"A man speaks English well."
Translation:남자는 영어를 잘합니다.
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I wrote "남자가 영어를 잘합니다", shouldn't it be accepted too? /// EDIT: 3 months later and this alternate translation still hasn't been added :/ I reported it so many times already
Well I think that's because "THE man" is "남자가" which makes it more specific while "남자는" is "A man" which isn't specific to which is being referred to. But please feel free to correct me when I'm wrong and anyways I'm also still learning so I'm not quite sure and I also need some feedbacking.
Shouldn't they seperate 잘 which means well in the sentence when making up sentences? It'd be easier to understand seperate words this way.
Yes and no. Here they're emphasizing that something is done well, which is why I think they decided to put the two together. Technically, this sentence can be written completely together without change in meaning, i.e.:
남자는영어를잘합니다
But I do agree with you, it would be easier to decipher for beginners to the language.
The thing is: we should learn the grammar too. If they separate when it should be together, it can make the learning harder
so is jalhamnida the verb for doing something well, not just specific to speaking? also, everything in korean so far has been consistent with japanese grammar, so i was expecting the particle to be yongoGA, not yongorul. Any native insight here?
You should download a Korean keyboard xD
To answer your question, yes "잘하다" is the verb that means "To do (smth) well".
In terms of Japanese and Korean grammar:
이/가 are subject marking particles and 을/를 are object marking particles, which I believe would be respectively wa for subjects in Japanese, and wo for objects (correct me if I'm wrong please). So, if you said:
남자는 영어가 잘 합니다 - As for the man, the English does well
and if you say:
남자는 영어를 잘 합니다 - As for the man, the English is done well
The idea is the same as in English, whatever is doing the verb is the subject, and whatever is receiving the action of the verb is the object. In Korean and Japanese, and many other languages, whatever the overall arching idea of the sentence or conversation is, is the topic. For instance, if you're talking about a woman for a few minutes, and then shift gears and start talking about another woman, you would use 은/는:
Sample:
A: 와! 저 여자가 참 예쁘네요!
B: 네 그렇죠! 그런데 저의 옆에 있는 아내는 더 예쁜 것 같아요.
What a good spouse ^^
Noun + 을/를 잘하다 means to do 'noun' well. In this case English language. -가 is subject marker. You need an object marker here.
As far as i have understood, ~으로 means 'with' so 영어를 will simply mean 'English' and 영어으로 will mean 'with English'.
For example, the translation of 남자는 영어를 잘합니다 will be 'A man's English is good.' Or 'The man has good English.' Whereas the translation for 남자는 영어으로 잘합니다 will translate to something like 'A man does good with English.'
Hope this helps. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me. Have a nice day :D
For the most part you're spot on with the idea of the particle. I'll add three things to help too!
First, just want to point out that "~으로" is with words that have a final consonant, and "~로" is for words without, or words ending with "ㄹ". So:
영어로, 공원으로, 메시지로, 길로
The second thing I'll add is that 로 is a very diverse particle. Its meaning at a basic level is to show how or by what way something has been done. Possible translations may include by, to, through, via, with, etc. So for instance, if I wanted to say I went home using my car (as opposed to walking), I'd say:
나는 차로 집에 갔어요.
Or if I wanted to say I use English when idk someone's native language:
저는 상대방의 모국어를 모르면 영어로 말해요.
(These English and Korean sentences are not literal translations of each other, just an fyi. I can give more detailed examples, just reply and ask ^^)
And finally, 남자는 영어로 잘 합니다 isn't correct, even though it seems like it should be for us English natives. I forget the exact reason why, but I think it has something to do with the fact there's no object in the sentence for 잘하다 to latch on to. At any rate, while ppl may understand what you're trying to say, it technically makes no sense.
Hope that helps too!
In this instance, they use 하다 to describe the ability of a person doing a skill.
한국어 is the Korean language.
When the language is the direct object: 저는 한국어를 해요. (I speak Korean).
When the language is a tool: 나는 한국어로 책을 쓴다. (I write books in Korean.)
Add only 로 because the word ends in a vowel 어. But if the word ends in a consonant, use 으로.
