Korean Lesson 6. Paticles #6 Particle Meaning \'from\' -에서
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Bryan
Sunday 31st of December 2006 10:52:58 PM
Lesson 6. Paticles #6: -에서 usually means 'from' in English when talking about the starting point of an action or origin of something.
examples:
내일 미국에서 어머니가 도착합니다. Tomorrow mother arrives from the USA.
스미스씨는 유럽에서 왔습니다. Mr. Smith came from Europe.
학교에서 돌아옵니다. (pro) come back (home) from school.
시골에서 편지가 왔습니다. A letter arrived from 시골*
어디서 소포가 왔습니까? [lit. From where the parcel came?]
*NOTE. 시골 literally means 'country side' but it also refers to the house of granparents or relatives that live far from the capital city.
In spoken language, -에서 is often contracted to -서 as in the third example above. This is more prevalent in the speech of the elderly or people from other dialectal regions, except for 어디서(from where), which is used frequently by everyone.
-에서 is also a locative particle that marks the place where an action takes place. Its use is diferent from -에 in that it is used with the verbs other than the ones like 있- (to be), 살- (to live).
examples:
집에서 영화를 봅니다. (pro) watchs[lit. sees] a movie at home.
도서관에서 책을 읽습니다. (pro) reads books at the library.
한국에서 일을 합니다. (pro) lives in Korea.
학교에서 공부를 합니다. (pro) studies at school.
백화점에서 물건을 삽니다. (pro) buys things in the department store.
*new verbs
돌아오- to return, to come back
보- to see, to watch, to look at
일(을 ) 하- to work [lit. to do work]
mteric
Monday 01st of January 2007 12:47:05 AM
한국에서 일을 합니다. (pro) lives in the States.
Doesn't this sentence actually mean "(pro) works in Korea."?
Also, why do some verbs have the particle attached before the 하, as in 일(을 ) 하? Is this optional?
Bryan
Monday 01st of January 2007 04:36:27 AM
oops. my bad. yes you are correct. I forgot to change the translation after trying to vary the vocab in the examples.. hah..
and yes, those (을/를 ) is optional. there are many verbs in that costruction in Korean. the verb -하 means to do, another element is attached to it as an object to modify the meaning of the verb.
examples:
공부(를 ) 하- to study [lit. to do study]
청소(를 ) 하- to clean(room, bathroom etc.) [lit. to do cleaning]
일(을 ) 하- to work [lit. to do work]
빨래(를 ) 하- to do laundry
숙제(를 ) 하- to do homework
sometimes the translation in English is the same as the literal translation of the Korean verbs like the last two. there are countless number of verbs like these, and it is easy for you because you learn a noun and a verb at the same time and the verb conjugation is the same for every oen of them. (the conjugation of 하-, although it's highly irregular)
hope it helps!
mteric
Monday 01st of January 2007 10:15:13 AM
The noun + to do verb construction is cool!
Do you exclude the optional 을/를 when the speech is less formal?
오늘 빨래를 합니다.
오늘 빨래 해요.
Or is it just a matter of style or preference?
Bryan
Monday 01st of January 2007 11:23:17 AM
I think it is a little less formal although there's a question of style or preference involved, too. I've seen the shorter version used in news articles and liturature so i think it isn't extremely informal. Or maybe because of its frequent use in spoken language, it has become more acceptable in formal writing. To me it sounds more emphatic when the particle is used, but when speaking, the one without the particle is usually more natural.
and another thing, when the particle is not used, there is no space between the noun and the verb.
오늘 빨래 해요. (x)
오늘 빨래해요. (v)
hope it helps and,
Happy new year! 새해 복 받이 받으세요!
mteric
Tuesday 02nd of January 2007 12:32:23 AM
감사합니다. :)
새해 복 많이 받으세요!
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