English packs grammatical roles into word order ("the dog bit the man" ≠ "the man bit the dog") and into prepositions that sit in front of the noun ("to Seoul," "with a friend"). Korean does the opposite on both counts: it marks the role with a 조사 (particle) glued to the back of the noun, and because that particle carries the role, the words themselves can be reordered freely around the verb. This page is the consolidated index — every core particle grouped by the job it does, with its consonant-final and vowel-final forms side by side. Use it as a lookup: find the function, read off the particle.
The master index
Where a particle has two shapes, the split is decided by whether the noun ends in a batchim (consonant) or a vowel — the same allomorphy that runs through the whole language, detailed on the batchim-allomorphy reference.
| Function | Particle (after C / after V) | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | 이 / 가 | 책이, 친구가 (chaegi, chinguga) |
| Topic | 은 / 는 | 집은, 나는 (jibeun, naneun) |
| Object | 을 / 를 | 밥을, 사과를 (babeul, sagwareul) |
| Possessive ("'s / of") | 의 (both) | 친구의 (chinguui, pron. [에]) |
| Static location · time ("at / in / on") | 에 (both) | 학교에, 아침에 (hakgyoe, achime) |
| Dynamic location · source ("at / from") | 에서 (both) | 집에서 (jibeseo) |
| Recipient · direction ("to") | 에게 · 한테 · 께 (hon.) | 친구에게, 선생님께 (chinguege, seonsaengnimkke) |
| Source from person ("from") | 에게서 · 한테서 | 친구한테서 (chinguhanteseo) |
| Instrument · means · path ("with / by") | 으로 / 로 | 손으로, 버스로 (soneuro, beoseuro) |
| Comitative ("and / with") | 과 / 와 · 하고 · (이)랑 | 학생과, 친구와 (haksaenggwa, chinguwa) |
| Comparison ("than") | 보다 (both) | 나보다 (naboda) |
| Also / too | 도 (both) | 저도 (jeodo) |
| Only | 만 (both) | 물만 (mulman) |
| From (start) | 부터 (both) | 처음부터 (cheoeumbuteo) |
| Up to / until | 까지 (both) | 끝까지 (kkeutkkaji) |
| Each / every | 마다 (both) | 날마다 (nalmada) |
| Plural | 들 (both) | 사람들 (saramdeul) |
Particles mark role, not position
This is the deep idea the whole index rests on. Because 이/가 marks the subject and 을/를 marks the object wherever they sit, Korean can scramble the noun phrases around its fixed verb-final frame without losing the meaning. 제가 김밥을 먹어요 and 김밥을 제가 먹어요 both mean "I eat gimbap" — the fronting only shifts emphasis. An English speaker's instinct is to trust position; in Korean you must trust the particle.
저는 커피를 좋아하는데 동생은 차를 더 좋아해요.
jeoneun keopireul joahaneunde dongsaeng-eun chareul deo joahaeyo
I like coffee, but my sibling prefers tea. (topic 는/은 sets each up as a contrast; object 를)
이 선물은 친구한테서 받은 거예요.
i seonmureun chinguhanteseo badeun geoyeyo
This gift is something I got from a friend. (source 한테서)
동생이 나보다 키가 더 커요.
dongsaeng-i naboda kiga deo keoyo
My younger sibling is taller than me. (subject 이/가, comparison 보다)
Location, direction, and the from–to frame
Korean carves up "place" more finely than English. 에 marks a static point (where something is) or a destination with a motion verb (학교에 가요); 에서 marks the dynamic location where an action happens, or a source (집에서 공부해요, 서울에서 왔어요). The 에 vs 에서 distinction is one English speakers get wrong constantly. For ranges, 부터…까지 frames "from … to," and 까지 alone gives "up to / until."
집에서 학교까지 걸어서 십 분쯤 걸려요.
jibeseo hakgyokkaji georeoseo sip bunjjeum geollyeoyo
It takes about ten minutes to walk from home to school. (에서…까지 frame)
아침에 친구랑 도서관에 갔어요.
achime chingurang doseogwane gasseoyo
In the morning I went to the library with a friend. (에 for time and destination, 랑 comitative)
Instrument, comitative, and the focus particles
으로/로 covers instrument, means, and path all at once ("with a pen," "by bus," "through the door"). The comitative 과/와 ("and / with") has the colloquial partners 하고 and (이)랑. And the small focus particles — 도 (also), 만 (only), 마다 (each) — attach on top of, or in place of, the role particle to add a layer of meaning.
