The Object Marker - 을/를


How to use the object marker in Korean

In past lessons, we’ve seen the object marker used in sentences. The object marker always attaches directly after a noun. It marks the noun as the object of the action verb.

What is an action verb? It is a verb that indicates a physical action is being performed on something. Some action verbs:

먹다 (to eat)
만들다 (to make)
배우다 (to learn)

The object of an action verb is whatever is being affected by the verb.

If you were saying “I eat pizza,” pizza would be the object of the verb “eat.”

So, in Korean, how do we mark nouns with the object marker when action verbs are involved?

When the object ends in a consonant, attach 을.
When the object ends in a vowel, attach 를.

Examples:

저는 피자 먹고 싶어요

I want to eat pizza

저는 케이팝 좋아해요

I like K-pop

저는 한글 배워요

I learn Hangul (Korean alphabet)

저는 만두 만들고 싶어요

I want to make dumplings

star sparkle
Wrap Up
star sparkle

Descriptive verbs, unlike action verbs, are verbs that don’t represent a physical action, but more a state of being.

For example, 어렵다 means “to be hard/difficult.” Action verbs and descriptive verbs sometimes pair with different grammar particles, so it’s important to make the distinction.

Descriptive verbs do not pair with the object marker. We’ll talk more about descriptive verbs in a later lesson.

check mark

Vocab Review!

arrow
만두 = dumpling/s
arrow
한글 = the Korean alphabet
arrow
케이팝 = K-pop
arrow
만들다 = to make
arrow
배우다 = to learn
down arrow
Previous lesson
Next lesson
down arrow