-에게

Overview

-에게 is a case marker particle in Korean that indicates the recipient or target of an action. It is primarily used with nouns referring to people or animals.

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Usage

This particle functions as an indirect object marker, specifying the entity that receives the benefit or impact of a verb's action. It answers the question "to whom?" or "for whom?". It is commonly used with verbs such as:

• 주다 (to give)
• 보내다 (to send)
• 말하다 (to speak/tell)
• 가르치다 (to teach)
• 질문하다 (to ask a question)
• 쓰다 (to write)

It highlights the person or animal that is the beneficiary or receiver of the action, making the sentence clear about who is being affected.

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Conjugation Rules

-에게 is straightforward to use as it attaches directly to nouns that represent people or animals. There are no special conjugation rules based on the preceding noun's ending (vowel or consonant).

Noun (person/animal) + 에게

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Knowledge Plus

• -한테 vs. -에게: While -에게 is grammatically correct and often used in writing or more formal speech, -한테 carries the exact same meaning and is much more common in everyday spoken Korean. Learners should be familiar with both.
• -께: This is the honorific equivalent of -에게 and -한테. It is used when the recipient of the action is someone of higher status or age, requiring respectful language.
• Inanimate Objects: When the target of an action is an inanimate object or a place, the particle -에 is used instead of -에게. For example, 학교에 가다 (to go to school), 책상에 놓다 (to put on the desk).
• Passive Voice: -에게 can also be used in some passive constructions to indicate by whom an action was performed, though -에 의해(서) is more common for this specific nuance.