지하철로 갈까요, 버스로 갈까요?
jihacheollo galkkayo, beoseuro galkkayo?
Should we go by subway or by bus? (means 로 after ㄹ and after a vowel)
주말마다 등산을 가요.
jumalmada deungsaneul gayo
I go hiking every weekend. (마다 = every)
여기서는 물만 마실 수 있어요.
yeogiseoneun mulman masil su isseoyo
You can only drink water here. (만 = only, stacked after 에서 → 에서는)
저도 그 영화 봤어요.
jeodo geu yeonghwa bwasseoyo
I saw that movie too. (도 = also, replacing the subject particle)
Common Mistakes
1. Answering "who?" with the topic 은/는. New information — the answer to a wh-question — takes the subject 이/가, not 은/는. This is the tip of the whole topic-vs-subject iceberg.
❌ 누가 왔어요? — 친구는 왔어요.
Wrong — the newly-introduced answer needs 이/가, not the topic 는: 친구가 왔어요.
✅ 누가 왔어요? — 친구가 왔어요.
nuga wasseoyo? — chinguga wasseoyo
Who came? — My friend came.
2. Attaching 와/과 backwards. 와 goes after a vowel, 과 after a consonant.
❌ 학생와 선생님이 이야기해요.
Wrong — 학생 ends in a consonant, so it takes 과: 학생과 선생님이…
✅ 학생과 선생님이 이야기해요.
haksaenggwa seonsaengnimi iyagihaeyo
The student and the teacher are talking.
3. Using 으로 after a ㄹ-final noun. After ㄹ, instrument is the vowel-side 로.
❌ 이거 연필으로 쓰지 마세요.
Wrong — after ㄹ the form is 로, not 으로: 연필로.
✅ 이거 연필로 쓰지 마세요.
igeo yeonpillo sseuji maseyo
Don't write this with a pencil.
4. Overusing 의 where Korean drops or shortens it. 나의 / 저의 sound stiff; natives contract them to 내 / 제 and often drop 의 between nouns entirely.
❌ 이것은 나의 친구의 집이에요.
Grammatical but stilted — natives say 내 친구 집이에요, contracting 나의 → 내 and dropping the second 의.
✅ 이거 내 친구 집이에요.
igeo nae chingu jibieyo
This is my friend's place.
Key Takeaways
- Particles mark grammatical role, not position, which is what lets Korean scramble noun phrases around its fixed SOV frame — trust the particle, not the word order.
- Core roles: subject 이/가, topic 은/는, object 을/를, possessive 의, static/destination 에, dynamic/source 에서, recipient 에게/한테/께, instrument 으로/로, comitative 과/와.
- Two pairs run backwards: comitative 와 (after V) / 과 (after C), and instrument 로 (after V and ㄹ) / 으로 (after other C).
- Focus particles 도 (also), 만 (only), 마다 (each), 까지 (until), 부터 (from) layer meaning on top of the role.
- Answer a wh-question with 이/가 (new info), not the topic 은/는.
Now practice Korean
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Start learning Korean→Related Topics
- What Particles (조사) DoTOPIK 1 — 조사 are short markers glued to the back of a noun that show its role in the sentence — subject, object, topic, place, direction — a job English hands to word order and prepositions; in Korean the particle, not the position, tells you who does what.
- Particles vs English Prepositions: The Mindset ShiftTOPIK 1 — Why one English preposition splits into several Korean particles — 'to' becomes 에 / 에게 / (으)로, 'at' splits into static 에 vs active 에서, and 'with' splits into 와/과 (a person) vs (으)로 (a tool) — and how to stop translating the preposition and start reading the role.
- 은/는 vs 이/가: Topic vs SubjectTOPIK 1 — The flagship Korean contrast: 은/는 marks the known topic ('as for X'), 이/가 marks the subject presented as new or in focus. Same nouns, different pragmatics — the storytelling test makes the difference audible.
- Stacking Particles: 에서는, 에게도, 만을TOPIK 1 — How Korean particles combine in a fixed order — a place or direction particle first, then a topic/focus particle (은/는, 도, 만) on top — and the crucial rule that subject/object markers 이/가 and 을/를 are replaced by 은/는·도·만, never stacked with them.
- Ending Attachment After Batchim (받침 이형태): Allomorphy ReferenceTOPIK 2 — The single rule sheet behind dozens of particles and endings — which allomorph attaches after a vowel-final stem versus a consonant-final (받침) stem — reduced to one idea: after a batchim insert 으/은/을/이, after a vowel don't, and ㄹ behaves half like a vowel.