만

Build it

When to use it

만 restricts. 물만 주세요 asks for water and nothing else. Unlike 도, it needs no earlier context — you can open a conversation with it.

It usually pushes out 이/가 and 을/를, but unlike 도 it can also keep them: 물만을 마셨어요 is grammatical, more emphatic, and mostly confined to writing. In speech, drop them.

Two things share the shape but are not this particle. -기만 하다 means “do nothing but,” and 한 시간 만에 means “after an interval of an hour.” Neither means “only” in the sense here.

How to attach it

In use

1. 저는 물만 마셔요.

   I drink only water.

2. 한 사람만 왔어요.

   Only one person came.

3. 주말에만 운동해요.

   I only exercise at the weekend.

4. 동생은 게임만 해요.

   My younger sibling does nothing but play games.

5. 이것만 주세요.

   Just this one, please.

6. 십 분만 기다려 주세요.

   Please wait just ten minutes.

Compared with

• 도

  Same slot, opposite job. 도 folds the noun in with everything else; 만 cuts everything else away. Swapping one for the other reverses the meaning without touching the rest of the sentence.

  저도 갈게요. (I’ll go too)  /  저만 갈게요. (only I will go)

• 밖에

  밖에 also means “only,” but it demands a negative verb and carries a note of regret — the amount is less than hoped. 만 is neutral.

  물만 있어요. (there is water, and that is what we have)  /  물밖에 없어요. (there is nothing but water — not enough)

• -기만 하다

  Attached to a verb stem rather than a noun, this means the subject does one thing and nothing more, often with a hint of complaint.

  동생은 먹기만 해요. (my brother does nothing but eat)  /  밥만 먹어요. (I eat only rice)

Watch out

• 저는만 갈게요.

  저만 갈게요.

  만 cannot combine with 은/는 or 도. Pick one. It does stack after 에, 에서, and 한테.

• 물만 없어요.

  물밖에 없어요.

  If you mean “there is nothing but water,” use 밖에 with a negative. 물만 없어요 says the opposite: water is the one thing missing.

• 한 시간만에 끝났어요.

  한 시간 만에 끝났어요.

  This 만 is a different word meaning “after an interval of,” and it is written with a space. The particle 만 attaches directly with no space.

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