# Are subject/topic particles optional?



## RadkeRonnie

I just started learning Korean. All of my sources say that the subject of a sentence should take either 가 or 이 as their particle, depending on the last letter. They also say that objects in sentences should take either 을 or 를. 는 or 은 can replace any of these particles if the word is the topic of the sentence. 

Here's where I get confused. My sources give example sentences like the following:

밥 먹고 싶어요. 
사과 있어요.
1000원 있었어. (talking about a wallet)

Why are there no particles? From what I've learned, it should be:
밥*을* 먹고 싶어요. 
사과*가* 있어요.
1000원*이* 있었어.

or

밥*은* 먹고 싶어요. 
사과*는* 있어요.
1000원*은* 있었어.

So are these particles optional?


----------



## kenjoluma

1. All those sentences in your posting sound very natural and completely correct. It doesn't have to have particles in those cases.

2. Although each of them has a different sense and nuance, *semantically* speaking, they are all identical. Hopefully I understand correctly what you mean by 'optional'.


----------



## Superhero1

Hello RadkeRonnie.


The particles which indicate the subjective and objective case in the sentences for 밥 먹고 싶어요., 사과 있어요. and 1000원 있었어 are omitted in colloquial use.

The complete sentences would be ‘(나는) 밥(을) 먹고 싶어요.’: the subjective 나는, the objective particle 을 are omitted; ‘(여기에) 사과(가,는) 있어요.’ : the adverb 여기에 which means ‘there is’ in English, the subjective particle 가 or 는 are omitted; '(나는) 1000원(이, 은) 있었어' : the subjective 나는, the objective particle이 or 은 are omitted.
There might be a controversial issue in 나는 1000원이 있었어 or 1000원이 나한테 있었어 though, it is not worth saying here.

In English, for instance, suppose that I and my friend went to Starbucks and I asked to my friends “you Americano?” ( I’m not sure it really is happening in the U.S.)


----------



## terredepomme

Optional as in, can you form grammatically correct sentences without them? Yes, in some cases.
But there will almost always be a change of nuance based on their presence or lack thereof.


----------



## alice313

Plus, there is also some cases which doesn't need particles.
Like Japanese language grammar, I think there's also some grammar thing in Korean language too. Something like 무조사격(無助詞格); no-particle cases.
Sometimes it's perfect without any particles in the sentence.


----------

