Learn Hardcore Korean: eoje bumonimgwa sikdangeseo masissneun eumsigeul meogeosseoyo. - Yesterday I ate delicious food at a restaurant with my parents.

부모님과 means “with (my) parents.” The particle -과 attaches to a noun ending in a consonant (here 부모님) and can mean “and” or “with.” In this context it indicates accompaniment. If the noun ended in a vowel, you would use -와 instead.

Why is 식당에서 used instead of 식당에?

-에서 marks the location where an action takes place (“at a restaurant”). By contrast, -에 can simply mark a destination or static location (“to” or “at” in the sense of existence). Since 먹었어요 is an action happening at the restaurant, we use 식당에서.

What is 맛있는 doing before 음식, and how does it change the meaning?

맛있는 is the attributive form of the descriptive verb 맛있다 (“to be tasty”). The ending -(으)ㄴ turns the adjective into an adjective modifier, so 맛있는 음식 means “tasty food” or “delicious food.”

Why do we say 음식을 with -을/를 here?

The particle -을/를 marks the direct object of a verb. Since 음식 (“food”) is what’s being eaten, it takes -을 (because 음식 ends in a consonant) to become 음식을.

What does 먹었어요 mean, and how is it formed?

먹었어요 is the polite past tense form of 먹다 (“to eat”). It’s built by adding the past tense marker -었- to the verb stem 먹-, followed by the polite ending -어요, yielding “ate.”

Why does the sentence start with 어제, and can I move it around?

어제 means “yesterday” and is a time adverbial. Time expressions often come at the beginning for emphasis, but Korean word order is flexible for adverbials. You could also say, for example, 저는 부모님과 어제 식당에서 맛있는 음식을 먹었어요 or 식당에서 어제 부모님과…, as long as the verb stays at the end.

What level of politeness is expressed by -어요, and are there alternatives?

The ending -어요 is standard polite speech (해요체). Alternatives include: • 먹었어 – casual/informal
• 먹었습니다 – formal/polite (하십시오체)
• 먹었다 – plain style (문어체 or written narrative)

Are there other ways to express “with my parents” in Korean?

Yes. Common alternatives include:
• 부모님이랑 – casual “with parents” using -이랑/랑
• 부모님과 함께 – more formal “together with parents”
• 부모님과 같이 – another way to say “together with parents” using 같이