Two new particles enter my knowledge base of Korean language. For the past days my posts have been related to numbers and so it’s just timing to learn some particles that somehow relates to numbers, frequency, counting or limiting.
Let’s take the first particle first called 마다 (mada) which is equivalent to each/every. So when you want to say ‘every morning’ its 아침마다 (achim.mada) or if ‘everyday’ its 날마다 (nal.mada). However, when used in a time expression, this particle takes the function of article a(n). For example saying 날마다 삼십 분 (nalmada samship pun) would mean 30 minutes a day.
The second particle is 만 (man) which can either mean only or just. It’s actually a particle that restricts the noun expression it follows. Now I know why one of my favorite Korean songs is translated as ‘Look Only at Me’ and sometimes ‘Just look at me’, the title in Korean is 나만 바라봐 (Naman Parabwa). When a noun is followed by this particle, the subject particle 이~가 and 을~를 is not normally used. For example:
연필만 있어요 (Yonpil issoyo) would mean – There are only pencils, it’s unusual to say 연필을 있어요 (Yonpireul issoyo). Another application would be expressing ‘doing the same thing’ as in ‘Lately all I do is study’. In Korean, this is expressed as 요즘 공부만 해요 (Yojum gongbuman haeyo). This particle can also be used with a proper noun (as in persons name) or korean pronoun equivalent (as in 나, 저, etc.) In cases you want to say ‘Only Jane knows’, this can be expressed as 제인 씨만 알아요 (Jane sshiman arayo).
As i usually mention when discussing particles, these form part of the word so the pronunciation is seamless or without a pause.
It Started with Hangul 