# The particle 을 / 를



## DaCorinium

What is the significance or purpose of '을' to the grammar of a sentence, for example "나는 의자 을 사랑합니다"? (Yes, I tend to come up with some unique examples).

Is it possible to say this sentence without '을'?


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## Superhero1

Unlike English, we have an indication of a direct object.

나는 의자를 사랑합니다. = I love a chair. : I (나는; 는 indicates that 나(I) is a subject) love(사랑합니다) a chair (의자를; 를 indicates 의자(a chair) is a direct obejct)

You should use '를' in this case. 

나는 의자 사랑합니다. (we can understand what you say, but strange)
나는 의자를 사랑합니다. (correct!)

example : 

나는 당신을 사랑합니다. (I love you)
나는 책을 사랑합니다. (I love books)
나는 감자를 사랑합니다. (I love potatoes)
나는 비틀즈를 사랑합니다. (I love Beatles)
나는 축구를 사랑합니다. (I love football) etc.


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## DaCorinium

Thanks Superhero1, but what is the difference between 를 and 을? Is it that 를 is suitable for objects, and 을 for a person?


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## Superhero1

Basically, each Korean Character consists of three parts(minimun two parts, maximum three parts).

The letter 강 has three parts. The upper left part(ㄱ)is the first, the upper right part(ㅏ) is the second and the third part is ㅇ.
을 also has three parts, o is the first, ㅡ is the second and the ㄹ is the third.

To decided to use either 을 or 를, we consider the previous character, e.g. XY을/를; we consider the character Y.

When the Y character has a third part, e.g. 당신을; Y= 신, 신 has the third part(ㄴ), we put 을 after Y.

When the Y character consists of only two parts, e.g. 의자를; Y= 자, 자 consists of two parts, the first is ㅈ, the second is ㅏ(and the third doesn't exist), we put 를 after Y.


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## DaCorinium

Oh thanks a lot 

That's quite a strange rule, would require a lot of thought when speaking and not writing. Then again, it's only a minor change, and English is still the number one language for ridiculous rules in my eyes. 

Cheers, I'm a novice-intermediate with Korean, learning it to take a teaching job in Korea next year. I'm a really systematic learner when it comes to language, I really need to know and understand the rules and the grammar more than anything to progress, and I always have a natural interest in the etymology of words and rules, and the 'Why' of the words and rules. With Romance languages and Ancient Greek it's much easier than a completely foreign alphabet for me. But I'm getting there


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## Superhero1

I explain the rule based on the structure of the character, but it is unwittingly used simply because the change of 을/를 is comfortable to pronounce. 

If you have any question, ask on the forum at any time. Cheers mate.


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## wonlon

DaCorinium said:


> What is the significance or purpose of '을' to the grammar of a sentence, for example "나는 의자 을 사랑합니다"? (Yes, I tend to come up with some unique examples).
> 
> Is it possible to say this sentence without '을'?



When the noun before it ends with
a consonant: use 을
e.g 당신을
a vowel: use ㅡ를
e.g. 의자를

을/를 is *one *thing, a marker of direct object, but has *two *forms.

As I know, it is a matter of harmony of pronunciation, to avoid too many consonants coming together in a syllable (in this way, some linguists say that Japanese and Italian are the most good-sounding languages in the world, e.g. " script" doesn't sound good to the ear, but  soda sounds good). I haven't heard of the  word-structure explanation of Superhero, maybe it is another way to explain this grammar which I am still to learn. 

And you *MUST *know that 당신을 is pronounced as dang- si -*neul*[단시*늘*], not dang-sin-*eul* .  The ㄴ is moved to replace the latter ㅇ *when pronounced*.

The same goes for the postposition 이/가 (and many other cases, too):
When the noun before it ends with
a consonant: use 이
e.g 당신이 (pronounced [당시니])
a vowel: use 가
e.g. 의자가


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