만
only, just
Cuts everything else out of the picture. One form for every noun, and it sits in the same slot as 도 — the two are exact opposites.
Build it
Pick a noun
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
| Situation | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Any noun | 만 — no change | 저만 / 물만 |
| Replaces 이/가 | or keeps it | 저만 / 저만이 (formal) |
| Replaces 을/를 | or keeps it | 물만 / 물만을 (written) |
| After 에, 에서, 한테 | stacks on | 집에서만 |
| With numbers | just, merely | 하나만 주세요 |
| Never with 은/는, 도 | one or the other | 저만 — not 저는만, not 저도만 |
In use
저는 물만 마셔요.
I drink only water.
주말에는 집에서만 쉬어요.
On weekends I rest at home and nowhere else.
하나만 더 주시겠어요?
Could I have just one more?
교실에 학생 두 명만 남았어요.
Only two students were left in the classroom.
저만 몰랐던 것 같아요.
It seems I was the only one who didn’t know.
조금만 기다려 주세요.
Please wait just a moment.
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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