Learn the difference between the Korean particles e and eseo
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Intro |
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| Michael: What is the difference between the Korean particles |
| Kyejin: 에 (e) |
| Michael: and |
| Kyejin: 에서 (eseo)? |
| Kyejin: And how are they used? |
| Michael: At KoreanClass101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following scenario: Mark Morris is having a short conversation with his workmate Sang-hun Song. There, Sang-hun asks Mark out of curiosity: |
| “Mark, where do you live? When did you come to Korea?” |
| Sang-hun Song: 마크 씨, 어디에 살아요? 언제 한국에 왔어요? (Makeu ssi, eodie sarayo? Eonje hanguge wasseoyo?) |
| Dialogue |
| Sang-hun Song: 마크 씨, 어디에 살아요? 언제 한국에 왔어요? (Makeu ssi, eodie sarayo? Eonje hanguge wasseoyo?) |
| Mark Morris: 서울에서 살아요. 몇 년 전에 뉴욕에서 왔어요. (Seoureseo sarayo. Myeot nyeon jeone Nyuyogeseo wasseoyo.) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Sang-hun Song: 마크 씨, 어디에 살아요? 언제 한국에 왔어요? (Makeu ssi, eodie sarayo? Eonje hanguge wasseoyo?) |
| Michael: “Mark, where do you live? When did you come to Korea?” |
| Mark Morris: 서울에서 살아요. 몇 년 전에 뉴욕에서 왔어요. (Seoureseo sarayo. Myeot nyeon jeone Nyuyogeseo wasseoyo.) |
| Michael: “I live in Seoul. I came here a few years ago from New York.” |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: True, these two particles |
| Kyejin: 에, 에서 (e, eseo) |
| Michael: look similar and they both have usages dealing with locations. Furthermore, they are both placed after nouns. However, in most cases, these particles cannot be used simultaneously, one in place of another. We will consider the major usages of these particles, especially those concerning locations and then compare them in order to distinguish the subtle differences. Let’s take a look at the first particle, |
| Kyejin: 에 (e). |
| Michael: This particle is commonly used after a noun to indicate |
| the place or location where a person or an object exists or is placed, |
| the time when a certain action or condition is fulfilled, or |
| the destination. |
| In contrast, the other particle |
| Kyejin: 에서 (eseo) |
| Michael: is placed after a noun to indicate the location where an action takes place or the starting point or origin. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: To make things clear, let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Sang-hun Song says: “Mark, where do you live? When did you come to Korea?” |
| Kyejin: 마크 씨, 어디에 살아요? 언제 한국에 왔어요? (Makeu ssi, eodie sarayo? Eonje hanguge wasseoyo?) |
| Michael: Can you tell which particle was used in the question? Yes, it’s |
| Kyejin: 에 (e). |
| Michael: Then, can you isolate phrases where this particle was placed? |
| Michael: You’re right, we can find them from |
| Kyejin: 어디에 (eodi-e), 한국에 (Hanguk-e). |
| Michael: Then, out of the three main usages of |
| Kyejin: 에 (e) |
| Michael: we mentioned before, which one do you think was used for the first phrase, |
| Kyejin: 어디에 (eodi-e) |
| Michael: which literally means “where at, where in?” |
| Michael: Exactly, it’s the first one which indicates the place or location where a person or an object exists or is placed.. Therefore, the particle |
| Kyejin: E(에) |
| Michael: was placed after the pronoun |
| Soeyon: 어디 (eodi) |
| Michael: meaning “where”. Then, how about our second phrase, |
| Soeyeon: 한국에 (Hanguk-e) |
| Michael: which translates as “to Korea” in this case? |
| Michael: Yes, this phrase has to do with the third usage, the destination, since Mark was asked about when he made the move to the destination—Korea. So, the particle |
| Kyejin: 에 (e) |
| Michael: was placed after the noun, Korea. |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let’s move on to Mark’s remark. |
| Do you remember how Mark Morris says: “I live in Seoul. I came here a few years ago from New York?” |
| Kyejin: 서울에서 살아요. 몇 년 전에 뉴욕에서 왔어요. (Seoureseo sarayo. Myeot nyeon jeone Nyuyogeseo wasseoyo.) |
| Michael: Can you isolate the phrases with the particles we are learning today, |
| Kyejin: 에 (e) |
| Michael: and |
| Kyejin: 에서 (eseo)? |
| Kyejin: 서울에서(Seoureseo), 몇 년 전에 (Myeot nyeon jeone), 뉴욕에서 (Nyuyogeseo) |
| Michael: Excellent. Then, once again, let’s flash back to the usages of the two particles we covered earlier and see which criteria each phrase belongs to. Let’s start with the first phrase, |
| Soyoen: 서울에서 (Seoureseo) |
| Michael: meaning “in Seoul” for this sentence. the particle |
