1 · The basic sentence
The verb comes last
subject–object–verb order
Korean puts the verb at the end and everything else in front of it, with particles saying who does what.
English puts the verb in the middle: subject, verb, object. Korean puts it at the end: subject, object, verb. 저는 사과를 먹어요 is “I apple eat”: 저는 (I), 사과를 (an apple), 먹어요 (eat). Whatever else the sentence holds — a time, a place, a person — comes before the verb too: 저는 오늘 학교에서 친구를 만나요, “I today at school a friend meet”.
The roles are not shown by position, as in English, but by particles attached to the end of each noun: 는 or 은 for the topic, 가 or 이 for the subject, 를 or 을 for the object, 에서 for the place of an action. Because the particle carries the role, the parts in front of the verb can change places: 사과를 저는 먹어요 means the same as 저는 사과를 먹어요, only with a different emphasis. The usual order is topic, time, place, object — but only the verb has a fixed place.
A Korean sentence also leaves out whatever is clear. A subject that both speakers know is usually dropped — 사과를 먹어요 is a complete sentence, “(I) eat an apple” — and a verb on its own is a complete sentence as well: 먹어요, “(I am) eating”. English needs a subject in every sentence; Korean needs only the verb.
The same order holds inside smaller units. A word that describes a noun stands before it (큰 가방, “a big bag”), a noun that modifies another stands in front of it (한국 음식, “Korean food”), and where English has prepositions Korean has words after the noun: 학교 앞에, “school front-at”, is “in front of the school”. An English speaker who expects the important word first will keep finding it at the end.
The form
| subject – object – verb | 저는 사과를 먹어요. |
| with time and place | 저는 오늘 학교에서 친구를 만나요. |
| object moved forward | 사과를 저는 먹어요. |
| subject left out | 사과를 먹어요. |
| the verb alone | 먹어요. |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
The verb, or an adjective, comes at the end of the sentence.
저는 매일 아침 커피를 마셔요.I drink coffee every morning.
Particles, not positions, show who does what.
동생이 고양이를 좋아해요.My younger sibling likes cats.
Time usually comes before place, and place before the object.
저는 주말에 집에서 영화를 봐요.I watch films at home at the weekend.
What is clear from the situation, usually the subject, is left out.
빵을 사요.I am buying bread.
A word that describes a noun stands before it.
큰 가방을 샀어요.I bought a big bag.
A closer look
Waiting for the last word
Korean stacks its endings at the end, so the last word carries a great deal: 먹었어요 is eat + past + polite. Tense, politeness, a question, a negation, a reason, a wish — all of it comes at the very end. Listening to Korean means waiting for the last word before deciding what the sentence says, including whether it is a question at all.
In relaxed speech a word sometimes follows the verb: 먹었어요, 그거?, “did you eat it, that thing?”. This is an afterthought, added once the sentence is already complete, and it is said more quietly. Written Korean and careful speech do not do it, and a learner should not copy it as an order.
How to spot it
- -아요/어요
- 은/는
- 이/가
- 을/를
Example sentences
친구가 편지를 써요.My friend is writing a letter.
아버지는 신문을 읽으세요.My father is reading the newspaper.
저는 지하철로 회사에 가요.I go to work by underground.
오늘 저녁에 뭐 먹어요?What are you having for dinner tonight?
어제 백화점에서 친구를 만났어요.Yesterday I met a friend at the department store.
언니가 동생한테 책을 줬어요.The older sister gave the younger one a book.
7 more example sentences
저는 한국 노래를 자주 들어요.I often listen to Korean songs.
형은 은행에서 일해요.My older brother works at a bank.
우리는 일곱 시에 저녁을 먹어요.We have dinner at seven.
아이들이 공원에서 놀아요.The children are playing in the park.
저는 내일 부산에 가요.I am going to Busan tomorrow.
선생님이 학생들에게 질문을 하세요.The teacher is asking the students a question.
친구가 저한테 꽃을 줬어요.My friend gave me flowers.
Worth knowing (1)
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Place words after the noun
Korean has no prepositions. Where English says “in front of the school”, Korean says “school front-at”: 학교 앞에. The place word — front, inside, on top — is a noun, and the particle comes after it.
은행은 학교 앞에 있어요.The bank is in front of the school.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
This is English order carried over. In Korean the verb ends the sentence; an object placed after it is heard as an afterthought, as in casual speech, never as the normal order.
Everything first, the verb last — the particles keep track of who did what.
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.