밖에 means Outside. 안/ 몾/ 없다/ 모르다 this kind of negative sentence can be used after the Korean grammar particle 밖에.
N 밖에 = Only, nothing but + negative verb
밖에 grammar meaning
밖 means outside/ exterior and 에 means location marking particle. ~밖에 can be used as “beside and ‘apart from’ or ‘outside’. 밖에 is generally used with the verb ‘없다’.
밖에 expresses only thing or option available, with no possibility of anything else. 밖에 is always followed by a negative expression, but 밖에 cannot be followed by 아니다 and it can not be followed by imperative or propositive forms.
김 진우는 학생밖에 아니에요. This is the wrong sentence because 아니에요 can not be used after the particle 밖에.
whenever you use 밖에 the verb has to be negative. IN other words, negative expressions come after the ‘Noun-밖에’. Positive expressions’ cannot be used after Noun-밖에. Lets see an example-
‘냉장고에 소주밖에 없어요.’ There’s only soju in the fridge. ‘없어요’ is a negative expression.
‘냉장고에 소주밖에 있어요.’ This is the wrong sentence. 있어요 can not be used after a positive sentence.
밖에 corresponds to only or nothing but in English. The word that comes before 밖에 has the connotation of being very small or few in numbers, and a negative form must follow it.
선물을 한 개밖에 못 받았어요. I only received one present/ gift.
음식이 조금 밖에 없어요. There is only a little food left.
비행기 시간이 30분 밖에 안남았어요. There are only 30 minutes left on the flight.
10분밖에 안 남았어요. There are only 10 minutes remaining.
방에 선풍기 밖에 없어요. There is only a fan in the room.
만 grammar meaning
Korean particles 밖에 and 만 have similar meanings, but 만 can be used in both positive and negative sentences and 밖에 is used in negative sentences only. Let’s elaborate by example sentences-
교실에 선생님만 있어요. The only teacher is in the classroom.
교실에 선생님만 없어요. Everyone but the teacher is in the classroom.
교실에 선생님밖에 있어요. This is the wrong sentence. Because positive word (있어요) can not be used after 밖에.
교실에 선생님밖에 없어요. Only the teacher is in the classroom.
밖에 grammar VS 만 grammar
Let’s learn the difference from example sentences.
언니는 공부밖에 몰라요. My sister only cares about studying.
집에 엄마 만 있어요. Only mom is at home.
집에 엄마 만 없어요. Only mom is not at home.
학교 까지 10분 밖에 안 걸려요. It only takes 10 minutes to get to the school.
어제 커피를 많이 마셔서 한 시간밖에 몾 잤어요. Because I drank the coffee a lot yesterday I couldn’t sleep more than an hour.
나 한테는 너 밖에 없어. The only thing I have is you.
사과가 한개밖에 안남았어요. There is only one apple left.
냉장고에 우유 밖에 없어요. There is nothing but milk in the refrigerator.
학생들이 2명밖에 안 왔어요. Only two students came.
그 돈으로는 닭 고기 한 마리밖에 못사요. You can only buy one chicken with that money.
음식이 조금밖에 없어요. There’s only a little food.
한국어는 ‘안녕하세요’밖에 몰라요. I only know “Hello” in Korean.
