Learn Hardcore Korean: oneul chinguege seonmureul badasseoyo. - I received a gift from a friend today.

오늘 means “today” and acts as a time adverb. In Korean, time expressions usually appear at the beginning without a particle to tell you when the action took place.

Why is there no subject like “I” in the sentence?

Korean often drops the subject when it’s clear from context. Here, because the speaker is sharing their own experience, “I” is understood. The verb ending -어요 also implies a first-person statement.

What does 친구에게 mean, and why is 에게 used here?

에게 is the dative particle marking an indirect object. In the case of 받다 (“to receive”), 친구에게 means “from a friend,” indicating who gave the gift.

Can I use 친구한테 or 친구에게서 instead of 친구에게?

Yes. 한테 is more casual (so 친구한테 선물을 받았어요). 에게서 explicitly emphasizes “from,” so 친구에게서 선물을 받았어요 is also correct and often used with verbs of giving or receiving.

Why is 선물 followed by 을 instead of some other particle?

을 is the object-marking particle used after a consonant-final noun. It marks 선물 as the direct object of 받다.

How is 받았어요 formed, and what tense/politeness does it express?

The verb stem is 받- (“to receive”). To make the past tense polite form, you add -았- (past marker for stems with ㅏ/ㅗ) plus -어요 (polite ending):
받 + 았 + 어요 = 받았어요 (“received,” polite).

What level of speech is 받았어요 and when would I use it?

받았어요 is the informal-polite 존댓말 (요-form). You’d use it in everyday conversation with strangers, acquaintances, or anyone you’re not extremely close to.

Why does 선물을 appear before the verb 받았어요?

Korean follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order. So the direct object 선물을 (“gift-OBJ”) comes just before the verb 받았어요 (“received”).

How do you pronounce 받았어요 naturally?

In rapid speech, 받았어요 is often pronounced like [바다써요] (ba-da-sseo-yo) due to consonant assimilation between 받- and -았어요.