The Case Particle 「에서」

The case particle 에서 is a one-form particle and is used to express two things: (1) the dynamic location, or (2) the source of action.

the dynamic location

A dynamic location refers to the place where an action takes place. Consider the following sentence:

Notice that 학교 식당(the school cafeteria) is a dynamic location, where the action takes place. In fact, the use of the particle 에서 is determined by the type of verb the sentence has. Whenever the verb denotes an activity such as playing, doing, meeting, working, studying, and so forth, 에서 must be used. Here are more examples:

In the first sentence above, the particle 에서 is used, since the school is the dynamic location where the action is taking place. The use of 에 in this context would be ungrammatical.

the source of action

Second, the particle 에서 marks a source of action, corresponding to “from” in English. Consider the following examples:

Notice that the sources of action above are all inanimate entities. If the sources of actions are animate such as persons and animals, different particles such as 한테서 or 에게서 should be used.

* 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 「에」
- The Case particle 「와/과, (이)랑, 하고」
- The Case particle 「한테, 에게, 께」
- The Case particle 「한테서, 에게서」
Particles Part.3 (Special Particles)

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