I heard my older sister knocking on my door in Korean 🇰🇷

Sentence info.

Word-by-word breakdown:

1. 언니가 (eonni-ga)
  • 언니 means “older sister” (used when the speaker is female).
  • -가 is the subject marker.

2. 제 (je)
  • 제 is the humble form of “my.”

3. 문을 (mun-eul)
  • 문 means “door.”
  • -을 is the object marker.

4. 두드리는 (dudeurineun)
  • 두드리다 means “to knock.”
  • -는 turns the verb into a relative clause modifying the following noun (“sound”), meaning “knocking” (as an adjective).

5. 소리를 (sorireul)
  • 소리 means “sound.”
  • -를 is the object marker.

6. 들었어요 (deureosseoyo)
  • 들다 means “to hear.”
  • 들었어요 is the past tense, polite form meaning “heard.”

Combined literal translation:
“Older sister (subject) my door (object) knocking (modifier) sound (object) heard.”
Smoothly in English: “I heard the sound of my older sister knocking on my door.”

Tips for remembering:
• Note the role of particles: -가 marks the subject (언니가) while -을/를 mark objects (문을, 소리를).
• The -는 ending in 두드리는 shows that the clause “knocking” is describing “sound.”
• Remember that 제 is a humble form of “my” used in polite speech.

Alternate ways to express the sentence:
• 언니가 제 문을 두드리는 걸 들었어요.
  (Here, 걸 [contraction of 것을] replaces 소리를, making it “I heard my older sister knocking on my door.”)

• 제 문을 두드리는 언니의 소리를 들었어요.
  (This places the focus on “the sound of my sister knocking on my door.”)

• 나는 언니가 제 문을 두드리는 소리를 들었어요.
  (Adds the subject marker 나는, meaning “I,” for emphasis.)

Romanizations for each alternative are similar to the breakdown above.

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