만: Only — and Why 밖에 Needs a Negative Verb

만 means only, just. It behaves almost exactly like 도 — which makes it easy if you have met that one already.

It replaces the particle

저는 갔어요.   →  저만 갔어요.     ✅  Only I went.
              →  저는만 갔어요.   ❌

은/는 vs 이/가, 이/가 and 을/를 all drop out when 만 arrives. Same as 도.

And the same exception

Particles that carry meaning of their own survive, and 만 attaches after them:

• 집에만 있었어요 — I stayed only at home.
• 친구한테만 말했어요 — I told only my friend.
• 회사에서만 써요 — I use it only at work.

The rule is identical to 도: role-marking particles get replaced, meaning-carrying ones do not. Learn it once, apply it to both.

The near-synonym that flips the verb

밖에 also means “only” — and it requires a negative verb.

물만 있어요.     ✅  There's only water.
물밖에 없어요.   ✅  There's only water.
물밖에 있어요.   ❌

Literally, 밖에 means outside of. 물밖에 없어요 says “outside of water, there is nothing” — which is why the verb has to be negative. Once you see the literal reading it stops being arbitrary.

There is also a small difference in feel:

만 원만 있어요 — I have just ten thousand won. (neutral)
만 원밖에 없어요 — I’ve only got ten thousand won. (…and that’s not much)

밖에 carries a faint note of insufficiency. 만 is neutral about whether the amount is enough.

Attaching it to verbs

Through -기만 하다:

동생은 먹기만 해요. — All my brother does is eat.
보기만 했어요. — I only looked. (didn’t buy)

This one usually carries a complaint, or at least an implication that something else should have been happening too.

Words you will use every day

Some fixed expressions are just a word plus 만, and they are worth taking whole:

잠깐만요 is the standout. It works as wait, hold on and excuse me depending on tone, and you will hear it dozens of times a day in Korea. In a shop, 이것만 주세요 — “just this one, please” — will get you through most transactions.