Learn 20+ Useful Korean Prepositions Easily

Ling Learn Languages
5 min readDec 11, 2021

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Original blog post: https://ling-app.com/ko/korean-prepositions/

Are you interested in learning all of the Korean prepositions? Do you know some prepositions but cannot make sentences with more? Do your sentences always feel incomplete because you have not used the proper prepositions? Well, if that’s the case, then worry no more. In this blog, we will walk you through all the essential Korean prepositions you need to know and use while making sentences, so let the learning begin. 시작 (sijag)!!!

Korean Language

Korean is the official language of South Korea and North Korea. It is a language of Asian heritage and is quite different from languages of Latin origin, for instance, English. Many people want to learn Korean because of K-pop and K-dramas. K-pop engages youth from all over the world in creative ways.

Different brands upload vlogs regularly, and a lot of effort is put into the direction and composition of the vlogs and songs to make them creative and appealing to people. The Korean language sounds different, but it becomes easier to study the language once the basics are learned.

Korean Grammar

Grammar in Korean is relatively different from English in its sentence structure and the words in a sentence. There are different rules for other words, but the basic sentence structure in Korean follows the SOV (Subject-object-verb) order.

Korean Prepositions

Prepositions refer to the words/ phrases that connect different nouns within a sentence. For instance, in the sentence “The cat is on the table,” the cat and the tables are nouns, and the word “on” provides a connection between both and is a preposition. Preposition tells about the position of a noun if it’s under, over, above, or beneath, etc.

Instead of using the word prepositions in Korean, “postposition” is used. This is because these specific words are used after the words to change them. The word “pre” means “before,” and the word “post” refers to “after” in English. As the words are placed in front of the other words, they are called Postpositions in Korean. Prepositions are called 조사 (josa) in Korean.

Like English prepositions, Korean prepositions link nouns, pronouns, and other phrases. Korean phrases are slightly different from English phrases. The preposition for three words (세 단어) cannot be found in English. The same is the case with the postposition for two words (두 단어).

Example

The sentence “cat is on the table” is “고양이가 테이블 위에 있다.” In this sentence, 고양이가 refers to the cat, 테이블 means table, 위에 is the word for the preposition “on” in Korean and 있다 refers to the state of being. Since the word describing the cat is placed after the table therefore it is called a postposition.

“위에 보다 많은” (wi e bo da manh eun) means “more than /above.” Two phrases can be taken out of this 보다 많은 (bo da manh eun) and 보다 위에 (bo da wie), which more or less means the same thing.

Object Of Preposition

There are different words as well as phrases which each preposition introduces. Those are called the objects of prepositions.

Example

Taking the same example as mentioned above, “table” will be the object of a preposition. In the phrase “테이블 위에” the postposition is used after the object of a preposition.

“에 대한/에 관한 — e dae han e gwan han” are the prepositions for “about.” The sentence 생활에 관한 학문적 자료 means “Academic data on life.” The postposition 에 관한 (on/ about) is placed after the object of prepositions, i.e., 생활 (life).

Some Korean Prepositions

Check the table below to get a complete list of all the Korean prepositions.

K-Pop Corner

The easiest way to learn Korean is by watching Korean dramas and music videos by K-pop. There are different words that can be learned from those songs to form sentences. Here is a table for you with prepositions used in songs so that you can learn while having fun:

Wrapping Up

I hope by now you must be able to make Korean sentences using prepositions in Korean. You can use these prepositions in your everyday conversation. If you want to speak Korean like a native, then make sure to check out blogs on Ling App by Simya Solutions. We also have a blog for How To Ask Questions In Korean and Directions In Korean.

Ling App has countless ways of learning Korean and other languages. You can take any course and get access to outstanding lessons. Every lesson is carefully designed and compiled by professional native speakers to provide the most accurate information.

Happy Learning!

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