To And From Someone 한테 / 한테서

In this lesson, you will learn how 한테 / 한테서 to say ‘to/from (someone)’. In English, you might say “I gave a gift to my girlfriend.” or “I received a gift from my boyfriend.” When saying sentences like these in Korean, the following structures are used:

1. Noun + 한테 = to someone
2. Noun + 한테서 = from someone

Please note that the noun that precedes 한테 / 한테서 must be a person or animal. These expressions can not be used with objects or places.

1. Noun + 한테

This structure is used in spoken language when you want to say ‘to’ someone or another living thing. Let’s look at some examples:
저한테 [jeo-han-te] = to me
동현 씨한테 [dong-hyeon ssi-han-te] = to Donghyun
친구한테 [chin-gu-han-te] = to a friend
누구한테 [nu-gu-han-te] = to whom

2. Noun + 한테서

This structure is used in spoken language when you want to say ‘from’ someone or another living thing. Let’s look at some examples:
저한테서 [jeo-han-te-seo] = from me
동현 씨한테서 [dong-hyeon ssi-han-te-seo] = from Donghyun
친구한테서 [chin-gu-han-te-seo] = from a friend
누구한테서 [nu-gu-han-te-seo] = from whom

*Sometimes, Korean people drop the 서 from 한테서 in spoken language, especially when it is clear from the context that you are saying ‘from’.

Similar Particles

In written language, there are two other particles that are used when saying ‘to’ or ‘from’ someone which are ~에게 and ~에게서. As these particles are typically only used in written language, it is much more common to use ~한테 and ~한테서 in spoken language.

Example Sentences

Here are some example sentences using 한테 and 한테서:

English	Korean	Listen
A friend gave a birthday present to me.	친구가 저한테 생일 선물을 줬어요.
I got a birthday present from a friend.	친구한테서 생일 선물을 받았어요.
The teacher teaches English to the students.	선생님이 학생들한테 영어를 가르쳐요.
The students learn English from the teacher.	학생들이 선생님한테서 영어를 배워요.
My sister made a telephone call to me.	언니가 저한테 전화를 했어요.
I got a telephone call from my sister.	언니한테서 전화를 받았어요.

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