What the heck is a subject marker? (이/가)

 

First, what the heck is a "subject"?

 The subject is the person, idea, or thing the sentence is talking about. 

 

 

For example:     

• The puppy is cute.
  Who is cute? → The puppy, so "the puppy" is the subject.
  
  
• The house is really nice.
  What is really nice? → The house, so "the house" is the subject.
  

More than one person/thing can be the subject too:

• Romeo and Juliet both died at the end.
  Who died at the end?→ Romeo and Juliet, so "Romeo and Juliet" is the subject.
  

 Now you know what a subject is!

 

What the heck is a "subject marker"?

 Korean subject markers 이 and 가* mark the person or thing that is the subject. Or in other words, they mark what the sentence is about. This means that they don't have any literal translation because English doesn't use subject markers.
*Can't read Korean? I learned from this YouTube Video by Miss Vicky.

 

How the heck do I use a subject marker?

이 is the marker used after a word that ends in a consonant like 집(house)
    →집이. 

가 is the marker used for a word that ends in a vowel like 영어(English language)
    →영어가.

*Notice there are no spaces in between the word and the subject marker. Just put it right after the subject. 

Korean doesn't always say the subject of a sentence, but when you see 이 or 가 after a word, you know that the sentence will be about that.

📓 Practicing 이/가

Read the following sentences. It's OK if you don't understand what they mean, but try to find the word that is the subject by looking for 이 and 가. Highlight the blue boxes to reveal the subject of the sentence. Or, check the answers at the end of the post.

1. 이름이 뭐에요?
   이름
2. 고양이가 다 먹겄어요.
   고양이
3. 앤디가 민수 친구 있어요.
   앤디 
   

✔ Study Tip!

Be careful with your translations. In this sentence for example:

앤디가 민수 친구 예요.

We might be tempted to translate this as:

"Andy and Minsoo are friends."

Let's look carefully at the breakdown though:

앤디 (Andy)

가 (this sentence is about Andy!)

민수 친구 (Minsoo's friend)

예 (is)

요 (casual but still polite ending)

 

Meaning: "Andy is Minsoo's friend."

 

If we wanted to say "Andy and Minsoo are friends", we would need to make both of them the subject just like Romeo and Juliet example. 

 

    앤디와 민수가 친구 예요. **

 

앤디 (Andy)

와 (and)

민수 (Minsoo)

가 (this sentence is about Andy and Minsoo!)

친구 (friend/s)

예 (is/are)

요 (casual and polite ending)

Meaning: "Andy and Michael are friends."

 

**Disclaimer: This is not 100% accurate or grammatically correct. It's a simplified example to help us understand what 이/가 does to the meaning of a sentence.  

 

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 Answer key:

Find the word that is the subject by looking for 이 and 가

1. 이름이 뭐에요? (What is your name?)
   이름
2. 고양이가 다 먹겄어요. (The puppy ate everything.)
   고양이
3. 앤디가 민수 친구 있어요. (Andy is Minsoo's friend.)
   앤디