chingureul mannal ttae sajineul jjigeoyo.

I take pictures when I meet a friend.

Breakdown of chingureul mannal ttae sajineul jjigeoyo.

• ~을: object particle
• 친구: friend
• 만나다: to meet
• 사진: picture
• 찍다: to take
• ~때: when

Questions & Answers about chingureul mannal ttae sajineul jjigeoyo.

What does the grammatical ending ~을 때 mean, and why is 만날 때 used here?

~을 때 (or ~ㄹ 때) means “when (doing) …” or “at the time of ….” You attach it to a verb stem to form a time clause.

• If the stem ends in a vowel, add ㄹ 때.
• If it ends in a consonant, add 을 때.
  For 만나다 (“to meet”), drop -다, you get 만나, then add ㄹ 때 → 만날 때 = “when (I) meet …”

Why is it 만날 때 (present/future form) and not 만났을 때 (past form), since meeting happens before taking the photo?

Using 만날 때 expresses either a habitual action or two things happening simultaneously: “I take pictures when I meet a friend.” If you want to stress that the meeting was completed first and the photo-taking happened afterward, you could say 만났을 때 사진을 찍었어요 (“When I had met [them], I took pictures”).

Why is 친구 followed by 를 in 친구를 만날 때 instead of the subject particle 가?

The verb 만나다 is transitive—it needs a direct object (who/what you meet). 친구 is that object, so it takes the object particle 를. Using 친구가 would mark “friend” as the subject, which doesn’t fit here.

Who is the subject of the sentence if no subject is written?

Korean often drops subjects when they’re obvious from context. Here, the speaker (I) is implied by the polite verb ending -어요. In full it would be (제가) 친구를 만날 때 사진을 찍어요: “When I meet a friend, I take pictures.”

What tense and politeness level does 찍어요 convey?

찍어요 is the present tense polite form of 찍다 (“to take [a photo]”). It’s the standard polite-informal style used with people you’re not super close to (but not super formal either). It often indicates a habitual or general action: “I take pictures [in that situation].”

Can you omit the object particle 을 in 사진을 찍어요 and just say 사진 찍어요?

Yes. In casual spoken Korean, dropping particles like 을 is very common: 사진 찍어요 is perfectly understandable. Including 을 (사진을 찍어요) is more grammatically complete and clearer, especially in formal or written contexts.

How would you say this sentence in a more formal (–습니다) style?

You switch the verb ending to -습니다:
친구를 만날 때 사진을 찍습니다.
You can also spell out the subject if needed:
제가 친구를 만날 때 사진을 찍습니다.

What’s the difference between using ~을 때 (만날 때) and ~아서/어서 (만나서) here?

• ~을 때 highlights the time when something happens:
  친구를 만날 때 사진을 찍어요.
  “I take pictures at the time I meet a friend.”
• ~아서/어서 connects actions in sequence or cause-and-effect:
  친구를 만나서 사진을 찍어요.
  “After meeting my friend, I take pictures,” or “Because I met my friend, I take pictures.” The focus is on order or reason rather than just “when.”