| Kyejin: 에서 (Eseo) |
| Michael: was used. Why? |
| Michael: Yes, to indicate the location where an action takes place. In this case, Mark is explaining the location where the action of “living” is taking place, which is Seoul. Then, how about the second phrase |
| Soeyon: 몇 년 전에 (Myeot nyeon jeone) |
| Michael: which means a “few years ago”? Can you guess why the particle |
| Kyejin: 에 (E) |
| Michael: was used in this case? |
| Michael: Yes, to indicate the time when a certain action was fulfilled. |
| Kyejin: 몇 년 (Myeot nyeon) |
| Michael: stands for “Few years”, and |
| Soyoen: 전 (jeon) |
| Michael: is a noun indicating the time in the past, thus this noun chunk was followed by |
| Kyejin: 에 (e). |
| Michael: Lastly, we’ll consider |
| Soyoen: 뉴욕에서 (Nyuyogeseo) |
| Michael: meaning “from New York”. Why was |
| Kyejin: 에서 (eseo) |
| Michael: used here? |
| Michael: You’re right—to indicate the starting point or origin, which is New York in Mark’s case. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you learned five major usages of |
| Kyejin: 에 (e) |
| Michael: and |
| Kyejin: 에서 (eseo) |
| Michael: to solidify their main concepts. Can you recall the usages one by one? |
| Kyejin: 에 (e). |
| Michael: This particle is commonly used after a noun to indicate |
| the place or location where a person or an object exists, or was placed, |
| the time when a certain action or condition is fulfilled, or |
| the destination. |
| Kyejin: 에서 (eseo) |
| Michael: is placed after a noun to indicate |
| the location where an action takes place or |
| the starting point or origin. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: Well, at this point, some of you might be puzzled as to why both particles were associated with remarks denoting Mark’s residency. |
| Kyejin: ...어디에 살아요? (...eodie sarayo?) 서울에서 살아요. (Seoureseo sarayo) |
| Michael: Wasn’t it said that these two particles cannot be used in place of each other? Well, there are exceptions when these particles are used with verbs |
| Kyejin: 살다 (salda) |
| Michael: “To live” and |
| Kyejin: 모이다 (moida) |
| Michael: “To gather / to get together.” And that’s because these two verbs can indicate both existence and action in Korean. |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Now, it’s time to review what we’ve learned with short quizzes! I’m going to tell you a sentence in English. Then, Kyejin will give you two options in Korean, one with the particle |
| Kyejin: 에 (e) |
| Michael: and the other followed by |
| Kyejin: 에서 (eseo). |
| Michael: When you choose the right one; the chance is fifty-fifty! |
| Question number (1) “Ben is at school.” |
| Kyejin: 1) 벤은 학교에 있어요. (Beneun hakgyo-e isseoyo.) // 2) 벤은 학교에서 있어요. (Beneun hakgyo-eseo isseoyo.) |
| Michael: Number 1) is the right answer, because we are trying to explain the location where Ben “exists”. Thus, we need to use the particle |
| Kyejin: 에 (e) |
| Michael: after “school”. |
| Question number (2) “Meet you at one o’clock.” |
| Kyejin: 1) 한 시에서 만나요. (Han si-eseo mannayo.) 2) 한 시에 만나요. (Han si-e mannayo.) |
| Michael: Number 2) is the right answer, because we are telling the time when the action “meeting” is about to be fulfilled. Thus, we need to use the particle |
| Kyejin: 에 (e) |
| Michael: after “one o’clock”. |
| Question number (3) “I go to the office.” |
| Kyejin: 1) 회사에서 가요. (Hoesa-eseo gayo.) 2) 회사에 가요. (Hoesa-e gayo.) |
| Michael: Number 2) is the right answer, because we are indicating the destination. Thus, we need to use the particle |
| Kyejin: 에 (e) |
| Michael: after “office”. |
| Question number (4) “I eat at home.” |
| Kyejin: 1) 집에서 먹어요. (Jib-eseo meogeoyo.) 2) 집에 먹어요. (Jib-e meogeoyo.) |
| Michael: Number 1) is the right answer, because we are talking about the location where the action “eating” is taking place. Thus, we need to use the particle |
| Kyejin: 에서 (eseo) |
| Michael: after “home”. |
| Question number (5) “I leave from home.” |
| Kyejin: 1) 집에서 출발해요. (Jib-eseo chulbalhaeyo.) 2) 집에 출발해요. (Jib-e chulbalhaeyo.) |
| Michael: Number 1) is the right answer, because the speaker is “leaving” from home which indicates the starting point. Thus, we need to use the particle |
| Kyejin: 에서 (eseo) |
| Michael: after “home”. Good job! Keep up the good work! |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Kyejin: 안녕히 계세요 (annyeonghi gyeseyo) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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