에게서 한테서 from a Person: Meaning, Rules and Examples

What you'll learn

• Attach 에게서 or 한테서 to a person noun to mark the source.
• Drop the 서 after receiving verbs such as 받다, 배우다 and 듣다.
• Separate a person source (에게서) from a place source (에서).
• Recognise the formal and honorific forms 로부터 and 께로부터.

Before you start: you should know the 에게 한테 께 indirect object particles and the location particle 에서. Time: about 25 minutes.

What Does 에게서 한테서 from a Person Mean?

The pair 에게서 and 한테서 means "from" when the source is a person or an animal. The source is the starting point of what moves: the one who gives, sends, calls, tells or teaches. English says "from" for places and people alike, but Korean uses a different particle for each.

The 서 here is usually explained as a shortened 에서, the same 서 heard in 여기서. It joins 에게 or 한테 and turns "to" (the receiver) into "from" (the source). That is why this lesson comes right after the one on 에게 한테 께 indirect object particles: you learn the "to" particle first and add 서 to reverse the direction.

A First Example

Listen to the two sentences at normal speed, then slowly.

1. 친구에게서 선물을 받았어요. (chinguegeseo seonmureul badasseoyo) "I received a present from my friend."

Pronunciation: [친구에게서 선무를 바다써요]. The ㄹ of 물 links to the next syllable, and the ㄷ of 받 links forward in 받았어요, which sounds like 바다써요.

2. 엄마한테서 전화가 왔어요. (eommahanteseo jeonhwaga wasseoyo) "A phone call came from my mother."

Pronunciation: [엄마한테서 전화가 와써요]. Here the word 전화 is the subject of 왔어요, so it takes 가. The sentence says what came and from whom.

Both sentences name a person at the start and a movement toward "me" at the end. The next section shows how to build this pattern.

How Do You Form 에게서 and 한테서?

Add 서 to 에게 or 한테, and attach the result straight after a person or animal noun. The spelling never changes, whether the noun ends in a consonant or a vowel.

For a teacher or an elder, the respectful options are 께 or the formal 께로부터, covered below.

With pronouns. The particles attach to pronouns in the same way: 나한테서, 너한테서, 저한테서. In writing, 나에게서 sometimes appears as 내게서, and 저에게서 as 제게서.

With other particles. 에게서 and 한테서 take 는, 도 and 만 after them: 친구에게서는 연락이 없어요 ("From my friend, there is no news"), 엄마한테서도 왔어요 ("From mom too").

How Do You Say "I Got a Present from My Friend"?

To say "I got a present from my friend", mark the giver with 에게서 or 한테서, the present with 을/를, and finish with a verb of receiving. Follow the five steps.

1. Find the three parts. The receiver is "I" (can be dropped), the source is the friend (친구), and the thing is the present (선물).
2. Check the direction. The friend is where the present started, so the friend is the source, not the receiver.
3. Attach the source particle. 친구 + 에게서 = 친구에게서. In conversation, use 한테서.
4. Mark the present. 선물 ends in a consonant, so the object particle is 을: 선물을. See the object particle 을/를 for the rule.
5. Choose the verb. 받다 (receive) in the past polite form is 받았어요. The full sentence is 친구에게서 선물을 받았어요.

You'll know it worked when the sentence has a source particle, an object and a verb of receiving. Common mistake at this step: using the giving verb 주다 with 에게서. Then the friend becomes the doer, not the source: 친구가 줬어요 ("My friend gave it") or 친구에게 줬어요 ("I gave it to my friend").

When Can You Drop the 서?

With verbs of receiving, learning and hearing, speakers often drop the 서, and the shorter 에게 or 한테 is also correct. The verb already tells the listener that the person is the source.

The shortened form is very common in speech, and many learners meet it first. It does not work with every verb. With 오다 (come), the 서 stays: 엄마한테서 전화가 왔어요 is natural, while 엄마한테 전화가 왔어요 can be read as "a call came to mom". The giving verbs never take the source particle: 친구에게서 줬어요 is not correct.

The same rule gives you a test. If the verb says that something arrives to you from someone, 서 is optional. If the verb is neutral about direction, such as 오다, keep 서 so that the listener knows who the source is. Next, compare this pair with the other "from" particles.

How Do the "from" Particles Differ?

Korean has several common ways to say "from", and the type of source decides among them. The table compares them.

Three differences stand out.

Person vs place. 한국에서 and 친구에게서 both mean "from", but a person is never a place. 회사에서 연락이 왔어요 ("The company got in touch") uses 에서 because the company is an organization. See the lesson on 에게 vs 에 for the same split with receivers.

Formal register. In reports, news and official letters, 로부터 and 께로부터 replace 에게서 and 한테서. The (으)로부터 form follows the same rule as the (으)로 particle: 으로부터 after a consonant, 로부터 after a vowel or ㄹ.

Time and order. The particle 부터 is about the start of a time or an order, not about who gives. 월요일부터 means "from Monday", and 친구부터 means "starting with my friend".

The next section covers the situations where these rules bend.

How Do You Ask Who the Source Is?

To ask who something came from, put a question word in front of the source particle. The question word 누구 ("who") works with both forms, and the answer repeats the particle.

Two points stand out. First, the question for a place uses 어디에서 (or the spoken short form 어디서), not 누구에게서, so the choice of particle begins with the choice of question word. Second, the answer can drop the question word and keep only the particle with the noun: 친구에게서요 ("From my friend"). In everyday talk, many speakers drop the whole phrase and answer with the noun alone: 친구요.

The respectful answer to a question about a teacher uses 께, as in 선생님께 배웠어요. The question itself usually stays neutral, because you ask about the person without raising them in the question.

When Do You Use 에게서 and 한테서, and When Not?

