jigwoni unsongjangeul ilgeumyeo balsonginege jeonhwahaessseupnida.

-이/가 is the subject marker. In 직원이, it marks 직원 as the subject: the employee is the person doing the actions.

Why -이 here instead of -은/는?

• 직원이 sounds like a neutral statement of fact.
• 직원은 would make employee the topic, and could add a contrastive feeling, like as for the employee...

So this sentence is simply presenting what the employee did.

The -을/를 particle marks the direct object of the verb.

Here:

• 운송장 = shipping label / waybill / shipping document
• 읽다 = to read

So 운송장을 읽으며 means while reading the shipping label.

The label is the thing being read, so it takes -을.

읽으며 is the verb 읽다 plus the connective ending -으며.

It means something like:

• while reading
• as (someone) read
• reading and...

In this sentence, it connects two actions done by the same subject:

• reading the shipping label
• calling the sender

So the employee is doing the phone call in connection with reading the label.

They are very similar in meaning. Both can mean while doing.

• 읽으며 = more formal, written, or slightly literary
• 읽으면서 = more common in everyday conversation

So:

• 운송장을 읽으며 발송인에게 전화했습니다.
• 운송장을 읽으면서 발송인에게 전화했습니다.

Both are grammatical and mean almost the same thing.

If you are speaking casually or in everyday conversation, -면서 is usually the more natural choice.

Usually, yes.

-으며 normally shows that the first action and the second action are happening simultaneously or are closely linked.

So this sentence most naturally means:

• the employee was looking at / reading the shipping label
• and during that process, called the sender

It does not strongly suggest that the employee finished reading first and then called.

If you wanted a clearer do A, then do B meaning, Korean would more naturally use something like 읽고.

Because with 전화하다, the person you call is usually marked with 에게, 한테, or sometimes 에, not with -을/를.

So:

• 발송인에게 전화했습니다 = called the sender
• 친구한테 전화했어요 = called a friend
• 회사에 전화했습니다 = called the company

This is a common Korean pattern: the person is treated as the target/recipient of the call, not as a direct object in the English way.

So 발송인을 전화했습니다 would sound unnatural.

발송인 is a formal word meaning:

• sender
• shipper
• sometimes consignor in logistics or legal contexts

It is the person or company that sent the package.

This word is common in shipping, delivery, postal, and business contexts. In everyday speech, people might also say something simpler like 보낸 사람.

So 발송인 sounds a bit technical or administrative.

It comes from 전화하다, which is a noun + 하다 verb:

• 전화 = phone call / telephone
• 하다 = to do

Together, 전화하다 means to call / to make a phone call.

전화했습니다 is the past formal polite form:

• 전화하-
  • -았/었-
    • -습니다
• resulting form: 전화했습니다

So yes, in this sentence it functions as one verb meaning called.

This is a very common question because 읽다 does not sound exactly the way it looks.

• 읽다 is commonly pronounced roughly as 익따
• 읽으며 is pronounced roughly as 일그며

That happens because the final consonants in 읽- change depending on what comes after them.

So when you see 읽으며, do not try to pronounce each letter separately in a strict English-style way. The sound changes are normal Korean pronunciation rules.

To some extent, yes. Korean word order is more flexible than English because particles show each word’s role.

In this sentence, the default order is very natural:

• 직원이 = subject
• 운송장을 읽으며 = subordinate action
• 발송인에게 = target of the call
• 전화했습니다 = main verb

You might move some parts for emphasis, but this version is the most straightforward and natural.

So even though Korean allows some flexibility, this sentence follows a very standard pattern.