Mastering –은 –eun / –는 –neun and–이 -i / –가 -ga: Korean Topic and Subject Particles

In this post we’ll look at the difference between the Korean Topic and Subject Particles –은 –eun / –는 –neun and–이 -i / –가 -ga. These particles are famously difficult for learners of Korean to wrap their head around, because they both mark what turns out to be the grammatical subject in English equivalents. But we’ll break them down and present them in a way that will hopefully clear things up for you.

First, we’ll look at the forms that these particles take. Then we’ll turn to the distinction between a topic and a subject, which is central to these two particles. After that we’ll look at another key distinction: old information vs new information. Next, we’ll turn to some other differences between these two particles, including contrast, subject vs predicate emphasis, and embedded subjects in subordinate clauses. If that terminology spooks you, don’t worry! We’ll explain everything!

Form of –은 –eun / –는 –neun and -이 -i / -가 -ga

Fist, before we get into the difference between these two particles, let’s talk about their forms. This is simply a matter of what comes right before the particle – a vowel or a consonant. If it’s a consonant, use the forms 은 –eun or 이 –i. If it’s a vowel, use the forms 는 –neun or 가 –ga.

For example, 책 chaeg (book) ends in a consonant, so the two particles would be:

• 책은 chaeg-eun (book, topic)
• 책이 chaeg-i  (book, subject)

But 차 cha (car) ends in a vowel, so the two particles would be:

• 차는 cha-neun (car, topic)
• 차가 cha-ga (car, subject)

–은 –eun / –는 –neun and -이 -i / -가 -ga as Topic vs Subject

To understand the difference between 은 –eun / –는 –neun and–이 -i / –가 -ga, it’s important to understand the difference between a topic and a subject. A topic is what the sentence is about, and it’s usually old information – meaning information that has been brought up earlier in the conversation. Imagine that you and your friend are talking about John, and you say things like:

• John, he’s home sick today.
• That John, his work is piling up.
• Speaking of John, his wife just called.

In each of these sentences, John is the topic. The sentences are all about him, or they use him as some sort of conversational reference point. John is not actually the grammatical subject of any of these sentences. The subject of the first sentences is he, which, of course refers to John, but is a different grammatical element. In the second sentence, the subject is his work. The subject of the third sentence is his wife. John, being the topic, tells us whose work and wife we’re talking about, but John is not the grammatical subject at all.

English doesn’t always use constructions like this to isolate topics from subjects. It’s much more natural in English to just say “John is home sick today.” But if you imagine every Korean sentence with a topic to be like this, you’ll understand one of the key differences between 은 –eun / –는 –neun and–이 -i / –가 -ga.

• 은 –eun / –는 –neun marks TOPICS: usually old, established players in the conversation.
• –이 -i / –가 -ga marks SUBJECTS: part of whatever new information is given about that topic.

If we make a Frankenstein’s monster of Korean and English for the sake of clarifying this point, we have something like:

• John-은 –eun, [he’s home sick today.]

(In Korean, you wouldn’t repeat he, so the subject is dropped, but the topic is there.)

• John-은 –eun, [his work-이 -i is piling up.]
• John-은 –eun, [his wife-이 -i just called.]

은 –eun / –는 –neun as Topic Marker

Now let’s see how this looks in actual Korean. The particle 은 –eun / –는 –neun is used to identify the topic, and then the rest of the sentence provides new information about that topic. We’ll call that part the “information clause” to remind you of the structure, which is quite different from English.  

[[TOPIC 은 –eun / –는 –neun] [INFORMATION CLAUSE…]]

A topic can be a specific person or thing that you’ve been talking about, it can be a new topic that you’re introducing into conversation, or it can be a generic topic that you’re making a general statement about.

• 선생님은 한국인이에요.
  seonsaengnim-eun hangug-in-ieyo.
  The teacher is Korean. [The teacher: he is/she is Korean]
• 지호는 선생님이에요.
  jiho-neun seonsaengnim ieyo.
  Jiho is a teacher. [Jiho: he’s a teacher]
• 저는 학생이에요.
  jeo-neun haksaeng-ieyo.
  I’m a student. [As for me: I’m a student]
• 이 책은 재미있어요.
  i chaek-eun jaemiisseoyo.
  This book is interesting. [This book: it’s interesting]

Keep in mind that topics do not have to be nouns. Topics can also be time adverbs, locations, prepositional phrases, and so on.