Use 에게서 or 한테서 when a person or animal is the source of something that moves toward the speaker or another person. Skip them in the following cases.

• Places and organizations. Use 에서: 학교에서 연락이 왔어요.
• A starting place of a trip. Use 에서: 부산에서 출발했어요.
• The receiver of a gift. Use 에게 or 한테 without 서: 친구에게 줬어요.
• A respected person. Use 께 for the source in speech (선생님께 배웠어요 is common) or 께로부터 in formal writing.
• The subject of the sentence. If a person does an action, use 이/가 or 은/는: 친구가 선물을 줬어요 ("My friend gave me a present") is the simplest way to say the same thing without a source particle.

Tone. 한테서 is warm and natural between friends and family. In an email to a manager, 에게서 or the formal 로부터 sounds more suitable.

Honest limit of this lesson: it covers the A2 uses. The verb ending -아서/어서 ("because, and then"), as in 아파서 ("because I am sick"), looks similar but is a separate grammar point and is not covered here.

With the cases mapped, the next section lists the errors that learners make most often.

Common Mistakes with 에게서 한테서

Five mistakes cover most errors. Each follows the pattern "learners often assume X, but actually Y, because Z."

1. Using 에서 for a person. Learners often write 친구에서 받았어요. Actually 에서 marks places and organizations, so a person needs 에게서 or 한테서: 친구에게서 받았어요.
2. Using 에게서 with a giving verb. Learners often write 친구에게서 줬어요 to mean "I gave it to my friend". Actually the friend is the receiver there, so use 에게 or 한테: 친구에게 줬어요.
3. Using 에게서 for an organization. Learners often write 회사에게서 연락이 왔어요. Actually an organization takes 에서: 회사에서 연락이 왔어요.
4. Dropping 서 with 오다. Learners often write 엄마한테 전화가 왔어요 for "Mom called me". Actually the short form makes the sentence ambiguous, and the clear form is 엄마한테서 전화가 왔어요.
5. Using 한테서 in formal writing. Learners often write 한테서 in a report. Actually 한테서 is spoken, so a written text should use 에게서 or 로부터.

If you want to check the roles in your own sentences, run them through the particle highlighter in the practice set.

Practice and Answers

Do all four items before you check the answers. Each answer has audio, normal and slow.

1. Choose the form. 형(에게서/에서) 책을 빌렸어요. ("I borrowed a book from my older brother.")
2. Fix the error. 친구에서 소식을 들었어요. (The speaker wants to say "I heard the news from my friend".)
3. Translate. "I learned Korean from my teacher." Use 께 and the verb 배우다 in the past.
4. Write your own. Write one sentence about a call, a message or a gift that came from someone you know, using 한테서 and 오다.

Answer Key

1. 형에게서 책을 빌렸어요. (hyeongegeseo chaegeul billyeosseoyo) A brother is a person, so use 에게서 (or 한테서). Pronounced [형에게서 채글 빌려써요].

2. 친구에게서 소식을 들었어요. (chinguegeseo sosigeul deureosseoyo) A friend is a person, so use 에게서. 한테서 and the short form 친구에게 are also correct. Pronounced [친구에게서 소시글 드러써요].

3. 선생님께 한국어를 배웠어요. (seonsaengnimkke hangugeoreul baewosseoyo) A teacher deserves respect, so use 께. Pronounced [선생님께 한구거를 배워써요].

4. Sample answer: 언니한테서 문자가 왔어요. (eonnihanteseo munjaga wasseoyo) "A text message came from my older sister." Pronounced [언니한테서 문짜가 와써요]. Any person with 한테서 and 오다 is right.

If a sentence went wrong, ask "is the person giving or receiving?" before you choose again. Then continue with the next lessons.

Next Lessons and Where to Go from Here

After the 에게서 한테서 from a person pattern, the best next step is the particle for direction and means. Read (으)로 particle next, because 로부터 uses it. If the receiver forms still feel shaky, return to 에게 vs 에 or to the 에게 한테 께 indirect object particles lesson. For the place version of "from", read the location particle 에서 lesson.

To practise, take the grammar quizzes. This page uses Revised Romanization only as a learning aid; the Hangul is the reference. In short, the 에게서 한테서 from a person pattern follows one test: if a person is the source, use 에게서 or 한테서, and if a place or organization is the source, use 에서.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Does 에게서/한테서 Mean?

에게서 and 한테서 mean "from" when the source is a person or an animal. They mark who a gift, a message, a phone call or a lesson comes from: 친구에게서 선물을 받았어요 ("I got a present from my friend"). 에게서 is neutral and 한테서 is the spoken version.

How Do I Form 에게서/한테서?

Add 서 to the receiver particles. 에게 plus 서 gives 에게서, and 한테 plus 서 gives 한테서. Write the person noun first and attach the particle without any change for a final consonant: 친구에게서, 엄마한테서. The spelling is the same after every noun.

What Is the Most Common Mistake with 에게서/한테서?

Learners use 에서 for a person, as in 친구에서 받았어요. 에서 marks places and organizations, not individuals. For a person, use 친구에게서 or 친구한테서. The second common error is using 에게서 with a giving verb such as 주다, where the person is the receiver.

How Is 에게서/한테서 Different from Similar Forms?

에게서 and 한테서 mark a person as the source. 에서 marks a place or an organization as the source. 에게 and 한테 mark the receiver. 께로부터 is the formal, honorific form for a respected source. 부터 marks the start of a time or an order, not a person who gives.

Do I Use 에게서/한테서 in Speech, Writing or Both?

Both. 한테서 is common in conversation and 에게서 in writing and neutral speech. With receiving verbs like 받다 or 배우다, speakers often shorten the particle to 에게 or 한테, and the sentence stays correct. In formal writing, 로부터 and 께로부터 are also used.