Particles 에 and 에서

What You Will Learn in This Unit

You will learn to tell apart the particle 에, which marks place and time, and the particle 에서, which marks the place where an action occurs or the starting point of a movement. You will learn how 에 is used with 가다 (to go), 오다 (to come), 있다 (to exist, to be), and 없다 (to not exist), and how 에서 is used with action verbs. You will also organize the criteria for choosing between the two particles. The example sentences in this unit show verbs in their dictionary form. The method for changing them to the 해요 style is covered in Unit 25.

The Particle 에 for Place

The particle 에 attaches to a noun and indicates the place a movement goes toward or the place where something exists. Its form is the same whether the noun ends in a final consonant or not. You only need to remember that words with a final consonant, such as '집' (house), and words without one, such as '학교' (school), are used in the same way.

With 가다 and 오다, 에 marks the place where the movement ends, that is, the destination. With 있다 and 없다, 에 marks the place where a person or thing is located. Since 있다 and 없다 describe existence rather than action, use 에 after a place and never 에서.

The Particle 에 for Time

The particle 에 also attaches to nouns that indicate time. Words that name a fixed time, such as 요일 (day of the week), 아침 (morning), 저녁 (evening), and 주말 (weekend), belong to this group.

• 월요일에 만나다. — Meet on Monday.
• 아침에 일어나다. — Get up in the morning.
• 주말에 쉬다. — Rest on the weekend.

오늘 (today), 내일 (tomorrow), 지금 (now), and 어제 (yesterday) indicate time but do not take 에. These words already refer to a point in time by themselves, so adding 에 after them creates an incorrect expression. Use them as in 오늘 학교에 가다 (go to school today) and 지금 일하다 (work now).

The Particle 에서 for the Place of an Action and the Starting Point

The particle 에서 attaches to a noun and expresses two meanings. First, it marks the place where a person performs an action. It is used with verbs that describe behavior, such as 공부하다 (to study), 먹다 (to eat), and 만나다 (to meet), and it shows where the action takes place. Second, it marks a starting point. It is used with 출발하다 (to depart), 오다 (to come), and 가다 (to go) to show the point from which someone leaves.