Lal_la Korean

In Korean, asking “To whom is she making a phone call?” or “From whom is she receiving the phone call?” involves specific particles attached to the noun. Here’s a detailed explanation:

Asking “To Whom”

We say “누구한테 전화해요?” or “누구에게 전화해요?”, which means “To whom are you making a phone call?” The particles ‘한테‘ and ‘에게‘ are attached to a noun that denotes a person or animal to indicate the target of the subject’s action. The meanings of ‘에게‘ and ‘한테‘ correspond to the preposition “to (someone)” in English. They are used with verbs such as 주다 (to give), 보내다 (to send), 전화하다 (to make a phone call), and 선물하다 (to give a gift, to present).

When the target of the action is an honorific subject, such as an elderly person or a senior, ‘한테‘ and ‘에게‘ become ‘께‘. Additionally, ‘드리다‘ is used instead of the verb ‘주다‘, as it is the honorific form of ‘주다‘ when the recipient is an honorific subject.

Examples:

• 친구에게 이 꽃을 줄 거예요. (I am going to give this flower to my friend.)
• 할머니께 이 꽃을 드릴 거예요. (I am going to give this flower to my grandmother.)
• 동생한테 모자를 선물했어요. (I gave a hat to my younger sibling.)
• 부모님께 모자를 선물했어요. (I gave a hat to my parents.)
• 친구에게 편지를 써요. (I write a letter to my friend.)
• 선생님께 편지를 써요. (I write a letter to my teacher.)

Asking “From Whom”

On the other hand, we say “누구한테서 전화를 받아요?” or “누구에게서 전화를 받아요?”, which means “From whom are you receiving a phone call?” The particles ‘한테서‘ and ‘에게서‘ are attached to a noun that denotes a person or animal to indicate the source or starting point of an action. The meanings of ‘에게서‘ and ‘한테서‘correspond to the preposition “from (someone)” in English. They are used with verbs such as 받다 (to receive).

When the source of the action is an honorific subject, such as an elderly person or a senior, ‘한테서‘ and ‘에게서‘become ‘께‘.

Examples:

• 친구에게서 이 꽃을 받았어요. (I received this flower from my friend.)
• 할머니께 이 꽃을 받았어요. (I received this flower from my grandmother.)
• 동생한테서 편지를 받았어요. (I received a letter from my younger sibling.)
• 부모님께 편지를 받았어요. (I received a letter from my parents.)

Note on Interchanging Particles

However, it is very common to interchange 한테/에게 with “from someone” instead of 한테서/에게서. In these cases, the meaning can be differentiated according to the verbs, as shown in the examples above.

Conclusion

The particles ‘에게’ and ‘한테’ are broadly attached to a noun denoting a person and indicate both the target of the subject’s action and the starting point of an action, corresponding to “to someone” and “from someone” in English. Whether it means “to someone” or “from someone” depends on the verb used.

• ‘에게’/’한테’: Generally means “to someone” but can sometimes mean “from someone” depending on the verb.
• ‘에게서’/’한테서’: Specifically means “from someone.”

If the recipient or the source is an honorific subject, such as the elderly, ‘께’ should be used instead of ‘에게’/’한테’ or ‘에게서’/’한테서’