i sinbareun cheoeumeneun jogeum bulpyeonhaessneunde sineulsurok pyeonhaejyeo.

topic particle

Breakdown of i sinbareun cheoeumeneun jogeum bulpyeonhaessneunde sineulsurok pyeonhaejyeo.

• 이: this
• ~은: topic particle
• ~에: time particle

Questions & Answers about i sinbareun cheoeumeneun jogeum bulpyeonhaessneunde sineulsurok pyeonhaejyeo.

Why is it 이 신발은 and not 이 신발이?

은 marks 이 신발 as the topic: as for these shoes...

That feels natural here because the sentence is making a comment about the shoes over time:

• 이 신발은... 불편했는데 ... 편해져
• As for these shoes, they were uncomfortable at first, but they get more comfortable...

If you used 이/가 instead, it would sound more like you are identifying the subject in a more neutral or contrastive way. 은/는 is very common when introducing something and then describing it.

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What does 처음에는 mean exactly, and why are there two particles?

처음에는 breaks down like this:

• 처음 = first, the beginning, at first
• 에 = at/in/on
• 는 = topic/contrast marker

So 처음에는 means something like:

• at first
• in the beginning, though
• as for at first

The 는 adds a contrastive feeling. It sets up a comparison between the beginning and what happened later.

So the sentence has a natural contrast:

• 처음에는 조금 불편했는데 = At first, they were a little uncomfortable, but...
• later: 신을수록 편해져 = the more you wear them, the more comfortable they get

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Could you just say 처음에 instead of 처음에는?