Welcome to your first real grammar lesson! In Lesson 4 you memorised phrases like 이름이 뭐예요? and 저는 학생이에요 as whole chunks. Today we open those chunks up and look at the moving parts. By the end, you'll be able to build your own sentences instead of just repeating ready-made ones, and that is the moment a phrasebook turns into a language.
Don't worry if the particles feel slippery at first. Every Korean learner goes through a stage of mixing up 은/는 and 이/가. Each mix-up is feedback, not failure: it shows you exactly which part of the pattern your brain is still building.
English relies on word order to show who does what: "The dog bites the man" and "The man bites the dog" mean very different things. Korean works differently. It has two big habits:
| Korean | Word by word | English |
|---|---|---|
| 저는 학생이에요. | I (topic) + student + am | I am a student. |
| 이름이 뭐예요? | name (subject) + what + is | What is (your) name? |
| 이것은 책이에요. | this (topic) + book + is | This is a book. |
Notice two things. First, Korean has no words for "a" or "the". Second, "is/am/are" is not a separate word; it glues directly onto the noun. Let's start there.
To say "X is Y" about a noun, attach 이에요 or 예요 to the end of the noun, with no space. The choice depends on one simple question: does the noun end in a final consonant (받침)? You learned about 받침 in Lessons 2 and 3, and here is the first place it really matters for grammar.
Noun ending in a consonant (받침) + 이에요 → 학생 + 이에요 = 학생이에요
Noun ending in a vowel (no 받침) + 예요 → 의사 + 예요 = 의사예요
Why two forms? Try saying 의사이에요 quickly: the two vowels collide, so Korean smooths them into 예요. After a consonant there's no collision, so the full 이에요 stays, and the consonant slides over into it (책이에요 sounds like 채기에요).
| Noun | Ends in… | + is | Romanization | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 학생 | ㅇ (받침) | 학생이에요 | haksaengieyo | (I'm / it's) a student |
| 선생님 | ㅁ (받침) | 선생님이에요 | seonsaengnimieyo | (he's / she's) a teacher |
| 회사원 | ㄴ (받침) | 회사원이에요 | hoesawonieyo | an office worker |
| 책 | ㄱ (받침) | 책이에요 | chaegieyo | a book |
| 물 | ㄹ (받침) | 물이에요 | murieyo | water |
| 의사 | vowel | 의사예요 | uisayeyo | a doctor |
| 친구 | vowel | 친구예요 | chinguyeyo | a friend |
| 커피 | vowel | 커피예요 | keopiyeyo | coffee |
The same ending works for "am", "is" and "are", for statements and for questions. You simply raise your voice at the end to ask: 학생이에요? = "Are you a student?"
💡 Connecting to Lesson 4: In your self-introduction you met 입니다 (저는 레이입니다). 입니다 is the formal version of 이에요/예요 and never changes shape, whatever the noun ends in. 이에요/예요 is the warm, everyday polite version you'll hear most in conversation. Both are correct; you'll study the speech levels properly in Lesson 13.
The negative of "X is Y" is Y이/가 아니에요. Notice the noun now takes the particle 이 or 가 (more about this particle below), and 아니에요 follows as a separate word.
Noun with 받침 + 이 아니에요 → 학생이 아니에요 (I'm not a student)
Noun without 받침 + 가 아니에요 → 의사가 아니에요 (I'm not a doctor)
| Korean | Romanization | English |
|---|---|---|
| 저는 학생이 아니에요. | jeoneun haksaengi anieyo. | I'm not a student. |
| 저는 의사가 아니에요. | jeoneun uisaga anieyo. | I'm not a doctor. |
| 이것은 물이 아니에요. | igeoseun muri anieyo. | This isn't water. |
| 아니요, 커피가 아니에요. 차예요. | aniyo, keopiga anieyo. chayeyo. | No, it's not coffee. It's tea. |
The topic marker announces what you're talking about. The most useful English comparison is the phrase "As for…": 저는 학생이에요 is literally "As for me, (I'm a) student." It sets the stage, then the rest of the sentence comments on it.
