을/를

RuleNoun + eul/reul: marks the object of a verb (accusative). After a consonant use eul; after a vowel use reul.

Curiosity

Korean word order is subject-object-verb (SOV). With the verb sitting at the very end, how do you know which noun is the object?

Intuition

Because word order is flexible, eul/reul tags a noun as "the thing the action lands on." Thanks to the tag, the role survives even if you move the noun around.

Visualization

See which form attaches to a consonant-final noun (bap) versus a vowel-final one (keopi): bap → bap-eul, keopi → keopi-reul.

Roleobject (accusative)

ends in a consonant밥rice / meal

ends in a vowel커피coffee

Essence

eul/reul marks the object of a transitive verb. It is often dropped in casual speech (bap meogeosseo? — "did you eat?"), but kept when clarifying the target or in writing. The batchim rule is the same logic as i/ga and eun/neun.

Examples

밥을 먹어요.

I eat (a meal).

커피를 마셔요.

I drink coffee.

한국어를 공부해요.

I study Korean.

Mini-quiz

"bap__ meogeoyo." (I eat a meal) — which object particle fits?