에게한테께 grammar

에게 한테 께 grammar lesson

Today, we’re going to learn ‘Noun-에게/한테/께’. ‘Noun- 에게/한테/께’ indicates the preceding nouns is affected by an action. ‘에게/한테/께’ attach with the noun which should be people or animals. It is a particle and it indicates the preceding noun is affected by an action.

‘에게’is used more in written Korean but it is also used in spoken Korean. Whereas, ‘한테’ is more often used in spoken Korean. ‘께’ is the honorific form of ‘에게’ and ‘한테’. It is used to honor the preceding noun.

Let’s look at some examples.

‘제가 친구에게 전화해요.’ I’m calling my friend.

‘I’m calling’ Who am I calling?

–  I’m calling ‘my friend.’

The noun ‘친구 (friend) is followed by’에게’. So, it indicates the person who I’m calling is ‘my friend.’

Let’s look at how today’s grammar is used in these phrases.

누구한테 전화해요?”  who are you calling?

친구에게 전화하고 있어요. I’m calling my friend. Naun is calling her friend.

‘누구한테, 친구에게’ are used in this examples.  누구 + 한테, 친구 + 에게.

에게 한테 께 Examples

Let’s look at some examples.
‘제가 동생에게 선물을 줘요.’ I give a present to my younger brother/sister.
‘I give a present.’ Who do I give a present to?
= I give a present ‘to my younger brother/sister.’
The noun ‘동생 (younger brother/sister) is followed by ‘에게.’
So, it indicates that the person who I give a present to is ‘my younger brother/sister.’
And here you can use ‘한테’ instead of ‘에게.’ So you can say: ‘제가 친구한테 전화해요.’ I’m calling my friend.
‘제가 동생한테 선물을 줘요.’ I give a present to my younger brother/sister.

‘에게’ can be used both written and spoken Korean.
‘한테’ is used more often in spoken Korean. And there is no final consonant in the preceding noun.
The final consonant of the preceding noun has no role in the use of ‘에게’ and ‘한테’. It means 에게 and 한테 are used without considering at final consonant of the preceding noun.

Now let’s look at ‘Noun-께.’

As I said, ‘께’ is the honorific form of ‘에게’ and ‘한테.’ It is used to honor the preceding noun. Here is another example-
‘친구에게 전화해요.’ I’m calling my friend.
But if the recipient is’할머니 (grandmother)’ how would you say it?
You can say ‘할머니께 전화 드려요. (I’m calling my grandmother.)
‘께’ is used to honor the grandmother.

Let’s look at another example.

‘동생한테 선물을 줘요.’ I give a present to my younger brother/sister.
This time the recipient is’선생님 (teacher).’
How would you say it?
‘선생님께 선물을 드려요. (I give a present to my teacher.)
Likewise, ‘께’ is used to honor the teacher. And whether there is a final consonant in the preceding noun or not both cases, ‘께’ is used.

내일이 할머니 생신이에요.” Tomorrow is my grandmother’s birthday.
“할머니께 무엇을 선물하면 좋을까요?” What kind of present should I give to my grandmother?
글쎄요. Well. “할머니께 스카프를 선물하는 건 어때요?” Why don’t you give a scarf to your grandmother?

이 숙제 누구한테 줘요?” whom do I give this homework?
저에게 주세요. Please give it to me.
제가 모아서 선생님께 드릴게요. I’ll collect and give them to our teacher.
Here ‘누구한테, 저에게’ and ‘선생님께’ are the grammar that we’ve learned.

에게 한테 께 Grammar Practice

Let’s practice by looking at some more example sentences.

‘나중에, 저, 전화 주세요.’ (Later, me, please call)
How would you say it?
나중에 (later) ‘저에게 (me)’ or ‘저한테 (me)’ 전화 주세요 (call).
‘나중에 저에게 전화 주세요.’ Please call me later.
‘나중에 저한테 전화 주세요.’ Please call me later.

‘이 책은, 선생님, 드릴 거예요’ ‘This book, teacher, will give’
How would you say it?
이 책은 (this book) 선생님께 드릴 거예요. (I will give it to my teacher)
‘께’ is used to honor ‘선생님 (teacher)’
‘이 책은 선생님께 드릴 거예요.’ I will give this book to my teacher.

‘누나는, 강아지, 밥을 주고 있어요’ ‘My older sister, a dog, is feeding’
How would you say it?
누나는 (My older sister) 강아지에게 (to a dog) or 강아지한테 (to a dog) 밥을 주고 있어요 (is feeding).
‘누나는 강아지에게 밥을 주고 있어요.’ My older sister is feeding the dog.
‘누나는 강아지한테 밥을 주고 있어요.’ My older sister is feeding the dog.

에게 한테 께 Summary

에게한테께 grammar

Let’s summarise the combination information.

is used only for someone of higher rank.

한테 is more for spoken language.

에게  is more for written but people also use it while speaking.

Whether there is a final consonant in the preceding noun or not ‘에게/한테/께’ are used. So, you can say ‘동생에게, 동생한테, 선생님.

Lets look at some examples.

친구에게 메일을 보냈어요.I sent a mail to my friend.

사장님 말했습니다.I said to my boss.

여자 친구 에게/한테 연락을  했어요.I contacted (to) my girlfriend.

동생한테 전화를 했습니다.I called (to) my brother.

‘친구에게, 친구한테, 할머니께’

How was today’s grammar? If you have any questions, please leave a comment.