안녕하세요! Today we’re covering 들 — the Korean plural particle. It’s a bit different from the English “s” plural because in Korean, you often don’t need to mark plurality at all — context usually does the job. But when you want to be specific or emphatic about something being plural, 들 is your go-to!
How to make plurals in Korean?
NOUN + 들
To make a noun plural in Korean, you simply add 들 after it. But here’s the key thing: 들 is optional! In most Korean sentences, the context makes it clear whether something is singular or plural. You add 들 when you want to emphasize or be specific about plurality.
- 사과 (sagwa) – Apple
- 사과들 (sagwadeul) – Apples
Here, ‘들’ emphasizes that there are multiple apples. In Korean, nouns without ‘들’ can also be interpreted as plural depending on the context, making the use of ‘들’ somewhat optional.
| Korean singular | Korean plural | English singular | English plural |
| 사람 | 사람들 | Person | People |
| 남자 | 남자들 | Man | Men |
| 여자 | 여자들 | Woman | Women |
| 오빠 | 오빠들 | Older brother | Older brothers |
| 학생 | 학생들 | Student | Students |
| 선생님 | 선생님들 | Teacher | Teachers |
| 가수 | 가수들 | Singer | Singers |
Please note that Korean language is based on context a lot and therefore sometimes, especially when speaking, the speaker can choose to omit the particle “들” if it is obvious that there is more than one apple. So it is really mainly used if you want to emphasize that there is more than one. And even then, it is really only used when referring to people or living things—it’s rarely used for objects.
Also, there is no irregularity here (unlike English) so you will be happy to know that to make plural in Korean is fairly straightforward.
Examples
오늘 사람 많아요. – There are a lot of people today.
In this case, even if you do not use the particle 들, it is quite clear from the sentence that you are referring to more than one person. Otherwise it wouldn’t make any sense.
지금 차가 너무 많아요. – There are a lot of cars now/There is a lot of traffic.
This sentence also refers to more than one car and it is perfectly clear from the sentence.
Like I have mentioned, Koreans do not really add the plural particle to objects but lets look at some examples.
오늘 사과 샀어요. – I bought apples today.
Saying 오늘 사과들 샀어요 does not sound very natural and again, its more likely that people buy more than one apple.
However, if you want to emphasize that you have bought only ONE apple, you can say.
오늘 사과 한 개 샀어요. – I bought one apple today.
Or, to emphasize you have bought more than one, you can say;
오늘 사과 몇 개 샀어요. – I bought some apples today.
Activity 1
Look at the following sentences and try to guess whether it might be just one or more the sentences are referring to.
- 검퓨터를 샀어요.
- 어제 그 여자 봤어요.
- 사과 주세요.
Answers
- 검퓨터를 샀어요. – I bought a computer.
In this case, I am pretty sure it will be just one computer unless you are in an IT department buying computers for the rest of the office staff. But, either way, you will know from the context of the conversation.
- 어제 그 여자 봤어요. – I saw that woman yesterday.
This sentence is also likely to refer to just one woman but it is more ambiguous than the last one. Since its a person we are referring to, in case the speaker feels the need to emphasize it was more than one woman, they can say 여자들.
- 사과 주세요. – Please give me apples.
It’s more likely for someone to buy more than one apple so I feel like in this sentence, it would be apples. Imagine you are at the supermarket and are asking for some apples — “사과 10 개 주세요” (please give me 10 apples). Also explore related particles: 의 (Possessive Particle), 와/과 (And/With), and 도 (Also/Too).