Prepositions
Korean has postpositions: the little words come after the noun, and most of them are the particles that also mark subject and object. Where English needs "in the house", Korean says "house-in".
The particles of place and direction
| particle | meaning | example |
|---|---|---|
| 에 | at, in (location of being); to (destination); at (time) | 집에 있어요 — at home · 학교에 가요 — to school · 세 시에 — at three |
| 에서 | in, at (where an action happens); from (a place) | 집에서 일해요 — (I) work at home · 서울에서 왔어요 — from Seoul |
| (으)로 | towards, by way of; by means of; made of | 왼쪽으로 — to the left · 버스로 — by bus · 나무로 — (made) of wood |
| 에게 / 한테 / 께 | to (a person; 께 honorific) | 친구한테 — to a friend · 선생님께 — to the teacher |
| 에게서 / 한테서 | from (a person) | 친구한테서 받았어요 — got it from a friend |
| 부터 | from (a time), starting with | 아홉 시부터 — from nine |
| 까지 | until, as far as | 여섯 시까지 — until six · 부산까지 — as far as Busan |
| 와 / 과, 하고, (이)랑 | with; and | 친구하고 — with a friend |
| 의 | of (possession) | 한국의 수도 — the capital of Korea |
에 versus 에서 is the one to get right: 에 for where something is or is going, 에서 for where something happens. 집에 있어요 / 집에서 자요.
Relational nouns + 에
"In front of", "behind", "under" are nouns meaning the front, the back, the underside, followed by 에 — with the reference noun before them:
| noun | meaning | example |
|---|---|---|
| 위 | top | 책상 위에 — on the desk |
| 아래 / 밑 | underside | 책상 밑에 — under the desk |
| 안 / 속 | inside | 가방 안에 — in the bag |
| 밖 | outside | 집 밖에 — outside the house |
| 앞 | front | 역 앞에서 — in front of the station |
| 뒤 | back | 건물 뒤에 — behind the building |
| 옆 | side | 은행 옆에 — next to the bank |
| 사이 | the between | 두 건물 사이에 — between the two buildings |
| 근처 | vicinity | 학교 근처에 — near the school |
| 가운데 | the middle | 방 가운데에 — in the middle of the room |
The order is the mirror of English: the desk – top – at.
Other relations
| form | meaning | example |
|---|---|---|
| 을/를 위해(서) | for (the sake of) | 건강을 위해서 — for one's health |
| 에 대해(서) | about | 한국에 대해서 — about Korea |
| 때문에 | because of | 비 때문에 — because of the rain |
| 처럼 / 같이 | like | 새처럼 — like a bird |
| 보다 | than | 나보다 — than me |
| 동안 | during, for (a time) | 두 시간 동안 — for two hours |
| 없이 | without | 설탕 없이 — without sugar |
No particle where English has one
Time expressions with 어제 / 오늘 / 내일 take no particle; 가다 "go" takes 에 but many motion verbs take 을/를 (길을 건너다 cross the road); 만나다 "meet" and 좋아하다 "like" take the object particle where English has "with" and nothing.
If you speak Vietnamese
Every Vietnamese preposition is a Korean postposition: ở is 에/에서, từ … đến is 부터 … 까지, với is 하고, bằng is (으)로, về is 에 대해서. The relational nouns are the same idea — trên, dưới, trong, ngoài, trước, sau are also nouns for the top, the underside, the inside — on the other side of the noun.
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