Noun with 받침 + 은 → 이름은, 선생님은, 이것은
Noun without 받침 + 는 → 저는, 친구는, 의사는
Topic markers have a second, very important job: contrast. When you set two things side by side, 은/는 means "X, as opposed to other things".
| Korean | Romanization | English |
|---|---|---|
| 저는 학생이에요. | jeoneun haksaengieyo. | I'm a student. |
| 제 친구는 선생님이에요. | je chinguneun seonsaengnimieyo. | My friend (on the other hand) is a teacher. |
| 이것은 제 가방이에요. | igeoseun je gabangieyo. | This is my bag. |
| 민수 씨는 한국 사람이에요. | minsu ssineun hanguk saramieyo. | Minsu is Korean. |
You just met 제 ("my", polite). It is simply 저 + the possessive idea, shortened. You'll use it constantly: 제 이름, 제 친구, 제 책.
The subject marker points at the thing that does the action or has the quality, and it tends to put a little spotlight on it: "it's this one (and not something else)". You've already seen it in 이름이 뭐예요? and in the negative 학생이 아니에요.
Noun with 받침 + 이 → 이름이, 화장실이, 선생님이
Noun without 받침 + 가 → 친구가, 커피가, 의사가
Three special fusions: 저 + 가 → 제가 (I), 나 + 가 → 내가 (I, casual), 누구 + 가 → 누가 (who). You never say 저가 or 누구가.
This is the most famous puzzle in beginner Korean, and it's honest to say: there is no single rule that covers 100% of cases, even advanced learners keep refining their feel for it. But three guidelines will make you right the vast majority of the time.
| Use 은/는 when… | Use 이/가 when… |
|---|---|
| introducing yourself or the topic of conversation: 저는 알렉스예요. | the noun is new information or the answer to "who / which / what?": 제가 알렉스예요. ("I'm Alex", e.g. when someone calls the name) |
| you are contrasting: 저는 학생이에요. 동생은 회사원이에요. | the subject is a question word: 누가 선생님이에요? 어디가 화장실이에요? |
| you're making a general statement about something already known: 이름은 제니예요. | set patterns demand it: N이/가 아니에요, 이름이 뭐예요?, 화장실이 어디예요? |
Watch how the question shapes the answer:
| Speaker | Korean | English |
|---|---|---|
| A | 누가 민지 씨예요? | Who is Minji? (which person here?) |
| B | 제가 민지예요. | I'm Minji. (It's me.) |
| A | 민지 씨는 학생이에요? | (As for you,) Minji, are you a student? |
| B | 아니요, 저는 회사원이에요. | No, I'm an office worker. |
A question word takes 이/가 (누가, 뭐가, 어디가), and the answer replaces the question word, so it keeps 이/가 too. If the question asks "what about X?", reply with 은/는.
Korean splits "this / that" into three distances instead of two. The key is where the thing is relative to both speakers.
| Prefix | Meaning | Thing | Casual speech | Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 이 | near me (the speaker) | 이것 (this thing) | 이거 | 여기 (here) |
| 그 | near you (the listener), or something already mentioned | 그것 (that thing) | 그거 | 거기 (there) |
| 저 | far from both of us | 저것 (that thing over there) | 저거 | 저기 (over there) |
The same 이/그/저 go in front of nouns: 이 사람 (this person), 그 책 (that book), 저 가방 (that bag over there). Careful: the 저 in 저것 ("that over there") is a different word from 저 meaning "I". Context always makes it clear.
In speech, Koreans shorten these constantly. You will hear the short forms far more than the textbook ones:
| Full | Spoken | Romanization | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 이것은 | 이건 | igeon | this (topic) |
| 이것이 | 이게 | ige | this (subject) |
| 그것은 | 그건 | geugeon | that (topic) |
| 저것이 | 저게 | jeoge | that over there (subject) |
Question words slot into the same place as the answer. In English you move "what" to the front; in Korean you just swap the noun for the question word and leave everything else alone. 뭐 (what), 누구 (who) and 어디 (where) all end in a vowel, so they take 예요.
| Question | Answer | English |
|---|---|---|
| 이게 뭐예요? | 그건 우산이에요. | What's this? · That's an umbrella. |
| 저분은 누구예요? | 저분은 제 선생님이에요. | Who is that (person over there)? · That's my teacher. |
| 화장실이 어디예요? | 저기예요. | Where is the restroom? · It's over there. |
| 여기가 어디예요? | 여기는 서울역이에요. | Where is this (place)? · This is Seoul Station. |
| 이거 누구 가방이에요? | 제 가방이에요. | Whose bag is this? · It's my bag. |
Notice 누구 가방 = "whose bag": just put 누구 in front of the noun. And 저분 is a politer way to say 저 사람 ("that person") when the person might hear you.
