The Case Particle 「에」

The case particle 에 is a one-form particle that expresses four things: (1) the static location, (2) the goal of the action(destination), (3) times, and (4) quantity.

Static Location

First, the particle 에 marks the static location, corresponding to “in", “at” or “on” in English. The static location refers to the place where something is(being), at or in. For instance, consider the following sentence:

The 집(home) is a static location, where Susan is. Here are more examples.

Notice that all the location nouns above are marked by the particle 에, since they are all static locations.

Goal of the Action

Second, the particle 에 expresses the goal of the action(inanimate objects or destinations), corresponding to “to” or “at’ in English. Consider the following sentences:

Notice that the goals of the actions marked by the particle 에 are all inanimate objects. In addition, when the particle is used with motion verbs like 가다(go), 오다(come), and 도착하다(arrive), the particle indicates a destination.
If the goal of the action is animate, the different particles, such as 한테 and 에게, are used.

Times

Third, the particle 에 marks the time noun, corresponding to “at”, “in”, or “on” in English.

One should be careful not to use the particle with all time nouns, since certain time nouns, such as 어제(yesterday), 오늘(today), and 내일(tomorrow), do not take the particle 에. Consequently, a sentence like "내일에 스타벅스에서 만나요(Let us meet at Starbucks tomorrow)" is unacceptable due to the use of particle 에.

Quantity

Lastly, the particle 에 is used to mean “for” or “per”, as in “per day”.

* Click to read related posts.
Grammar for Beginners
Particles Part.1 (What are the particles in Korean)
Particles Part.2 (Case Particles)
- The Subject Case Particle 「이/가」
- The Direct Object Particle 「을/를」
- The Case particle 「(으)로」
- The Case particle 「의」
- The Case particle 「와/과, (이)랑, 하고」
- The Case particle 「에서」
- The Case particle 「한테, 에게, 께」
- The Case particle 「한테서, 에게서」

Particles Part.3 (Special Particles)

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