에 vs 에서, 을/를, (으)로 — the particles after the subject

Where the action happens, what it happens to, who receives it, and how. The families you need once 은/는 vs 이/가 is settled.

에 vs 에서 — the one that costs the most

English uses at, in and from for all of this, so nothing in your sentence tells you which Korean particle to pick. The split is not about the place — it is about whether the place is the setting of the activity or its target. Usually that lines up with “is the verb an action?”, but not always.

집에 있어요.	I'm at home — existence, so 에
학교에 가요.	I go to school — destination, so 에
학교에서 공부해요.	I study at school — an action happens there, so 에서
~~학교에 공부해요.~~	✗ — 공부하다 is an action; it needs 에서
서울에서 왔어요.	I came from Seoul — origin is also 에서

에 also marks time — 3시에, 월요일에. But 오늘 · 어제 · 지금 · 언제 take no 에: 오늘 만나요, not ~~오늘에 만나요~~. Other particles are fine on them — 오늘은, 오늘도.

을/를 — and when Koreans drop it

을 after a consonant, 를 after a vowel. It marks the object, and in casual speech it is dropped constantly — which is why you hear far less of it than you read.

밥을 먹어요.	I eat — written or careful speech
밥 먹었어?	Did you eat? — the particle is gone, and this is normal
뭐를 봐요? / 뭐 봐?	What are you watching? — same sentence, two registers

Dropping it is safe when the sentence is short and the meaning is obvious. Keep it when the word order moves — Korean lets you shuffle the pieces, and the particle is the only thing telling the listener which noun is the object. See 은/는 vs 이/가 for the verbs that demand 을/를 where English uses no preposition at all.

(으)로 — direction, means, material

One particle covers three jobs English splits across toward, with/by and out of. 으로 after a consonant, 로 after a vowel — and also after ㄹ.

학교로 가요.	heading toward school — 에 says the destination, 로 the direction
젓가락으로 먹어요.	eat with chopsticks
한국어로 말해요.	speak in Korean
나무로 만들었어요.	made out of wood
지하철로 왔어요.	came by subway — ㄹ ending takes 로, not ~~지하철으로~~

에게 · 한테 · 께 — giving it to someone

All three mean to (a person). 한테 is what you say, 에게 is what you write, 께 is the honorific.

친구한테 줬어요.	gave it to a friend — spoken
친구에게 줬어요.	same, written
선생님께 드렸어요.	gave it to the teacher — 께 pairs with 드리다
학교에 보냈어요.	sent it to the school — not a person, so 에

That last line is the trap: 한테/에게 are for people and animals; 께 is for people you are honouring. Places and organisations take 에.

도 · 만 · 부터 · 까지

도 (also) replaces 이/가 and 을/를 rather than stacking with them, and 만 (only) usually does too — though 만이 and 만을 both exist when the sentence leans on the exclusion. Both stack freely on 에·에서.

저도 가요.	I'm going too — 저 + 도, with no 가 in between
물만 마셔요.	I only drink water
학교에도 갔어요.	I went to school as well — 에 + 도 is fine

부터 and 까지 are from and until. The trap is the starting point: time starts with 부터, place starts with 에서.

9시부터 5시까지	from 9 to 5 — time
서울에서 부산까지	from Seoul to Busan — place
~~서울부터 부산까지~~	for a journey this sounds off — use 에서
여기부터 저기까지	from here to there — fine, you're counting through, not travelling

The line to hold is travel vs enumeration, not time vs place. When you move between two points, the origin takes 에서. When you run through a series — seats, pages, exercises — 부터 is normal even though the items sit in space.

How to make it stick

Particles are one syllable, unstressed, and often swallowed — you will not pick them up by reading. The way in is to hear the same noun with different particles until the pair sounds wrong when swapped: 집에 있어요 against 집에서 먹어요.

The sets below are spoken sentences, short enough that a single particle carries the whole difference. That is exactly the material this needs.