chinguga naeil ondaneun sosigeul deutgo jeongmal gippeosseo.

object particle

Breakdown of chinguga naeil ondaneun sosigeul deutgo jeongmal gippeosseo.

• 친구: friend
• 내일: tomorrow
• ~가: subject particle

Questions & Answers about chinguga naeil ondaneun sosigeul deutgo jeongmal gippeosseo.

What does the whole sentence break down into grammatically?

A natural breakdown is:

• 친구가 = my friend
  • subject marker 가
• 내일 = tomorrow
• 온다는 = that (someone) is coming
• 소식을 = the news
  • object marker 을
• 듣고 = hearing / after hearing
• 정말 = really
• 기뻤어 = was happy

So the structure is basically:

[friend is coming tomorrow] + news + hearing + really + was happy

A natural English translation is:

I was really happy to hear the news that my friend is coming tomorrow.

The subject I is not stated, but it is understood from context.

Why is it 친구가, not 친구는?

Here, 친구가 marks friend as the subject inside the embedded clause:

• 친구가 내일 온다 = My friend is coming tomorrow

Using 가 is very natural because the sentence is presenting the information that it is the friend who is coming.

If you used 친구는, it would sound more like setting up friend as a topic, with a contrastive or topical feel:

• =