chinguhanteseo seulpeun sosigeul deureosseoyo.

친구한테서 means from a friend.

Breakdown:

• 친구 = friend
• 한테서 = from someone

So 친구한테서 shows the source of the information: the sad news came from a friend.

Both can sometimes be used with people, but 한테서 makes the meaning from someone clearer.

• 친구한테 can mean to a friend or sometimes from a friend, depending on context.
• 친구한테서 specifically means from a friend.

In a sentence about receiving or hearing something, learners will often see:

• 친구한테서 들었어요 = I heard it from a friend
• 친구에게서 들었어요 = same meaning, but a bit more formal

They both mean from when talking about a person.

• 한테서 = more casual / conversational
• 에게서 = more formal / written

So:

• 친구한테서 슬픈 소식을 들었어요. = natural everyday speech
• 친구에게서 슬픈 소식을 들었어요. = also correct, slightly more formal

Korean often leaves out the subject when it is obvious from context.

So 친구한테서 슬픈 소식을 들었어요 naturally means:

• I heard sad news from a friend or, depending on context,
• I heard the sad news from a friend

The speaker does not need to say 저는 unless they want to emphasize I.

For example:

• 저는 친구한테서 슬픈 소식을 들었어요. = I heard sad news from a friend.

슬픈 is the form of 슬프다 used before a noun.

• 슬프다 = to be sad
• 슬픈 = sad + noun form, as in sad news

So:

• 슬픈 소식 = sad news

By contrast:

• 소식이 슬퍼요 would mean the news is sad

In Korean, descriptive words usually change form before a noun:

• 예쁜 꽃 = pretty flower
• 바쁜 사람 = busy person
• 슬픈 소식 = sad news

소식을 is:

• 소식 = news
• 을 = object particle

So 소식을 means news as the object of the verb heard.

The object particle 을/를 marks what is being heard:

• 소식을 들었어요 = heard news

Because 소식 ends in a consonant, it takes 을, not 를.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Korean nouns usually do not mark singular vs. plural unless needed. So 소식 can be:

• news
• a piece of news
• some news

In this sentence, English might translate it as:

• I heard sad news from a friend or
• I heard a sad piece of news from a friend

Both fit well.

들었어요 is the past polite form of 듣다 (to hear / to listen).

This verb is irregular:

• dictionary form: 듣다
• stem: 듣-
• before a vowel, the ㄷ changes to ㄹ
• so it becomes 들어요 / 들었어요

Examples:

• 듣다 = to hear
• 들어요 = hear / am hearing
• 들었어요 = heard

So 소식을 들었어요 means heard news.

In this sentence, 듣다 means to hear or to be told.

With information like 소식 (news), 듣다 often means:

• to hear
• to hear about
• to be told

So 슬픈 소식을 들었어요 is very natural for:

• I heard sad news
• I got sad news

It does not necessarily mean you were intentionally listening. It often just means you received the information.

Korean word order is more flexible than English because particles show each word’s role.

This sentence is one natural order:

• 친구한테서 = from a friend
• 슬픈 소식을 = sad news
• 들었어요 = heard

But you could also say:

• 슬픈 소식을 친구한테서 들었어요.

That still means the same thing.

The verb usually comes at the end, but the other parts can move around for emphasis or flow.

들었어요 is in the standard polite -어요 style.

This is:

• polite
• natural in everyday conversation
• appropriate in many situations

Other possible styles:

• 들었다 = plain style
• 들었습니다 = more formal polite
• 들었어 = casual, used with close friends

So this sentence sounds polite and neutral:

• 친구한테서 슬픈 소식을 들었어요.

Yes, depending on context.

Korean often does not explicitly mark a vs. the. So 슬픈 소식 could be:

• sad news
• the sad news

If both speaker and listener already know which news is being discussed, English might naturally use the:

• I heard the sad news from a friend.

If it is new information, English might use:

• I heard sad news from a friend.

한테서 is mainly used with people and sometimes animals.

For non-human things or places, Korean more often uses other particles such as 에서 or expressions like 로부터, depending on meaning and style.

So with a person:

• 친구한테서 들었어요. = I heard it from a friend.

That is why 한테서 fits very naturally here.

Yes, it is very natural.

친구한테서 슬픈 소식을 들었어요 is a normal and common way to say that someone heard sad news from a friend.

It sounds like everyday spoken Korean:

• polite
• clear
• natural

A learner can use this pattern with other nouns too:

• 친구한테서 좋은 소식을 들었어요. = I heard good news from a friend.
• 선생님한테서 중요한 이야기를 들었어요. = I heard something important from the teacher.