A topic in a Korean sentence (i.e., a phrase ending with the particle 은/는 ) is most often a noun or noun phrase. But it may also be another particle phrase ? an expression of time, place, manner and so on ? such as 아침에 in the morning, 학교에서 from (or at) school, 펜으로 with a pen, 연필로 with a pencil, etc. When such a phrase becomes a topic, the result is a sequence (or string) of particles, the last one being the topic particle 은/는:
- 아침에는 커피를 마셔요.
In the mornings, I drink coffee (compared to what I do the rest of the day). - 학교에서는 야구를 해요.
At school, we play baseball. (Talking about what happens at school. . . we play baseball there). - 자전거로는 못 가요.
You can’t go [there] by bike. (Talking about going by bike. . . you can’t go there that way). - A. 매일 어머니한테서는 편지를 받아요.
I get a letter every day from my mother [but not from other relatives, by contrast].
B. 아버지한테서는 안 받아요?
Don’t you get one from your father?
Particles which do not enter into sequences with 도 or with 은/는 are 이/가 the subject particle and 을/를 the direct-object particle:
- A. 한국말을 가르쳐요?
Do you teach Korean?
B. 아니오, 한국말은 김 선생님이 가르치세요.
–No, its Mr. Kim who teaches Korean. (Do you teach Korean? ? No, if it’s Korean, Mr. Kim (is the one who) teaches it.) - A. 밤에는 무엇을 해요?
What do you do in the evenings?
B. 노래를 불러요.
I sing songs.
A. 편지는 안 써요?
How about letters: don’t you write (any)?
Similarly, 도 appears INSTEAD OF 이/가 or 을/를, not in combination with them:
- A. 개가 있어요?
Have you a dog?
B. 네, 있어요.
Yes, I have.
A. 고양이도 있어요?
Have you a cat, too? - A. 야구를 좋아해요.
I like baseball.
B. 수영도 좋아해요?
Do you like swimming, too?
This means that some sentences with NOUN은/는 and NOUN 도 are ambiguous, like sentences in which the subject (이/가) or direct object (을/를) particle is dropped. Ambiguity can usually be cleared up by marking either the subject or the object with what remains understood as the unmarked one; but it is not possible in Korean to specify the subject or object and at the same time mark it with 은/는 or 도.