X 이에요/예요 — to be (polite)
Korean's 'to be' for identification is 이다 (ida), but you almost never say it in that bare form. The polite ending -요 turns it into 이에요 after a consonant and 예요 after a vowel — these are what you actually say. The topic of the sentence usually wears the particle 은/는. So 'I'm a student' is 저는 학생이에요 — literally 'as for me, [I] student-am'. Korean is SOV (Subject-Object-Verb), and the verb almost always lands at the end.
이에요 vs 예요 — pick by the last sound
If the noun ends in a consonant, attach 이에요: 학생이에요 (haksaeng-ieyo, am a student), 선생님이에요 (am a teacher). If it ends in a vowel, attach 예요: 저예요 (jeoyeyo, it's me), 친구예요 (chinguyeyo, am a friend). It's pure phonetics — the rule keeps the word easy to say. In casual speech you'd hear -야 / -이야 instead, but stick with the polite forms while you're a learner.
은 vs 는 — the topic particle
Mark the topic — usually 'the thing we're talking about' — with 은 after a consonant, 는 after a vowel. 저 (I) ends in a vowel, so 'as for me' is 저는. 이름 (name) ends in a consonant, so 'as for the name' is 이름은. The topic isn't always the grammatical subject; it's the framing. Often translated 'as for X' or just dropped in English.
Asking someone's name
이름이 뭐예요? — 'What is (your) name?' Literally 'name-[subject] what-is?'. The word 이름 = name, 뭐 = what, and 예요 because 뭐 ends in a vowel. To answer, drop 저는 and the noun + 이에요/예요: 저는 민수예요 (I'm Minsu) or just 민수예요 (I'm Minsu — pronoun dropped, very common in Korean). Names ending in a consonant take 이에요: 저는 민준이에요.
Pronouns are quietly omitted
Korean drops the subject when context is clear, much more than English does. Once you've said 저는 학생이에요 once, follow-ups can just be 선생님이에요 ('[I'm] a teacher') if context shifts. Don't pile pronouns into every sentence — it sounds robotic. Use 저 (the polite 'I') only when you need to introduce or contrast yourself.
The polite -요 ending, in two seconds
Almost every verb ending you'll learn at A1 ends in -요. That's the politeness flag. Strip it off and you get blunt casual speech, which is rude with strangers. Add it back and you're safe in any everyday situation. The two greetings from lesson 1 (안녕 vs 안녕하세요) are the same pattern: -요 = polite.
