What is Object Marking Particle 을/를?

- Author: Good Job Korean team 
- Editor: Good Job Korean team 

 What is an object marking particle? An object marking particle is used to distinguish the object in the sentence.

So, where do you put object marking particle?

 Object marking particle is used directly after the object of a sentence. It depends on whether the noun ends with a consonant or a vowel.

 If the noun ends with a consonant, you will attach '을'. For example, 아이스크림 ends with the final consonant ‘ㅁ’, so you add ‘을’

1. ex) 나는 아이스크림'을' 좋아해요.

    I like ice cream.

*나: I/me    *아이스크림: ice cream     *좋아하다: to like

 On the other hand, if the noun ends with a vowel, you will attach '를'. Since ‘사과’ ends with the vowel ‘ㅘ’, you add ‘를’

1. ex) 나는 사과'를' 좋아해요.

    I like apples.

*사과: apple

When should I use object marking particles?

 The object marking particle is put after the object of the action verb.

 You might have a hard time finding what is the object in a sentence. So basically, the noun that is receiving the action is the object of the sentence and the object marking particle goes right after the object.

For example, let’s take a look at this English sentence.

 “I love you”

‘I’ is giving action of love, so it is the subject. ‘you’ is receiving the action of love from ‘I’, so it is an object. So, the object marking particle comes right after ‘you’

나는 너를 사랑해.

*나: I/me *너: you *사랑하다: to love *는: topic marking particle

Do I always have to put an object marking particle?

 Just like other particles, you can drop 을/를 when the object is obvious in the sentence according to context.

However, I recommend using it all the time because sometimes the sentence can be vague and can be misunderstood.

For example,

저 좋아해요.

*좋아하다: to like

If you drop all the particles, it can mean either ‘I like something or someone’ or ‘someone likes me’. It looks the same in Korean, but has a totally different meaning, right?

So, to avoid this kind of situation I recommend keeping the particles.

General word order in Korean sentences and Examples

 Before getting into some examples, I would like to tell you the general word order of Korean sentences. It is quite different from English.

In English, the order of words in a general sentence goes like

Subject + Verb + Object (Ex: I love you)

But in Korean, the object comes after the subject.

Subject + Object + Verb (Ex: 나는 너를 사랑해)

You can mix up the word order as long as each noun is with its’ particle, it sounds better and natural with the general word order.

So now, let’s check out some example sentences with this word order.

저는 오이를 안 먹어요. : I don’t eat cucumber.

*오이: cucumber  *먹다: to eat

저는 선물을 주었어요. : I gave a present.

*선물: present   *주다: to give

저는 어제 월급을 받았어요. : I received salary yesterday.

*어제: yesterday *월급: salary *받다: to receive

내일 영화를 볼 거예요. : I will watch a movie.

*내일: tomorrow *영화: movie  *보다: to watch

- Author: Good Job Korean team 
- Editor: Good Job Korean team