• 오늘은 너무 더워요.
  oneul-eun neomu deowoyo.
  It’s so hot today. [today: it’s so hot]
• 거실에는 소파와 의자 두개가 있어요.
  geoshil-e-neun sopawa uija dugae-ga isseoyo.
  There is a sofa and two chairs in the living room. [in the living room: there is a sofa and two chairs]

–이 -i / –가 -ga as Subject Marker

Whenever you have a topic marked by 은 –eun / –는 –neun, you’re going to proceed to say something about it in the information clause. The information clause follows the 은 –eun / –는 –neun phrase, and it will have a subject. If the subject of the information clause is the same entity (person, thing, place, etc.) as the 은 –eun / –는 –neun marked topic, the subject is dropped. So, the Korean sentence winds up looking pretty much just like an English sentence with a regular old subject:

• 내 조카가 대학을 시작했어요.
  nae jokaga daehag-eul shijaghaesseoyo.
  My niece just started university.  [My niece: she just started university]
• 우리 엄마는 의사입니다.
  uli eomma-neun uisa-imnida.
  My (Our) mother is a doctor.  [My mother: she is a doctor]

But in many cases, the information clause following the –은 –eun / –는 –neun phrase will have a subject that’s different from the topic. You’ll have this very common pattern in Korean, with a topic marked by –은 –eun / –는 –neun followed by a clause including a different subject marked by and–이 -i / –가 -ga.

[[TOPIC –은 –eun / –는 –neun] [INFORMATION CLAUSE… SUBJECT–이 -i / –가 -ga…]]

Let’s see some examples. Korean doesn’t have a verb to have, but the construction that expresses have is exactly this kind of construction with a topic followed by a subject and the verb 있다 itda (to exist).

• 나는 네 명의 조카가 있어요.
  naneun ne myeong-e joka-ga isseoyo.
  I have four nephews. [As for me: There are four nephews]
• 지호는 새 차가 있어요.
  jiho-neun sae cha-ga isseoyo.
  Jiho has a new car. [For Jiho: there is a car]

But you’ll see this pattern in many sentences that have nothing to do with possession.

• 이 식당에서는 음식이 좋습니다.
   i shigdang-eseo-neun eumshig-i johaseumnida.
  In this restaurant, the food is good. [in this restaurant: the food is good]
• 오늘은 날씨가 좋지 않습니다.
  oneul-eun nalsshi-ga joji anseumnida.
  Today the weather isn’t good. [today: the weather isn’t good]
• 한국은 산이 아름다워요.
  hangug-eun san-i areumdaweoyo.                                                          
  The mountains in Korea are beautiful. [in korea: mountains are beautiful]

–은 –eun / –는 –neun and –이 -i / –가 -ga as Old Information vs. New Information

Now let’s turn to another important difference between –은 –eun / –는 –neun and–이 -i / –가 -ga. The topic marker –은 –eun / –는 –neun usually marks old information, meaning information that has already been established in the conversation. The subject marker –이 -i / –가 -ga typically marks new information, something that is being mentioned for the first time. Let’s walk through a few different scenarios that are related to this distinction.   

First, image the following exchange. If you’re asking what Hayoon ate last night, she’s already an established player in the conversation. The new information is not about her, it’s about what she ate. So, you would mark Hayoon with –는 -eun, as old information. The thing she ate is a direct object, so it takes the direct object particle –을 -eul.

• 하윤는 어젯밤에 무엇을먹었어요?
  hayoon-eun eojetbam-e mwo-seul meogeoseoyo?
  What did Hayoon eat last night?
• 하윤는 어젯밤에 비빔밥을 먹었어요.
  hayoon-neun eojetbam-e bibimbap-eul meogeoseoyo.
  Hayoon ate bibimbap last night.

But now imagine a situation where you’re asking who ate bibimbap. If you’re asking this, you obviously don’t know the answer, so both누구nugu (who)in the question and the subject in the answer will be new information, marked by –이 -i / –가 -ga.  (Notice that 누구nugu plus the subject marker is 누가 nuga).

• 누가 어젯밤에 비빔밥을 먹었어요.
  nuga eojebam-e bibimbap-eul meogeoseoyo?
  Who ate bibimbap last night?
• 하윤이 어젯밤에 비빔밥을 먹었어요.
  hayoon-i eojebam-e bibimbap-eul meogeoseoyo.
  Hayoon ate bibimbap last night. Hayoon’s the one who ate bibimbap last night.

Subject Questions

Whenever you ask a question where the missing information is the subject, you’ll use the subject particle –이 -i / –가 -ga in both the question and answer.

• 누가 노래 해요?
  nuga nolae haeyo?
  Who sings?
• 빌이 노래 해요?
  bil-i nolae haeyo.
  Bill sings.
• 어떤 선생님이 말하고 있습니까?
  eotteon seonsaengnim-i malhago isseumnikka?
  Which teacher is speaking?
• 박 선생님이 말하고있습니다.
  Pak seonsaengnim-I malhago issseumnida.
  Teacher Park is speaking.
• 무슨 일이 일어나고 있나요?
  museun il-i il-eonago issnayo?
  What is happening?
• 지진이 나고 있어요.
  jijin-i nago isseoyo.
  There’s an earthquake. An earthquake is happening.

Comparing –은 –eun / –는 –neun and –이 -i / –가 -ga to English the/a

English has a way of marking old and new information, too, and this may help bridge the gap with Korean grammar. Typically, when an English noun is first introduced, it takes the indefinite article a/an. This is new information. But if the noun is already familiar to both speaker and listener, the noun takes the definite article the. This is old information. Look at these two sentences and see how the use of articles in English corresponds to the use of –은 –eun / –는 –neun and–이 -i / –가 -ga in Korean.

