TOPIK I Grammar · Ch.7 More Particles 01

TOPIK I Grammar · Ch.7 More Particles 01

'에게 · 한테 · 께' - To People, From People

친구한테 선물을 줬어요. I gave a present to a friend. 부모님께 전화했어요. I called my parents. When something moves between people - a gift, a call, a question - Korean marks the person with a dedicated particle. English puts "to" and "from" in front; Korean attaches the particle after the noun.

Key point Something going to a person or animal: 에게 (more common in writing and formal speech) or 한테 (more common in casual speech). Something coming from them: 에게서 / 한테서. For someone you respect - a teacher, a grandparent - the particle itself upgrades to 께.

How to use it

에게 and 한테 both mark the receiver, and they share the same core meaning. The difference is how formal each one sounds, and it is a tendency, not a strict rule. 에게 is more common in formal and written contexts, 한테 in spoken and casual ones - 동생한테 문자를 보냈어요 (= I sent a text to my younger sibling). In a casual diary or text message, 한테 shows up in writing too.

에게서/한테서 marks the starting point - "from" a person: 친구한테서 편지를 받았어요 (= I received a letter from a friend). In casual speech the 서 often drops, so 친구한테 받았어요 can also mean "received from a friend" - the verb tells you which direction things moved.

For someone above you, use 께 - and raise the verb along with it: 할머니께 선물을 드렸어요 (주다 → 드리다). English shows this kind of respect through word choice and tone. Korean builds it into the grammar, so the particle and the verb are raised together.

At a glance

Direction	Particle	Example
to a person	에게 / 한테	친구한테 물어봤어요 (= asked a friend)
from a person	에게서 / 한테서	언니한테서 소식을 들었어요 (= heard the news from my older sister)
to someone respected	께	선생님께 여쭤봤어요 (= asked the teacher)
to a thing or place	에	회사에 전화해요 (= call the office)

People and animals only  에게/한테 doesn't attach to things, places, or plants - those take 에: 회사에 전화해요, 나무에 물을 줘요. English "to" covers offices, trees, and friends alike; Korean saves 에게/한테 for beings you can interact with.

Examples

저는 매주 부모님께 전화를 드려요. I call my parents every week. - 께 pairs with the respectful verb 드리다.

이 이야기는 누구한테서 들었어요? Who did you hear this story from? - English leaves "from" hanging at the end; Korean attaches 한테서 right to the person.

강아지에게 물을 주세요. Please give the puppy some water. - pets and larger animals take 에게/한테 too.

Common mistakes

❌ 친구에 선물을 줬어요. → ⭕ 친구한테 선물을 줬어요. Because English "to" works for both "to school" and "to a friend", 에 feels like it should stretch to people. It doesn't - 에 is for places and times, and a person needs 에게/한테.

❌ 선생님한테 책을 줬어요. → ⭕ 선생님께 책을 드렸어요. With someone above you, the particle (께) and the verb (드리다) rise together. Raising only one of them sounds off to Korean ears - like starting a bow and not finishing it.

Quick check

Fill each blank with 에게(한테), 에게서(한테서), 께, or 에서.

1. 어제 동생(      ) 이메일을 보냈어요.
2. 오늘 아침에 회사(      ) 연락을 받았어요.
3. 할아버지(      ) 안부 전화를 드렸어요.

Show answers

1. 에게/한테 (your brother receives the email)   2. 에서 (a company is an organization, not a person, so it cannot take 에게서/한테서; use 에게서/한테서 only when a person is the starting point)   3. 께 (a respected elder; the sentence uses 드리다)

💡 Study tip - Never learn 께 alone - learn it with its partner verbs. 주다 → 드리다, 묻다 → 여쭤보다. Tonight, say 부모님께 전화를 드려요 out loud three times as one chunk. The most common error with this pattern is upgrading the particle but forgetting the verb - memorizing them as a set makes that mistake impossible.