haksaengdeuri siheomi kkeutnaseo gippeohaeyo.

The students are happy because the exam is over.

Breakdown of haksaengdeuri siheomi kkeutnaseo gippeohaeyo.

• ~이: subject particle
• ~들: plural marker
• 학생: student
• 시험: exam

Questions & Answers about haksaengdeuri siheomi kkeutnaseo gippeohaeyo.

Why are there two nouns with -이/가 in this sentence: 학생들이 and 시험이?

Because the sentence contains two clauses, and each clause can have its own subject.

• 학생들이 = the subject of 기뻐해요
  → The students are glad
• 시험이 = the subject of 끝나서
  → The exam ended / is over

So the structure is roughly:

• 학생들이
  • [시험이 끝나서]
    • 기뻐해요
• The students
  • because [the exam ended]
    • are glad

This is very normal in Korean. English learners often expect only one subject per sentence, but Korean often has one subject in a main clause and another in a subordinate clause.

What does -들 in 학생들이 mean? Is it necessary?

-들 is a plural marker. It shows that there is more than one student.

• 학생 = student / students
• 학생들 = students

In Korean, plural is often left unmarked if the meaning is already clear from context. So 학생들이 explicitly says the students, but in some situations Korean might omit -들 and just use 학생이 if the context already makes plurality obvious.

So:

• 학생들이 = clearly plural
• 학생이 = one student, or sometimes a general/student reference depending on context

Here, -들 helps match the English idea of students clearly.

Why is it 학생들이 instead of ?