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Subject Particle: 이/가

Beomjin Heo
Jun 4, 2023
Grammar Intermediate

15-min Lesson Goals

  1. Understand the function of 이 and 가
  2. Know when to use each of them
  3. Familiarize yourself with when this participle is used

A Bit of a Lesson

Simply put, 이 and 가 are used to identify the subject of a sentence. One situation where this participle is used is with adjectives: 

Subject Participle
(이/가)		 Adjective Sentence
(Polite Form)
머리 (head) 가 아프다
(sick/painful)		 머리가 아파요.
My head aches.
지도 (map) 가 있다
(exist/have)		 지도가 있어요.
I have a map (A map exists)

Looking at the two examples above, the participle "가" identifies the subject. In this case, is is the "head" that hurts, and it is a "map" that the speaker has. 

When used with a verb, it emphasizes the fact that the subject was the doer of the action (e.g. It was <subject> that <action>):

Subject Participle
(이/가)		 Verb Sentence
(Polite Form)
나 (me) 가 주다
(to give)		 내가 줬어.
I'm the one that gave it.
강아지 (dog) 가 짖다
(bark)		 강아지가 짖어요.
The dog is barking.

내가 줬어 is directly translated to "I gave", but it emphasizes the fact that it was "I", or the speaker that performed the action. Think of answering the question "Who gave it?". 

이 and 가 have the same function, but we use:

  • 이 when the word before (object) ends in a consonant.
  • 가 when the word before (object) ends in a vowel. 
Object / Target Participle
(이/가)		 Example
책 이 이 책이 좋아요.
휴지 가 휴지가 필요해요.
티비 (TV) TV가 TV가 없어요.

To summarize, 이/가 are particles that identify the subject of a sentence. Most times, it gives an extra emphasis on the subject. Unlike 은/는, another subject particle, it is used more for questions and does not create a sense of comparison. 

Knowledge Check!

이름 __ 뭐에요?

가 이 는 을

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Beomjin Heo Jun 11, 2023