• 기차역은 시내에 있어요.
  gichayeog-eun shinae-e isseoyo.
  The train station is downtown.
• 우리 마을에는 기차역이 있어요.
  uli ma-eul-eneun gichayeog-i isseoyo.
  There is a train station in our town.

In the first sentence, the particle –은 -eun marks a known topic, so the natural English translation is the train station. This would most naturally occur in a conversation where someone has asked about the location of the train station, not whether a train station exists. But in the second, the use of the particle –이 -i marks the train station as new information, so the best translation is a train station.

Other Differences between –은 –eun / –는 –neun and –이 -i / –가 -ga

Now you’ve learned the two major differences between –은 –eun / –는 –neun and–이 -i / –가 -ga in Korean – topic vs subject, and old information vs new information. So, let’s look at just a few more important uses of the two particles that you should be aware of.

General Statements: Topic –은 –eun / –는 –neun

Use the topic particle to make a general statement of fact.

• 한국 음식은 매워요.
  hangug eumshig-eun maeweoyo.
  Korean food is spicy.
• 코끼리는 큽니다.
  kokkili-neun keumnida.
  Elephants are big.

Contrast: Topic –은 –eun / –는 –neun

Use the topic particle to compare and contrast two things.

• 이 책은 재미 있어요. 그런데 그 책은 재미 없어요.
  i chaeg-eun jaemi isseoyo. geurende geu chaeg-eun jaemi eobseoyo.
  This book is interesting. But that book isn’t interesting.
• 빌은 영어를 해요. 마리아는 스페인어를 해요.
  bil-eun yeongeo-reul haeyo. mariya-neun seupeineo-reul haeyo.
  Bill speaks English. Maria on the other hand speaks Spanish.

Focus on Predicate: Topic –은 –eun / –는 –neun

The predicate is the part of a sentence that gives you information about the subject. If the sentence stresses the predicate, that usually means that the topic is old information – a known player. So, it will be marked with the topic particle –은 –eun / –는 –neun.

• 빌은 미국 사람이에요.
  bil-eun migug saram ieyo.
  Bill’s American.
• 빌은요리를 참 잘해요.
  bil-eun yori-reul cham jalhaeyo.
  Bill cooks really well.
• 빌은 정말 노래를 잘해요.
  bil-eun jeongmal nolaeleul jalhaeyo.
  Bill sings really well!
• 빌은 한국어를 배우고 있어요.
  bil-eun hangug-eoleul baeugo isseoyo.
  Bill is learning Korean.

All of these sentences are giving information about Bill, who in this context would be old information – a known player, someone both speaker and listener know about. So, he is marked with the topic particle, which puts the “new information” focus on the predicate in the information clause.

Focus on Subject: Subject Particle –이 -i / –가 -ga

If you’re focusing on or introducing a new actor, for instance when answering a question about the subject’s identity rather than what the subject is doing, use the subject particle.  

• 사라가 이 사무실에서 일해요.
  sara-ga i samushil-eseo ilhaeyo.
  Sara works in this office. It’s Sara who works in this office.
• 빌이 영어를 해요.
  bil-i yeongeo-reul haeyo.
  Bill speaks English. Bill is the one who speaks English.
• 지호가 선생님이에요.
  jiho-ga seonsaengnim ieyo.
  Jiho is the teacher. Jiho’s the one who’s the teacher.

These sentences would be used when Sara, Bill, and Jiho are new information, for example answers to the questions who works in this office, who speaks English, and who is the teacher. They would also be used when you want to stress the subjects.

아니다 anida, 있다 itda and 없다 eobda: Subject Particle –이 -i / –가 -ga

The subject particle is also used in negative be sentences with 아니다 anida (not be) or in have sentences with 있다 itda (have, exists) and 없다 eobda (doesn’t have, doesn’t exist).

• 내 전화기가 아니에요.
  nae jeonhwagi-ga anieyo. 
  It’s not my phone.
• 저는 책이 있어요.
  jeo-neun chaeg-i isseoyo.
  I have a book.
• 저는 시간이 없어요.
  jeo-neun shigan-i eobseoyo.
  I don’t have time.

Main Clause –은 –eun / –는 –neun, Subordinate Clause –이 -i / –가 -ga

Finally, let’s look at another common pattern in Korean. If there’s an embedded clause, which is a subordinate clause inside a larger main sentence, the subject of the embedded clause will be marked by the subject particle –이 -i / –가 -ga.

• 철수가 학교에 가는 것을 봤어요.
  cheolsuga haggyoe ganeun geos-eul bwass-eoyo.
  I saw Cheolsu going to school.

If the topic or subject of the higher clause is present, it will be marked by the topic particle, –은 –eun / –는 –neun.

• 저는 철수가 노래하는 걸 들었어요.
  jeoneun cheolsuga nolaehaneun geol deul-eoss-eoyo
  I heard Cheolsu singing.
• 민수는 지수가 요리하는 걸 좋아해요.
  minsuneun jisuga yolihaneun geol joh-ahaeyo.
  Minsu likes that Jisu cooks.

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