안녕하세요! Welcome and welcome back to my website! Today, I'll teach you about the Korean topic marker! How can you say "I'm a student" or "You are a teacher." in Korean? With the previous lesson "to be verb 이에요/예요" and the new grammar you will learn today, you will be able to introduce yourself in Korean!
<Table of Contents>
0. Words
네 | (polite) Yes. | |
아니요 | (polite) No. | |
사람 | person/people | |
한국 | Korea | |
미국 | U.S.A. | |
은 | topic marker 1 | |
는 | topic marker 2 | |
저 | (polite) I | |
당신 | (somewhat polite) you |
1. The Topic Marker
은/는 attach to a noun and indicate that the noun is the topic of that sentence. In other words, a noun that has the "은" or "는" is what this sentence is about. So, they are called topic markers or topic particles.
I wrote 은 slash 는 because you have to use either one at a time. It depends on the last syllable of the noun that it will be attached to. The final consonant(받침[bat-chim]) of the last syllable is the key to deciding the form to either 은 or 는. Things can be changed due to the final consonant is quite a common matter in Korean. You will encounter it a lot during Korean lessons!
당신 is one way to say "you" in Korean. It's not a commonly used word, yet I just use it here to show as an example.
The last syllable of "당신" is "신". It consists of three letters: "ㅅ", "ㅣ", and "ㄴ". We have the last letter, "ㄴ (n)". It is what we call the final consonant. Since we have the final consonant, we need to add the word "은" after "당신" to form "당신은". As you add the topic marker 은 to it, we can show "you" is the topic of the sentence.
Watch out for the pronunciation of "당신은." When you read it, the final consonant ㄴ moves to the no-sound letter "ㅇ" spot. Therefore, although we write it as "당신은", it is pronounced as [당시는].
저 means "I" in Korean. By attaching the topic marker, we can indicate the sentence is about yourself (the speaker). The word 저 consists of two letters; "ㅈ" and "ㅓ". It ends with a vowel. It means there is no final consonant. So you will attach 는 to it to form 저는.
2. Expression
In the previous lesson, you learned about the be verb 이에요/예요. Let's combine the two grammars to make one important Korean expression! N1은/는 and N2이에요/예요. This expression can show that N1 (noun 1) equals N2 (noun 2). This expression can be used to explain a person or a thing.
N1은/는 and N2이에요/예요. = N1 am/are/is N2.
How can we talk about the job then? Here is one example. Let's think of "I am a teacher."
I'm a teacher. → I = teacher → 저 = 선생님
저는 선생님이에요. I'm a teacher.
By saying "저는", we can tell the topic of the sentence is "저 (I)". So, "I" equals "teacher". That means I am a teacher.
3. Sentence Examples
Here are some more examples using the expression "N1은/는 N2이에요/예요." You can use this expression to talk about your name, job, nationality, and more. If you click on the titles "직업(job)" or "국적(nationality)", you can check out my vocabulary posts about those topics. Don't forget to take a look at these posts to practice introducing yourself!
A. 이름 name
저는 제니예요. (As for me) I am Jenny.
저 (I) doesn't have the final consonant, so you will add "는". The last syllable 니 of the name 제니 also doesn't have the final consonant, so we add "예요" after the noun.
저는 마이클이에요. (As for me,) I am Michael.
By adding the topic marker "는" to 저, we can tell this sentence is about me. That is why we need a topic marker! The last syllable 클 has the final consonant, so we will add 이에요 to it.
당신은 조예요. (As for you,) You are Joe.
The topic marker is attached to 당신 (you). It ends with the final consonant, so let's use "은". The name 조 doesn't have the final consonant, so we will add 예요.
What is your name? Can you try to write your name in Korean? If you are not sure, you can search the internet as "(name) in Korean" or you can leave your name in the comment section! I will help you to Koreanize your name!
저는 학생이에요. (As for me,) I am a student.
The last syllable 생 has the final consonant, so we will add 이에요 to it. Since the sentence is about me, let's start with 저는. You are probably able to tell me the reason why we attach "는" by now.
당신은 의사예요. (As for you,) you are a doctor.
당신(you) ends with the final consonant. So we need the topic marker "은". The last syllable 사 of "의사 doctor" doesn't have the final consonant. Then what ending do we need? Yes, you need to add 예요.
To the examples you practiced in the previous lesson, you can simply add 저는 to talk about your job! However, when you introduce yourself, you and the listener both can tell it is about you. So, in that case, you can just say N2 part. No need to say "저는." This kind of omission often happens in the Korean language!
저는 한국 사람이에요. (As for me,) I am Korean.
한국 is a country name. It means Korea. 사람 means a person or people. By adding two words, you can talk about the nationality! 한국 사람 means a Korean person or Korean people! The noun 1 which is " I" equals Korean. You can translate this sentence as "I'm Korean."
당신은 미국 사람이에요. (As for you,) you are American.
미국 means the U.S. in Korean. So, adding 사람 to it makes an American person or people. By the way, 미 means "beautiful" and 국 means "country" in Sino-Korean. So, the meaning of 미국 is a beautiful country.
4. Conversation Examples
In Korean, you can say "네" for yes and "아니요" for no. Here are examples of dialog forms between people. Try to read them aloud!
1
가: 안녕하세요? 저는 잭이에요. Hi. I'm Jack.
나: 안녕하세요. 저는 로즈예요. Hi. I'm Rose.
Try to introduce your name with greetings! "안녕하세요." is the most common greeting expression, meaning "Hello." If you want to know how to say hello in Korean, please check here.
2
가: (당신은) 선생님이에요? Are you a teacher?
나: 네, (저는) 선생님이에요. Yes, I'm teacher.
The question is about 당신(you). In Korean, when the topic of the sentence is obvious, it can be omitted. So, you can say 당신은 선생님이에요? or just ask 선생님이에요? For the answer as well, it is obvious that the sentence starts with "I (저)". So, you can omit it as well!
3
가: 의사예요? Are you a doctor?
나: 아니요, 선생님이에요. No, I'm a teacher.
You are probably able to guess by now. A statement and a question have the same spelling in Korean! You just need to add a period for a statement and a question mark for a question! It is the same with English. How easy is that?
4
가: 한국 사람이에요? Are you Korean?
나: 아니요, 미국 사람이에요. No, I'm American.
To answer "no" in Korean, you can say "아니요." Here is one good tip for you. Pay attention to the punctuation after 아니요. Is it a period? Nope! It's a comma! If you say 네 or 아니요 in front of the continuing sentences, you will use a comma.
5
가: 젠 씨, 민지 씨는 학생이에요? Hey Jen, is Minji a student?
나: 네, 민지 씨는 학생이에요. Yes, Minji is a student.
You can talk about someone else by using this expression. You just need to add their names! However, you'll need to use an appropriate appellation unless they are your friends or younger people. If you are curious, please click here to read my other post about how to call Korean politely.
5. Wrap-up & Worksheet
How was your study? I'll show you the summary of the lesson! Please memorize these important facts and expressions! Please download the free printable PDF worksheet to review your lesson. It includes the answer sheet for your perfect self-study!
은/는 is a topic marker. It shows what this sentence is about.
"N1은/는 N2이에요/예요" is an expression to explain "N1 = N2" (N1 am/are/is N2.)
은/는 and 이에요/예요 will be decided depending on the last syllable of a noun.