jeoneun seupocheureul johahaeyo.

I like sports.

Breakdown of jeoneun seupocheureul johahaeyo.

• ~를: object particle
• 저: I
• ~는: topic particle
• 좋아하다: to like

Questions & Answers about jeoneun seupocheureul johahaeyo.

What does 저는 mean, and why not just 저?

저 means “I” in polite/formal speech. Adding the particle 는 turns 저 into the topic of the sentence: “As for me….” Without 는, you’d just have the pronoun with no indication of its grammatical role. In Korean, particles like 는 and 가 mark how a noun functions in a sentence.

Why is there a 를 after 스포츠?

를 is the object-marking particle. Since 스포츠 (“sports”) is what is being liked (the direct object of 좋아해요), you add 를 to show that relationship: 스포츠를 좋아해요 = “(I) like sports.”

What’s the difference between 좋다 and 좋아하다?

좋다 is an adjective meaning “to be good” or “to be liked.” You use it when something itself is good: 스포츠가 좋아요 literally “Sports are good.”
좋아하다 is a verb that means “to like” (literally “to do liking”). When you talk about a person liking something, you conjugate 좋아하다, e.g. 스포츠를 좋아해요.

Why is the verb 좋아해요 and not 좋아요?

• 좋아해요 comes from the verb 좋아하다 (“to like”) in the present polite form.
• 좋아요 is the present form of the adjective 좋다 (“to be good”). If you said 스포츠가 좋아요, you’d be saying “Sports are good,” which is fine but focuses on the quality of sports rather than your action of liking them.