Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Eedoryeong]

(DISCLAIMER: Okay, the search engine sucks and I'm tired of searching for the language thread. So please, no whines about 'you should put it in the language thread!' thanks.)


Man, it just never gets easier to find a competent, rock-solid reliable explanation of the subject markers 이/가 and the contrastive markers 은/는

Can someone who knows them cold please help me with the following?

I was trying to make a website reference showing nine sentences mixing use of subject markers against contrastive markers in the same sentence.

The good news is most people seem to have agreed about sentences 1-5, and 7-8.

The bad news is Koreans who have pointed out problems with sentence 6 and 9 don't seem to agree with each other. One person says just using '은/는' is best, and two other Koreans, one a doctor and another a language teacher, disagree with the first Korean, and with each other.

Immediately below are the sentences in contention:

6. 토니는 아프지만, 내가 괜찮습니다.
(as in, 토니는 아프지만 presumably(지금은) 내가 괜찮습니다.)

9. 내가 괜찮지만, 토니는 아픕니다.

I think I may have figured out that the reason that 내가 is acceptable, is because the phrase 지금은 is implied and dropped (and holds the necessary contrastive marker to make the comparison) but I'm not sure.

Can somebody who knows help me clear this up?

Below is the original (apparently flawed) demonstration
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My Korean language coach and I had a go at comparing contrastive and topic markers for the same sentence. He tried to point out the Korean sentences with correct use of topic/contrast markers, and the incorrect counterparts. (Answers below)

"I'm sick but Tony's alright."
1. 나는 아프지만, 토니가 괜찮습니다.
2. 내가 아프지만, 토니가 괜찮습니다.
3. 내가 아프지만, 토니는 괜찮습니다.

"Tony's sick but I'm alright."
4. 토니가 아프지만, 나는 괜찮습니다.
5. 토니는 아프지만, 나는 괜찮습니다.
6. 토니는 아프지만, 내가 괜찮습니다.

"I'm alright but Tony's sick."
7. 내가 괜찮지만, 토니가 아픕니다.
8. 나는 괜찮지만, 토니가 아픕니다.
9. 내가 괜찮지만, 토니는 아픕니다.

ANSWERS:

1. correct 2. incorrect 3. correct
4. correct 5. correct 6. incorrect
7. incorrect 8. correct 9. incorrect

[billybrobby]

I have a book that explains it completely.

This book also explains when to use 'a' and 'the' and where to find unicorns. I'll let you borrow it sometime.

[Eedoryeong]

[billybrobby]

[samd]

[Eedoryeong]

[aka Dave]

My Korean textbook gives a poor, vague description of the difference.

It says the subject marker 이/가 usually but not always marks the subject of the predicate at the end of the sentence.

When a noun or pronoun functions as a topic
then 은/는 is used.

The first is the "subject marker" the latter is the "topic marker".

What's the difference? Not really sure. It is important to note that when you're changing topics, my Korean friends noted you always use 은/는 .

From a "communicative" point of view I wouldn't be too stressed about it. Tolerate ambiguity and build your communicative skills, don't sweat the details too much.

[billybrobby]