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seonsaengnimi haksaengeul dowajugo isseoyo.

선생님이 학생을 도와주고 있어요.seonsaengnimi haksaengeul dowajugo isseoyo.
The teacher is helping the student.
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Questions & Answers about seonsaengnimi haksaengeul dowajugo isseoyo.

Why is 선생님이 marked with 이 instead of 가 or 은?
  • 이/가 are subject markers.
  • 이 attaches after consonants, 가 after vowels.
  • 은/는 are topic markers (used for contrast or general topics).
  • Here we want to show 선생님 as the doer of the action (“the teacher is helping”), so we use the subject marker 이.
Why is 학생을 marked with 을 and not 를?
  • 을/를 are object markers.
  • 을 attaches after consonants, 를 after vowels.
  • 학생 ends with the consonant ㅅ, so we attach 을 to mark it as the object (“student” receiving the help).
What does 도와주다 mean and how is it structured?
  • It’s a compound verb: 돕- (help) + -아/어 주다 (“to do something for someone’s benefit”).
  • So 도와주다 literally means “to help (someone) as a favor,” which adds a nuance of doing the action for someone.
Why do we say 도와 instead of 돕아 when conjugating 돕다?
  • 돕다 is a ㅂ-irregular verb.
  • When a ㅂ-irregular verb is followed by a vowel (like 아), the ㅂ changes to 우.
  • So 돕
    • 아 → 도우아, which contracts to 도와.
What does the ending -고 있어요 indicate?
  • It expresses the progressive aspect, equivalent to “is/am/are …ing.”
  • Base form: -고 있다 (“be doing”).
  • Polite present form: -고 있어요 (“is doing right now”).
Why is the verb phrase 도와주고 있어요 at the end of the sentence?
  • Korean word order is Subject–Object–Verb (SOV).
  • The action (verb or verb phrase) always comes last.
What nuance does -아/어 주다 add compared to just using 돕다?
  • -아/어 주다 emphasizes doing something for someone’s benefit (a favor).
  • Without 주다, 돕다 just means “help” in a neutral sense.
What speech level is -고 있어요, and how can you make it more casual or more formal?
  • -고 있어요 is polite informal (요-form).
  • Casual: drop 요 → 도와주고 있어.
  • Formal/Honorific: use -고 계세요 (polite honorific) or -고 있습니다 (formal) → 도와주고 계세요, 도와주고 있습니다.
Can you omit 선생님이 and 학생을 if the context is clear?

Yes. Korean often drops subjects or objects when they’re understood from context.

  • If it’s already clear who’s helping whom, you can simply say 도와주고 있어요.