은/는 marks the topic of a sentence—the thing you're talking about or contrasting. It sets the frame for what follows.
Introducing a topic — "As for X..." or "Speaking of X..."
Contrast — Implying "X (but not Y)" or comparing two things
General statements — Facts or characteristics about the topic
Use 은 after a consonant (학생은), 는 after a vowel (저는).
See examples below for varied real-world usage.
은/는 ≠ subject marker — It marks topic, not grammatical subject. "저는 머리가 아파요" = "As for me, (my) head hurts"
Implies contrast — "저는 학생이에요" can imply "I am a student (but maybe you're not)"
Not used with question words — Say "뭐가 좋아요?" not "뭐는 좋아요?"
First mention vs known info — New information often uses 이/가, known topics use 은/는
The weather today (topic) is nice.
Korean (as for) is fun.
This book (topic) is difficult.
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