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Object Particle: 을/를

Beomjin Heo
Jun 11, 2023
Grammar Beginner

15-min Lesson Goals

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

A Bit of a Lesson

을 and 를 are used to identify the object of a sentence. 

It is attached to the end of a noun (which would be the object of the sentence). Let's take a look at some examples: 

Object Participle
(을/를)		 Verb Sentence
(Polite Form)
아침
(breakfast)		 을 먹다
(to eat)		 아침을 먹어요.
(I eat breakfast)
지도
(map)		 를 읽다
(to read)		 지도를 읽어요.
I read a map.

Looking at the two examples above, 아침 (breakfast) and 지도 (map) are the objects of the sentences. What did the speaker eat? Breakfast. What did the speaker read? A map. 

을 and 를 have the same function, but we use:

  • 을 when the word before (object) ends in a consonant.
  • 를 when the word before (object) ends in a vowel. 
Object / Target Participle
(을/를)		   Example
책 (book) 을 읽다
(to read)		 책을 읽어요.
휴지 (tissue) 를 버리다
(to throw away)		 휴지를 버려요.
티비 (TV) 를 켜다
(to turn on)		 TV를 켜요.

Compared to other particles such as 이/가 and 은/는, 을/를 is rather straightforward. Additionally, its rules are very similar to English, where we attach it to the object of the sentence. 

Knowledge Check!

나는 너를 존경해. What is the object of this sentence?

너 (You) 해 (to do) 존경 (respect) 나 (I)

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