TOPIK I Grammar · Ch.2 Starting Verb Sentences 02

TOPIK I Grammar · Ch.2 Starting Verb Sentences 02

'을/를' - The Tag That Marks the Object

You can conjugate verbs now. To say what the verb acts on - eat rice, meet a friend - Korean attaches a small tag to that noun. It's a basic particle pair with one clean sound rule.

Key point Attach 을 or 를 to the noun that receives the action - the object. 을 after a final consonant (batchim), 를 after a vowel. Same sound rule as 이에요/예요.

How to use it

English marks the object by position: "the dog bit the man" and "the man bit the dog" use identical words. Only word order tells you who bit whom. Korean marks the object with a tag instead. Once 을/를 is attached, the noun's function in the sentence is clear. That is why Korean word order allows more flexibility than English does.

The pattern is Noun + 을/를 + Verb, with the verb at the end: 밥을 먹어요 (= eat rice), 친구를 만나요 (= meet a friend). Which tag you use is pure sound, and you already know the rule from 이에요/예요: batchim → 을, vowel → 를.

At a glance

Noun	Last syllable ends in…	Result
밥 (rice)	consonant ㅂ - batchim	밥을 먹어요
물 (water)	consonant ㄹ - batchim	물을 마셔요
책 (book)	consonant ㄱ - batchim	책을 읽어요
친구 (friend)	vowel - no batchim	친구를 만나요
영화 (movie)	vowel - no batchim	영화를 봐요
한국어 (Korean)	vowel - no batchim	한국어를 공부해요

Examples

저는 빵을 먹어요. I eat bread. - 빵 has batchim ㅇ, so 을.

저는 영화를 봐요. I watch movies. - 영화 ends in a vowel, so 를.

저는 물을 마셔요. I drink water. - 물 has batchim ㄹ, so 을.

Common mistakes

❌ 친구을 만나요. → ⭕ 친구를 만나요. 친구 ends in a vowel, so it takes 를. If 친구을 is hard to say smoothly, that is a good sign - the rule exists because of that difficulty.

❌ 물를 마셔요. → ⭕ 물을 마셔요. ㄹ at the bottom of 물 is still a batchim, even though the tag itself starts with ㄹ. Don't let the matching letters fool you - check the noun, not the tag.

Quick check

Fill in each blank with 을 or 를. Just check the batchim.
1. 저는 밥(    ) 먹어요.
2. 저는 커피(    ) 마셔요.
3. 저는 친구(    ) 만나요.

Show answers

1. 을 (밥 - batchim ㅂ)   2. 를 (커피 - no batchim)   3. 를 (친구 - no batchim)

💡 Study tip - Ask the verb a question. For any sentence, ask "verb what?" - eat what, read what, meet whom. The answer is your object, and that noun gets the tag. In casual speech Koreans often drop 을/를, but in formal TOPIK writing you should include the particles clearly. If you leave one out, the grader may count it as a mistake.