eoje bame jami an wasseoyo.

subject particle

Breakdown of eoje bame jami an wasseoyo.

• 어제: yesterday
• 오다: to come
• 안: not

Questions & Answers about eoje bame jami an wasseoyo.

Why does it say 잠이 안 오다 (sleep doesn’t come) instead of using a verb meaning to sleep?

Korean often expresses “can’t sleep” as 잠이 안 오다, literally “sleep doesn’t come.” It’s an idiomatic, very common way to say you couldn’t fall asleep.
If you use the verb 자다 (to sleep), it tends to sound like “didn’t sleep (at all)” rather than “couldn’t fall asleep,” e.g. 어제 밤에 못 잤어요.

What does 안 mean here, and where does it go?

안 is the simple negation meaning “not.” It usually goes directly before the verb/adjective, so 오다 → 안 오다 (“doesn’t come”).
Here: 잠이 안 왔어요 = “sleep didn’t come (to me).”

What’s the difference between 안 왔어요 and 못 왔어요 in this kind of sentence?

• 안 = “not” (a straightforward negation; can imply choice in some contexts)
• 못 = “can’t / unable to” (ability/circumstances)

With sleep, both occur:

• 잠이 안 왔어요: natural idiom, “I couldn’t fall asleep / sleep wouldn’t come.”
• 잠이 못 왔어요: possible, but less common; more clearly “sleep couldn’t come (due to circumstances).”
  Many speakers prefer 잠이 안 왔어요 or 잠이 안 와서….

Why is the subject marker 이 used after 잠?