gireul ttara georeoyo.

I walk along the road.

Breakdown of gireul ttara georeoyo.

• ~을: object particle
• 걷다: to walk
• 길: road
• 따라: along

Questions & Answers about gireul ttara georeoyo.

What does 길을 따라 mean and what function does 따라 serve?

길을 따라 literally means “along the road” or “following the road.” Here, 따라 is a postpositional particle that attaches to a noun (in this case 길) and indicates movement along or following the path indicated by the noun.

Why is 길 marked with the object particle 을, not 이/가?

In the Noun + 따라 construction, the noun is treated as what you’re following, so it takes the object marking 을/를. You’re walking along or following the road (길을 따라), not making it the subject.

Why do we say 걸어요 instead of 걷어요 for the verb 걷다 “to walk”?

걷다 is a ㄷ-irregular verb. When you attach a vowel-starting ending like -어요, the stem-final ㄷ changes to ㄹ, so 걷다 + -어요 becomes 걸어요, not 걷어요.

Why is the ending -어요 used in 걸어요, and could we use -아/ -아요?