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Grammar / Level 1 / Lesson 14

와/과, 에게, 에게서: with, to, from and about

By Daniel Buckley · 11 minute read · TOPIK 1

Vocabulary

  1. 동생 - younger sibling
  2. 부모님 - parents
  3. 할머니 - grandmother
  4. 가족 - family
  5. 편지 - letter
  6. 보내다 - to send
  7. 받다 - to receive
  8. 드리다 - to give (humble)
  9. 전화하다 - to phone
  10. 건강 - health

Suppose you had lunch with a friend. You can start the sentence with 친구와, 친구하고 or 친구랑, and all three are correct. They mean the same thing, and the difference is where you'd hear them.

Much of this lesson works that way. Korean has one idea, such as "to a person", and a pair of particles for it, picked by how formal you're being. I'd learn the spoken ones first, 하고 and 한테, because you'll read the others long before you need to say them.

와/과, 하고, (이)랑: and, with

All three go after a noun and do two jobs. Between two nouns they mean "and". Before a verb they mean "with". Korean treats these as one idea, two things going together, so one particle covers both.

Three ways to say it

  • 와/과: writing and formal speech. 와 after a vowel, 과 after a consonant.친구와동생과
  • 하고: everyday speech. It never changes.친구하고동생하고
  • (이)랑: casual speech. 랑 after a vowel, 이랑 after a consonant.친구랑동생이랑

As "and", they join nouns only. In a list, the particle for the whole group goes on the last noun: 빵하고 우유를.

  1. 빵하고 우유를 샀어요.

    (I) bought bread and milk.

  2. 사과랑 바나나를 좋아해요.

    (I) like apple and banana.

  3. 서울과 부산은 큰 도시예요.

    Seoul and Busan are big cities.

As "with", they mark the person you do something with.

  1. 친구하고 점심을 먹었어요.

    (I) ate lunch with friend.

  2. 동생이랑 영화를 봤어요.

    (I) saw movie with younger sibling.

  3. 주말에 가족과 여행을 갔어요.

    On weekend (I) went on trip with family.

  4. 친구하고 같이 공부해요.

    (I) study together with friend.

※ 같이 means "together". Koreans often add it after the person, as in example 4, but it's optional.

에게, 한테, 께: to a person

에 from the last lesson means "to" for places. People and animals take 에게 or 한테 instead. They mean the same thing, and they split the same way as before: 에게 for writing, 한테 for speech.

To a person

  • 에게: writing and careful speech.친구에게
  • 한테: everyday speech.친구한테
  • 께: someone you look up to, such as a grandparent or a teacher.할머니께

  1. 친구에게 편지를 보냈어요.

    (I) sent letter to friend.

  2. 동생한테 선물을 줬어요.

    (I) gave present to younger sibling.

  3. 고양이한테 밥을 줬어요.

    (I) gave food to cat.

  4. 부모님께 전화했어요.

    (I) phoned to parents.

  5. 할머니께 선물을 드렸어요.

    (I) gave present to grandmother.

Look at example 5. After 께, 주다 usually becomes 드리다, the humble word for giving. The honorific lesson comes back to words like this.

※ Places and organisations take plain 에: 회사에 전화했어요. Plants do too: 꽃에 물을 줘요, (I) give water to the flowers.

  1. 회사___ 전화했어요.

    I called the office.

  2. 친구___ 편지를 보냈어요.

    I sent a letter to a friend.

  3. 할머니___ 편지를 썼어요.

    I wrote a letter to my grandmother.

  4. 동생___ 같이 갔어요.

    I went with my younger sibling.

Listen and type

1 / 3

Play it as often as you like.

에게서, 한테서: from a person

Add 서 to these and you get "from", the person version of 에서: 에게서 in writing, 한테서 in speech. With 받다 and 배우다, the verb already shows which way things are moving, so speakers often drop the 서.

  1. 친구에게서 편지를 받았어요.

    (I) received letter from friend.

  2. 동생한테서 전화가 왔어요.

    Phone call came from younger sibling.

  3. 친구한테 선물을 받았어요.

    (I) received present from friend.

  4. 선생님께 한국어를 배워요.

    (I) learn Korean from teacher.

Example 4 shows 께 doing this job too. With someone you look up to, 께 covers both "to" and "from", and the verb tells you which.

에 대해: about

에 대해 goes straight after a noun and says what talk, writing or thought is about. 에 대해서 is the same thing with an extra syllable, and you'll hear both. Before a noun it changes to 에 대한, as in example 4.

  1. 한국 음식에 대해 이야기했어요.

    (We) talked about Korean food.

  2. 저는 그 사람에 대해 잘 몰라요.

    I don't know well about that person.

  3. 가족에 대해 썼어요.

    (I) wrote about family.

  4. 한국에 대한 책을 샀어요.

    (I) bought book about Korea.

※ This is only "about" a topic. For "about three o'clock", meaning roughly, Korean uses 쯤: 세 시쯤.

을/를 위해: for

위하다 means to do something for the sake of someone or something. It's a verb, and the noun is its object, so the noun takes 을/를. 위해서 means the same as 위해, and before a noun it changes to 위한.

  1. 가족을 위해 일해요.

    (I) work for family.

  2. 건강을 위해 운동을 해요.

    (I) exercise for health.

  3. 친구를 위해 케이크를 만들었어요.

    (I) made cake for friend.

  4. 엄마를 위한 선물이에요.

    (It) is present for mum.

It's a heavier word than English "for", closer to "for the sake of". It doesn't cover time: "for two hours" is 동안. To use it with a verb you need ~기 위해, in lesson 36.

Common mistakes

  1. 친구과 영화를 봤어요.

    친구와 영화를 봤어요.

    와 goes after a vowel and 과 after a consonant. It runs the other way from 은/는, where the form starting with a consonant follows the vowel.

  2. 친구에 편지를 보냈어요.

    친구에게 편지를 보냈어요.

    에 is for places. People take 에게 or 한테.

  3. 친구에서 선물을 받았어요.

    친구한테서 선물을 받았어요.

    에서 is "from" a place. From a person, use 에게서 or 한테서.

Check yourself

Quick check

1 / 6

___ 영화를 봤어요. (친구, with 하고) I saw a movie with a friend.

하고 never changes.

Summary

From formal to casual

  • And, with: 와/과, 하고, (이)랑.
  • To a person: 께 with respect, then 에게, 한테.
  • From a person: 께 with respect, then 에게서, 한테서.
  • About: 에 대해. Before a noun, 에 대한.
  • For the sake of: 을/를 위해. Before a noun, 을/를 위한.

Now you can say

  1. 친구하고 영화를 봤어요.

    (I) saw movie with friend.

  2. 할머니께 전화했어요.

    (I) phoned to grandmother.

  3. 한국 음식에 대해 이야기해요.

    (We) talk about Korean food.

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