LEARN + KOREAN / Note 41 TOPIK I

To You (에게/한테)

에게 (and its conversational twin 한테) marks who’s receiving an action, “to [someone].” Talking about an elder or someone senior swaps it for 께, and the verb itself often changes too: 주다 (to give) becomes 드리다.

친구에게 선물을 줘요.

chinguege seonmureul jwoyo.

I give a gift to a friend.

In Real Life

에게 and 한테 mean exactly the same thing. 한테 is what you’ll actually hear in conversation; 에게 shows up more in writing. It’s the same written-versus-spoken split as 하고 versus 와/과.

동생한테 전화해요.

dongsaenghante jeonhwahaeyo.

I call my younger sibling.

부모님께 선물을 드렸어요.

bumonimkke seonmureul deuryeosseoyo.

I gave a gift to my parents.

선생님께 질문을 해요.

seonsaengnimkke jilmuneul haeyo.

I ask the teacher a question.

In Real Life

께 and 드리다 travel together. Pairing 께 with plain 주다 instead of 드리다, or the reverse, sounds mismatched, like starting a sentence formally and finishing it casually. Elevate the whole verb phrase, not just the particle.

안나 씨가 재민 씨에게 편지를 썼어요.

anna ssiga jaemin ssiege pyeonjireul sseosseoyo.

Anna wrote a letter to Jaemin.

할머니께 전화드려요.

halmeonikke jeonhwadeuryeoyo.

I call my grandmother.

Vocabulary

Korean	English
편지 pyeonji	letter
결혼식 gyeolhonsik	wedding
졸업식 joreopsik	graduation
설날 seollal	Lunar New Year
추석 chuseok	Chuseok (Korean thanksgiving)
집들이 jipdeuri	housewarming party
할아버지 harabeoji	grandfather
할머니 halmeoni	grandmother
선배 seonbae	senior (school, work)
후배 hubae	junior (school, work)
존댓말 jondaenmal	honorific speech
축하하다 chukhahada	to congratulate
초대하다 chodaehada	to invite
연락하다 yeollakhada	to contact, to get in touch
인사하다 insahada	to greet, to say hello
소개하다 sogaehada	to introduce
챙기다 chaenggida	to look after, take care of
관계 gwangye	relationship
친하다 chinhada	to be close, friendly with
어른 eoreun	adult, elder