Plural marker '-들' in Korean: Do Koreans not care about plural at all?

- Author: Niya, Trinidad and Tobago
- Editor: Good Job Korean team 

 Usage To today's revision Plural marker 들

You probably wonder whether Koreans care whether a noun is singular or plural.

The plural marker for Korean is -들. You can just add it after a noun. For example ‘사람’ is a person and ‘사람들’ is people.  

However, its usage differs from that of English, such as the plural "s.". English is very specific with respect to numbers in that when there is more than one item, the item must be marked by the plural "S."

However, Korean nouns are not specific about their number. In other words, the Korean language does not have a grammatical category of numbers.

For instance, "one student" in Korean is *한 학생, and "five students" is *다섯 학생. Notice that the noun 학생 "student" does not undergo any change in form. (you can also add ‘들’ like ‘다섯 학생들’ but not necessary!)

*한: from '하나' which is 'one' in native Korean numbers
*다섯: five in native Korean numbers

Consider the following sentence 의자하고 책상이 있어요. The translation of this sentence can be fourfold, as shown.

1) I have a chair and a desk.
2) I have some chairs and a desk.
3) I have a chair and some desks.
4) I have some chairs and some desks.

You may wonder then when 들 is used. Koreans optionally add 들 to the noun when they want to emphasize the plurality of the nouns they are referring to.

For instance, 학생이 와요 may mean "a student comes" and also mean "some students come." However, Koreans can optionally add 들 as 학생들이 와요 "students come," if they wish to emphasize the plurality of 학생.

Koreans use 들 for other cases too, such as adding the marker not only to the noun but also to pronouns. For instance, although it may sound redundant, Koreans can add 들 to 우리 "we," as in 우리들 "we." Notice that 우리 is already plural. Again, such usage is for adding emphasis.

Here are more examples so please take a look for a better understanding

1) 저는 여러 가지 취미들이 있어요. 

I have many sorts of hobbies.

*여러: many (adjective) / *가지: sort /*취미: hobby

2) 나무들 사이에 다람쥐가 숨어있어요.

A squirrel hides in between trees.

*나무: tree / *사이에/: in between *다람쥐: squirrel

3) 많은 사람들이 의진 씨를 기다리고 있어요. 

A lot of people are waiting for Euijin.

*많은: a lot, many (adjective)/*사람: person, people/*기다리다: to wait

4) 여러분들 지금부터 조용히 해주세요.

Ladies and gentlemen, please be quiet from now on.

*여러분: Everyone, you guys (polite) / *지금부터: from now on/ *조용히 하다: to make it quiet

 - Author: Niya, Trinidad and Tobago
- Editor: Good Job Korean team