Help with 이/가, 은/는 & 을/를

[franjae]

안 영 하 세 요!

I have been a 한 국 어 학 생 (!) for the last six months and I am really confused with the above particles (?). I understand that it refers to subject, object or topic but I can't seem to work it out and no-one has been able to explain to me.

Eg. 김 치 찌 개 가 뜨 거 워 요. Can the 가 be replaced with 를 or 는? What are the rules here?

I need to this sorted or I can't progress further i think.....

All help would be very much appreciated. 감 사 합 니 다 !

[basriucs]

Me too, I have problem understanding these particle, anyone out there to clarify on this?

[stevenwilson]

"Eg. 김 치 찌 개 가 뜨 거 워 요. Can the 가 be replaced with 를 or 는? What are the rules here?"
I might be missing huge parts of knowledge, and I think I am at a lower intermediate level, but this is my understanding of them.

은/는 is to specify what "thing" is doing the verb. -edit- or sometimes it specifics what something "is", like X는 = Y. but not X는 has the attribute of Y -edit end-

을/를 is used to specific what "thing", a verb is being done to. you can like it 좋아하다, you can hate it 싫어하다, eat it 먹어다, ect.

이/가 is for objects. things which have this following them have no contact with verbs. these things can be good 좋다, bad 싫다, or hot 뜨겁다.

Sometimes my rules are broken and I don't know why, but I think this is the standard, and then maybe there are exceptions.

If anyone else knows better, feel free to correct me.

[basriucs]

thanks steven, that clarifies a lot

[basriucs]

But how about this sentence, my head hurts alot, why do we use 이/가 instead of 은/는 or 을/를. Which one is correct?

1) 머리가 너무 아파요
2) 머리는 너무 아파요
3) 머리를 너무 아파요

[franjae]

I've been trying to figure it out for a while now and have not found anyone who could explain it to me.....

basriucs, from what i've been able to gather, your examples given deals with the subject of "headache", hence I think you'd use 가.

From observations, if you say... 제 주 도 날 씨 는 어 때 요 ? The weather in Jeju is the topic, hence the 는.

However if you just say ... 날 씨 가 추 워 요 ? you are referring to the weather being the subject of the sentence, hence 가.

Perhaps once we get to a certain stage, all this will somehow click into place??

[stevenwilson]

I just realised my rules suck. Because we say; 나는 / 그는, is a student/ friend / boy.

in your case, though the rules can still apply.

2) 머리는 너무 아파요
아파 is not a verb, so your 머리 cannot possibly be doing the verb to some other object. and you head is not pain itself, so you aren't going to say 머리는 아파가 예요 either.

3) 머리를 너무 아파요
once again, not a verb, (even though in english hurt can be a verb to...). In english I guess this makes sense because hurt can be a verb... but the verb form of "hurt" in korean is 다치다. and 아파 means hurt as in "is in pain".
anyway, something else cannot do "is in pain" to your head so this one is wrong to.

1) 머리가 너무 아파요
remeber, 이/가 is used for the status of something, so this would be the particle you want for this example. "head" "status" "to much" "is in pain".

[padeca07]

This is by far the hardest thing to fully grasp in the Korean language, and it's also the most frustrating because it seems like it should be the first concept you learn. The reasoning is is that the use of 이/가 and 은/는 is very contextually sensitive. Sometimes they are almost interchangeable, while other times switching one with the other completely adulterates the meaning. For example:
그녀가 커피를 마신다
그녀는 커피를 마신다
both are correct

Another reason that it's hard to decide when to use one over the other is the distinction between descriptive verbs and action verbs. For example:
피터가 머리는 좋다
피터는 머리가 좋다
Because 좋다 is a descriptive verb both sentences are "usable" but the second one is the best because it is referring to the state of Pete's "head/mind" 이/가 is often used with conditions, but you have to be careful because of verbs like "아프다" 아픈거는 is considered active. So in this case the rules have to be strictly enforced. For example:
머리는 아프다 (X) wrong
머리가 아프다 (O) right - or you can just say 머리아프다
The reason for this is that you are making 머리 (head) the subject. So saying 머리는 아프다 gives 머리 a human like characteristic where the head is feeling the pain. So in this case 머리가 아프다 is the only possible choice.
Yet another reason for confusion is that 은/는 is also used for topic/contrast
난 김치를 못먹는다
난 김치는 못먹는다
The use of 는 instead of 를 gives the sentences two slightly different meanings. Although both mean I can't eat kimchi, 난 김치는 못먹는다, because of the 는, implies that I can't eat kimchi BUT I can eat other Korean foods. This is a case where 은/는 acts as a delimiter and replaces the object particle 을/를 to provide contrast.
I hope this was helpful and not too confusing. The only way to really get better at this is to keep studying as most of the time the differences are very minor. Most of the time using one or the other won't effect the meaning it just makes the 느낌 a little different.

[manyakumi]

Padeca07 gave us a good answer but this seems to need some additional explanations.

머리는 아프다 (X) wrong
머리가 아프다 (O) right - or you can just say 머리아프다

머리는 아프다 is grammatically correct but is rarely used in conversation by itself.
You could see the case when we are using the negative sentence by attaching 안.

머리는 안아프다.

Literally means 'the head is not in pain'.
However the sentence will have some other meanings by using 는 instead of 가.

"My head is okay" (but the other part of my body is in pain)


Or you can see the case of using 는 as a clause in a sentence.

머리는 아프지만 재미있는 일이다.
The work may cause you a headache but it will be fun.


As you can see,
the marker 은/는 makes the topic be in an unique condition.