Place and Time Particles — 에 and 에서

The particle 에 marks a destination, the place where something exists, and a point in time. The particle 에서 marks the place where an action happens, and it also means "from" a place. A simple rule: movement or existence uses 에, and an action in a place uses 에서.

1. Why learn this

Almost every daily sentence says where something happens or when. You go to school, you study at the library, you meet a friend on Saturday. Place and time particles let you say all of this clearly.

Korean puts a small particle after the noun to show its job. English uses words such as to, at, in and from, but Korean uses 에 and 에서 instead. The same English word "at" can be 에 or 에서, so you need to learn which one fits. The good news is that the choice is easy once you look at the verb. Ask yourself one question: is the verb about going or being, or is it an action? That one question solves most sentences.