When to use ....

[Referee06]

I am not sure when to use 가, 이, 운, 눈, etc?

[community.korean]

Hello Referee06,


Thank you for your question! It is confusing isn't it?

The prepositions are always!

I would put '이,가' on one category and '은,는' for another.

First of all if you use '이,가' it is usually when you emphasize the noun or the pronoun.

For example, if there's a sentence on 'I cleaned up the room today.'

Yet if you would like to emphasize that one did it, then it is more likely to be '내가 오늘 청소를 했습니다.'

However, if it's regular, then it would be '나는 오늘 청소를 했습니다.'

이/가 depends on what is coming on the noun - so if the noun coming front has the batchim, then you could use -이 instead of -가.

If not, then you could directly use -가.

Same applies to 은/는 as well. If there's batchim - then you could use -은, none for -는.

Hope this helps a bit and please let us know if you have any further questions!:)



Thank you

Madison
Team Koreanclass101.com

[Referee06]

Madison, thank you very much for your reply. I do have one question, though. What is a "batchim?" And, could you please explain: "이/가 depends on what is coming on the noun - so if the noun coming front has the batchim, then you could use -이 instead of -가. If not, then you could directly use -가. Same applies to 은/는 as well. If there's batchim - then you could use -은, none for -는."

Also, I remembered that a Korean language teacher that I once had had discussed about when to use 가 and 이 and when to use 은 and 는 and I called her. She said that usually 은 and 는 are used when the subject of a sentence is a human and 이 and 가 are used when the subject of a sentence is not a human. (Although, the indicated that many Korean speakers interchange the use of the markers between human and non-human speakers.) She also said that 이 is used when the subject begins with a consonant and 가 is used when the subject begins with a verb. Would you say that this is also correct?

Thanks again for your reply.

[community.korean]

Hello again Referee06,


You have really good memory and what you know is really right!

Here what I have mentioned batchim is for example 한글, then ㄴ and ㄹ are called batchim.

So when there is a batchim on noun or the pronoun 이/은 are natural.

If not, then 가/는 are natural.

I doubt if 이/가 would refer the non-human or any creatures though because '내가' which means I am is perfectly right on any Korean sentences or formal cases you would see.

In principal it might be right but also you are right that people do interchange no matter the status of the pronoun/noun that is coming before.

And I do not quite get well on 이 on subject beginning with consonant and 가 with verb..

It would be better if we could check on that further..?

Could you be a bit more specific on that? that would be great.



Thank you!

Madison
Team Koreanclass101.com

[Referee06]

Madison, thank you again for your reply and for explaining what a "batchim" is. I did a little research on the word, and apparently it means "tray" in the Korean language and is the "bottom" character whenever there is a group of three (3) characters in a syllable. This made sense because the batchim is a sort of "tray" at the bottom of the three (3) characters. This helped me understand that if there is a batchim in a syllable the following subject marker is an 이 and if there is no batchim, the following marker is a 가. And, if I understood you correctly, if I use 가 as a subject marker, I am emphasizing the subject in a sentence and if I use 는 I am emphasizing the object in a sentence, correct?

[community.korean]

Perfect Referee06,


Your paragraph literally makes really good organization.

You picked it up very well and I bet the research would definitely keep you understand more and remember longer as well!

It is the tray and it perfectly works out great

I am impressed and hope you keep up with Korean like this. You would definitely get so much out of it!

We are excited to see you progress and please don't hesitate to keep asking us if there were to be any questions!!:)


Thank you

Madison
Team Koreanclass101.com

[Referee06]

Madison, thanks.

Carl

[trutherous]

받침
1. support, prop, trivet
2. final consonant

[community.korean]

Please ask us anytime if you have questions Carl and thank you trutherous to help us out here!:)



Thank you

Madison
Team Koreanclass101.com

[Referee06]

Madison, you're welcome and I want to say that I really appreciate your timely responses to my questions and your clear answers to them. Take care, and I hope that you have very Happy Holidays!

Carl

[community.korean]

Thank you so much Carl,

We are very much appreciated on your comment and you make our time worth out of it!:)

Hope you enjoy the end of the year as well and 즐거운 크리스마스 되시길 바래요!:D


Thank you

Madison
Team Koreanclass101.com

[bigakuh255125]

Hi, guys!

Carl, I hope that it's ok for me to add on to this post for I, too, have the same issue. I read your conversation with Madison, but I still don't get what is the difference between using 은/는 and 이/가. I get that one is a topic-marking particle and the other is a subject-marking particle, but I still don't get when to use one instead of the other. Madison, can you please give me situations where the topic-marking particle should be used instead of the subject-marking particle and vice versa?

Thank you!
Nomar

[Referee06]

Nomar, thanks for the question. I think further explanations on answers to questions help clarify the answers further.

[korea.innovative]

Hey Nomar and Carl,


Thank you for following up with my comment and I am sorry to hear that you still feel bit confused!

I think the good example would be "do you like her?"

너는 그녀가 좋니?
do you, her, like?

So here, you could see that 'her' is emphasized here rather than 'you'.

While -는 is very much neutral, -가 is somewhat emphasizing (not to the greatest amoung but over -는).

So if the sentence were to emphasize 'you' rather than 'her', it would be like "you like her!"

너가 그녀를 좋아하는구나!
you, her, like!

Besides it original purpose of the particle (object/subject marking), the more importantly, it's got a different nuance.

Do you want to try some sentences as well?

I think that will help practicing and getting some grip bout how these two particles differ.

Please feel free to leave it here, will get back to you soon enough!;)



Thank you

Madison
Team KoreanClass101.com

[Referee06]

Madison, thanks for more clarification. I think that now I have a better understanding of the difference between "는" and "가." Thanks again and 새해 복 많이 받으세요!