yojeumeun cha-e seoltangeul jeokge neoheoyo.

요즘 means these days / lately / nowadays.

The particle -은 makes it the topic: as for these days. It often adds a slight contrast, like:

• These days, I put less sugar in tea.
• (Implying maybe before, I used to put in more.)

If you said 요즘 차에 설탕을 적게 넣어요, that is also natural. Adding -은 just makes 요즘 feel a little more like the topic or contrast point.

By itself, 차 can mean either tea or car.

In this sentence, it means tea. The context makes that clear because:

• 설탕을 넣다 = to add sugar
• 차에 설탕을 넣다 = to add sugar to tea

You would not normally interpret this as putting sugar into a car unless the situation were very unusual or joking.

Here, 에 marks the place or target that something is added to.

So:

• 차에 설탕을 넣어요 = I put sugar in/into the tea
• literally, to the tea / into the tea

With 넣다 (to put in, insert, add), 에 is very commonly used for the container, destination, or place something goes into.

Examples:

• 컵에 물을 넣어요. = I put water in the cup.
• 커피에 우유를 넣어요. = I add milk to coffee.

Actually, in the sentence you gave, 설탕 is not followed by -을/를:

• 요즘은 차에 설탕을 적게 넣어요.

So it is marked with -을.

That means 설탕을 is the direct object: sugar is the thing being added.

Structure:

• 차에 = into the tea
• 설탕을 = sugar
• 적게 넣어요 = put in a small amount / add less

적게 is the adverb form of 적다, which means to be few / to be little / to be small in amount.

Formation:

• 적다 → 적게

So 적게 넣어요 means:

• put in a small amount
• add less
• use less

It modifies the verb 넣어요, telling you how much sugar is added.

Compare:

• 많이 넣어요 = put in a lot
• 적게 넣어요 = put in a little / put in less

Both can relate to small amounts, but they are not exactly the same.

• 적게 넣어요 = put in less / put in a small amount
• 조금 넣어요 = put in a little

조금 often focuses on a little bit as an amount. 적게 often emphasizes less than usual or not much.

So in this sentence, 적게 sounds very natural if the idea is:

• I use less sugar these days.
• I don’t add much sugar these days.

Both are possible in real speech, but 적게 fits the idea of reduced quantity especially well.

넣어요 comes from 넣다, which means to put in, to insert, or to add.

In food and drink contexts, it often means add:

• 설탕을 넣어요 = add sugar
• 소금을 넣어요 = add salt
• 우유를 넣어요 = add milk

So 차에 설탕을 적게 넣어요 literally means something like:

• I put a small amount of sugar into tea these days

In natural English, that becomes:

• These days I put less sugar in my tea.

It usually describes a habit or general tendency, not just this exact moment.

Because of 요즘 (these days), the sentence means something like:

• these days, as a regular habit,
• lately,
• nowadays

So 넣어요 here is present tense, but the meaning is broader than I am putting sugar in tea right now. It is more like:

• These days, I use less sugar in tea.

Korean often omits the subject when it is clear from context.

So even without 저는, the sentence is natural. The listener will usually understand the subject as:

• I
• we
• or a general person, depending on context

If you want to make it explicit, you can say:

• 저는 요즘은 차에 설탕을 적게 넣어요.

But in many situations, that sounds unnecessary because Korean avoids repeating information that is already understood.

넣어요 is the polite informal style, often called 해요체.

It is very common in everyday conversation and is appropriate in many situations:

• talking to someone you do not know well
• being polite in normal conversation
• speaking to coworkers, acquaintances, teachers, etc. depending on context

Related forms:

• 넣어 = casual
• 넣어요 = polite
• 넣습니다 = formal

So this sentence is polite and natural for normal spoken Korean.

Yes, Korean word order is flexible as long as the particles make the roles clear.

The given sentence:

• 요즘은 차에 설탕을 적게 넣어요.

You could also hear:

• 요즘은 설탕을 차에 적게 넣어요.

Both are understandable because:

• 차에 shows where the sugar goes
• 설탕을 shows the object

Still, the original order sounds very natural and smooth.

It can suggest either one, depending on context.

Possible nuances:

• I put in less than I used to
• I don’t put in much

Because of 요즘은, many listeners will naturally feel a contrast with the past:

• These days, I put less sugar in tea.
• (Maybe before, I added more.)

But it does not have to be a strict comparison. It can also simply mean that your current habit is to use a small amount.

Yes, but that would change the focus.

For example:

• 요즘은 차에 설탕은 적게 넣어요.

This sounds more contrastive, like:

• As for sugar, I don’t add much to tea these days.
• Maybe implying that something else is different:
  • but I add a lot of milk
  • or I still add sugar to coffee

So the original sentence is the most neutral. Using 은/는 on 설탕 would make the contrast stronger.