will be the difference between 책이 있어요 and 책만 있어요?
"책이 있어요." is simply describing that "There is a book" or "There are books."
"책만 있어요." emphasizes that there is/are "only" books but not other things.
Here is one more example to help you understand.
Q: 펜 있어요? Do you have a pen?
A: 아니요. 저는 연필만 있어요. No, I only have pencils.
As you see, we attach 만 to the noun that you want to emphasize. It is often used to express and indicate quantity. By attaching 만, we can show the limited minimum or emphasize.
천 원만 빌려주세요. Please lend me a thousand won.
천 원 is 1,000 won. Won is the Korean currency. You attach 만 to 1,000 won to show that you "only" need 천 원.
교실에 학생이 한 명만 있어요. There is only one student in the classroom.
Only one student is in the classroom. So, we attach 만 to 한 명(one person).
2. Conjugation Information
만 is a marker so it is directly attached to a noun. It only has one form, so you can just attach it to a noun that you want to emphasize without worrying about the various conjugation forms.
책 book → 책만
연필 pencil → 연필만
지우개 eraser → 지우개만
학생 student → 학생만
선생님 teacher → 선생님만
한국 Korea → 한국만
한국어 the Korean langugage → 한국어만
3. Sentence Information
Alright! Here are some pieces of upper-level information! If you are a very beginner, you may skim reading for now.
만 + case markers
만 can be used with other markers. Subject marker 이/가 or object marker 을/를 can be attached with 만. In this case, 만 comes first and then those markers come along. So, it will be 만이, 만을.
However, it's not necessary! Those combinations are not that often used. I'll say that those are a bit of literary style. People like to say things quickly and short! So they use just 만 instead of 만이, 만을 when talking!
markers | Examples | |
만이 | 만+subject marker | 유진 씨만이 안 왔어요. =유진 씨만 안 왔어요. Only Yu-jin didn't come. |
만을 | 만+object marker | 당신 만을 사랑해요. = 당신만 사랑해요. I love only you. |
4. Examples
1
Q: 민수 씨는 강아지가 있어요? Do you have a puppy, Minsu?
A: 아니요, 저는 고양이만 있어요. No, I only have cats.
2
Q: 가방에 책이 있어요? Is there a book in the backpack?
A: 아니요, 공책만 있어요. No, I just have a notebook.
3
Q: 크리스틴 씨는 일본어를 배워요? Cristine, do you learn Japanese?
A: 아니요, 저는 한국어만 배워요. No, I only study Korean.
4
5
줄리 씨는 채소만 먹어요. July only eats vegetables.
5. Wrap-up & Worksheet
How was the lesson? It was not that difficult, right? 만 is attached to a noun and shows "only."
Let's work on this using the worksheet. I've created a free, printable Korean worksheet for you! The answers are included in this lesson! So, after completing the worksheet, you can return here. Reread the lesson to review the grammar!
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In the next lesson, you'll learn about another way to show the limitation using the marker 밖에. I'll also show you how 만 and 밖에 are different!