11.3.1. 마다 Each, Every
- 아침마다 학교 수영장에서 수영을 합니다.
I swim in the school swimming pool every morning.
- 일요일마다 서점들이 문을 닫습니다.
Every Sunday the bookstores close.
- 날마다 여덟시부터 열시까지 아르바이트하러 갑니다.
Every day I go to do my part-time job from 8 till 10.
With time expressions, 마다 is more normally expressed in English by the indefinite article a(n): 날마다 여덟 시간 [every day eight hours =] eight hours a day. (But to say three days a week 한 주일에 사흘 is more natural than 주일마다 사흘.)
11.3.2. 만 Only, Just
The particle 만 restricts the noun expression it follows. It limits the meaning of the noun to no more than what is specified:
- 이것만 있습니다.
[There is only this =]
This is all there is.
- 저만 갑니다.
[Only I am going =] I’m the only one who’s going.
When 만 follows a noun, the particles 이/가, 은/는, and 을/를 are not normally used with the same expression:
- 사과만 있습니다.
There are only apples.
- 유니스씨만 압니다.
Only Eunice knows.
- 요즘 공부만 합니다.
Lately all I do is study.
But occasionally you will run across such combinations as 만이, 만을 and 만은. And 만 may be used at the end of other noun-plus-particle expressions, as follows:
- 우체국에만 갑니다.
I’m going only to the post office.
- 한국말로만 하십시오.
Speak only in Korean.
- 공원에서만 산보를 합니다.
I only take walks in the park.
- 에릭씨한테만 이야기했습니다.
I only told Eric.
When 만 is used in sentences with numerical expressions, its meaning is to limit the amount to what is specified.
- 두 시간만 공부했습니다.
I studied for two hours. [만 limits the time to two hours: Two hours is the length of time I studied. I studied for two hours but not longer.]
- 책 열 권만 샀습니다.
I bought ten books. [만 indicates that ten is exactly the number of books bought.]
In this latter sense, 만 represents a shade of meaning which usually goes unexpressed in English; it contrasts in meaning with the particle 쯤, discussed in section 11.3.4 below.
11.3.3. 씩 Per, Apiece
The particle 씩 is one which expresses an idea not often made explicit in English. It has a distributive function or expresses the idea of regularity. When in English we would say I study for three hours per night, Korean says the equivalent of Every night I study [three hours per]. In other words, the distributive particle goes on the expression of time or quantity, not as in English. Take a look at the following sentence:
- 밤마다 여덟 시간씩 잡니다.
[Every night I sleep 8 hours each=] I sleep 8 hours a night.
씩 is used at the end of numerical expressions, but it refers back to some other element in the sentence. This may be a subject or object; it may be a time expression generalized with 마다. It would be on this item of the sentence that we would add per in English. You would not use this particle to say Yesterday I studied for three hours, since there is no regularity about that (you would use 세 시간 동안 for a duration of 3 hours). But it is used in the following examples where there is the idea of regularity:
- 여자친구랑 날마다 세 시간씩 전화로 이야기합니다.I speak on the phone with my girlfriend three hours every day.
- 은행에서 날마다 몇 시간씩 일을 하십니까?How many hours [apiece] a day do you work at the bank?
It is also used in a sense more like the English, when the dominant idea is more literal distribution. The next sentence should illustrate this:
- 학생들한테 책 한 권씩 줬습니다.
I gave the students one book each (apiece).
11.3.4. 쯤 About, Approximately, By
The particle 쯤 is used with time expressions. When the time expression refers to a point in time, 쯤 means at about [that time]:
- 몇시 쯤(에) (at) about what time?
- 열 시반 쯤(에) (at) about ten-thirty
With expressions referring to duration of time, 쯤 means by (that time) or for about (that length of time).
- 네 시간쯤 (for) about four hours
한… about, approximately used at the beginning of a numerical expression has the same meaning as 쯤 at the end of it, as in:
- 한 열 명 있습니다. = 열 명쯤 있습니다. There are about ten people.
Be careful not to confuse this 한…, which is always followed by a numerical expression, with 한… the short form of 하나 one which is always followed by a noun or a counter. Note also that 한…, cannot be used with 언제: *한 언제, vs. the acceptable언제쯤? Approximately when?
한… about, approximately is often used in combination with a particle of the same meaning, reinforcing the imprecise character of the expression:
- 어젯밤에 한 이십 명쯤 왔습니다. About twenty people were here (came) last night.
- 한 두시쯤 저희 집에 오십시오. Please come to our house about two o’clock.