geu aineun uldaga chingureul bogo baro useosseo.

The child was crying, but after seeing a friend, she smiled right away.

Breakdown of geu aineun uldaga chingureul bogo baro useosseo.

• 아이: child
• 친구: friend
• ~를: object particle
• ~는: topic particle

Questions & Answers about geu aineun uldaga chingureul bogo baro useosseo.

What does 그 mean in 그 아이는? Is it the same as the in English?

Not exactly. 그 literally means something like that or the one already known in context.

So 그 아이는 is often understood as:

• that child
• the child (when the child is already known from context)

Korean does not have a true article system like English a / the, so 그 is sometimes used where English would naturally say the.

Why is 는 used in 그 아이는 instead of 이/가?

는 is the topic marker. It marks 그 아이 as the topic of the sentence: the person we are talking about.

So 그 아이는 feels like:

• As for that child, ...
• That child, ...

If you used 그 아이가, it would sound more like the subject is being newly identified, emphasized, or contrasted in a different way.

In this sentence, 는 is very natural because the sentence is simply describing what that child did.

What does 울다가 mean exactly?