Learn Hardcore Korean: jinanbeone sijangeseo chingureul mannasseoyo.

지난번 literally means “last time” or “previous occasion.” Adding the time‐marking particle -에 turns it into an adverbial phrase, so 지난번에 = “last time” (i.e. “on the previous occasion”).

Why is 시장에서 used instead of 시장에?

Korean uses -에서 to indicate the location where an action occurs. Since 만났어요 (“met”) is an action, you say 시장에서 (“at the market”). By contrast, -에 alone can mark a static location (“in/at”) or a direction (“to”).

Why is 친구를 marked with -를?

만나다 (“to meet”) is a transitive verb, so its direct object takes the object particle -를 (or -을 after consonants). 친구를 means “(a) friend” as the person being met.

What tense and level of politeness does 만났어요 convey?

만났어요 is the polite informal past tense. It’s built from the verb stem 만나- plus the past tense marker -았- (used because 만나 ends in ㅏ) and the polite ending -어요.

Why is there no subject like 저는 in this sentence?

Korean often omits the subject when it’s clear from context. Here, it’s understood that the speaker is talking about themselves, so 저는 (“I”) is dropped.

Can I rearrange the word order, for example placing 시장에서 after 만났어요?

While Korean allows some flexibility, the most natural flow is Time → Place → Object → Verb. So 지난번에 시장에서 친구를 만났어요 sounds best. Putting 시장에서 at the very end (…친구를 만났어요 시장에서) would sound odd.

What’s the difference between 지난번에 and 저번에?

They mean the same thing (“last time”). 지난번 is slightly more neutral or formal, while 저번 is a bit more colloquial, but you can use either interchangeably.

Why is the past tense marker -았- used here instead of -었-?

Korean past tense alternates between -았- and -었- depending on the vowel of the verb stem. Stems with ㅏ or ㅗ take -았- (만나 → 만나 + 았어요 = 만났어요), while others take -었-.