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조사
jo-sa
investigation
경찰이 사건을 조사하고 있다.
The police are investigating the case.
formal
A formal or systematic examination or inquiry to discover facts or information.
정부는 새로운 정책의 효과를 조사했다.
The government investigated the effects of the new policy.
연구자들은 데이터를 철저히 조사했다.
The researchers thoroughly examined the data.
Often used in legal, scientific, or official contexts.
linguistics
A grammatical particle in Korean that marks the syntactic role of a noun phrase (e.g., subject, object, topic).
‘이 책’을 ‘읽다’의 목적어로 조사 ‘을’이 쓰인다.
The particle ‘을’ is used as the object marker for ‘이 책’ in ‘읽다’ (to read).
Also called a case marker or postposition in Korean grammar.
Related Phrases
Pro Tip
Distinguishing meanings by context
If the word appears in a sentence about crime, policy, or research, it likely refers to an investigation. If it’s in a grammar-focused context (e.g., with verbs like ‘쓰다’ or ‘사용하다’), it’s the grammatical particle.
Gold Rule
Grammatical 조사 vs. Investigation 조사
Grammatical 조사 (e.g., ‘은/는’, ‘이/가’) is always attached to nouns and marks their role in the sentence. Investigation 조사 is a standalone noun meaning ‘investigation’ or ‘examination.’
Word Origin
From Middle Korean 조ᄉᆞᆯ (josol, ‘investigation’), derived from the verb 조사하다 (josahada, ‘to investigate’). The grammatical sense emerged in the 20th century as Korean linguists formalized the language's case system.
Usage Notes
In everyday speech, ‘조사’ often implies a thorough or official inquiry. For casual checking, ‘확인’ (confirmation) or ‘검토’ (review) may be used instead.
Word Breakdown
조사
investigation/examination
root한영사전