You'll learn the grammar properly in Lessons 7 and 9, but these two are too useful to wait: 있어요 = "there is / I have" and 없어요 = "there isn't / I don't have". 물 있어요? (Do you have water?) · 네, 있어요. · 시간 없어요. (I don't have time.) Note they are not the same as 이에요: 이에요 says what something is; 있어요 says that something exists or is had.
| Speaker | Korean | English |
|---|---|---|
| 민지 | 안녕하세요. 저는 김민지예요. 이름이 뭐예요? | Hello. I'm Kim Minji. What's your name? |
| 알렉스 | 안녕하세요. 저는 알렉스예요. 캐나다 사람이에요. | Hello. I'm Alex. I'm Canadian. |
| 민지 | 알렉스 씨는 학생이에요? | Alex, are you a student? |
| 알렉스 | 네, 학생이에요. 민지 씨는요? | Yes, I'm a student. And you, Minji? |
| 민지 | 저는 학생이 아니에요. 회사원이에요. | I'm not a student. I'm an office worker. |
| 알렉스 | 아, 그래요? 그런데 저분은 누구예요? | Oh, really? By the way, who is that over there? |
| 민지 | 저분은 박 선생님이에요. 한국어 선생님이에요. | That's Mr. Park. He's a Korean teacher. |
| 알렉스 | 이거 선생님 책이에요? | Is this the teacher's book? |
| 민지 | 아니요, 그건 제 책이에요. | No, that's my book. |
| 알렉스 | 아, 죄송해요! 그런데 화장실이 어디예요? | Oh, sorry! By the way, where's the restroom? |
| 민지 | 저기예요. | It's over there. |
Spot the grammar: 김민지예요 (ends in a vowel), 캐나다 사람이에요 (ends in ㅁ), 학생이 아니에요, 저분은 누구예요, and 그건 (= 그것은) because the book is near Alex, the listener.
🌏 Cultural Note — Leave "you" out: Korean has a word for "you" (당신), but in everyday conversation it can sound cold, confrontational or overly intimate. Koreans instead use the person's name + 씨 (알렉스 씨는요?), a title (선생님), or simply drop the word entirely because context makes it obvious. That's why 이름이 뭐예요? has no "your" in it. Dropping the topic is normal too: once you've said 저는 once, you rarely need to repeat it.
Q1: How do you say "I'm a doctor" (의사)?
Q2: Someone asks 누가 민수 씨예요? ("Who is Minsu?"). You are Minsu. What do you answer?
Q3: Your friend is holding a pen. You point at it and ask what it is. Which word fits?
Q4: Which sentence correctly says "This isn't water"?
Almost. Grammarians call its dictionary form 이다, the "copula". It only links a noun to another noun ("A is B"). It does not mean "to be located" or "to exist"; that job belongs to 있어요. So "The book is on the desk" won't use 이에요. You'll build those sentences in Lesson 9.
Both are grammatical. 이름이 뭐예요? is the standard, neutral way to ask. 이름은 뭐예요? adds a light "and as for your name…?" feel, for example after you've already asked someone's age or job. When in doubt, use 이.
In casual speech Koreans often drop them, as in 이거 뭐예요? or 물 있어요?. But dropping them well is a skill that depends on context, and it's easy to sound odd. Practise with particles now; you'll drop them naturally later, the way native speakers do.
In relaxed speech, 의사예요 often sounds like 의사에요. It's still spelled 예요 after a vowel. Pronunciation shortcuts like this are normal; the spelling rule stays the same.
Next, in Lesson 6: Numbers, Time & Dates, you'll put 이에요/예요 straight to work: 몇 시예요? (What time is it?), 오늘은 월요일이에요 (Today is Monday), 삼천 원이에요 (It's 3,000 won). Then in Lesson 7 you'll finally move beyond "X is Y" and start conjugating real verbs.