LinguaThree distances instead of two
English points with two words, this and that. Korean uses three, and the third one matters. 이것 is the thing near me, the speaker. 그것 is the thing near you, the listener – or a thing we both already know about. 저것 is the thing away from both of us, the one we would point at across the room. All three end in 것, the noun thing, so 이것 is literally this thing.
Asking and answering: 이것이 뭐예요?
To ask what a thing is, put the subject particle 이 on 것 and add 뭐예요: 이것이 뭐예요? The answer names the thing with the copula: 책이에요. In speech 것 shrinks to 거, and the three words become 이거, 그거, 저거; 이것이 becomes 이게, and the topic form 이것은 becomes 이건. Written Korean keeps the long forms; spoken Korean almost always uses the short ones, and both are correct.
| Near | Written | Spoken |
|---|---|---|
| me | 이것 | 이거 |
| you | 그것 | 그거 |
| neither of us | 저것 | 저거 |
이것이 뭐예요?What is this?
그거는 가방이에요That is a bag.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 이것 | this (thing) | 이것은 우산이에요 This is an umbrella. |
| 그것 | that (thing near you) | 그것은 뭐예요? What is that? |
| 저것 | that (thing over there) | 저것은 시계예요 That over there is a clock. |
| 이거 | this (spoken) | 이거 주세요 This one, please. |
| 책 | book | 책이 없어요 There is no book. |
| 가방 | bag | 가방이 커요 The bag is big. |
| 연필 | pencil | 연필이 아니에요, 펜이에요 It is not a pencil, it is a pen. |
| 시계 | clock, watch | 시계가 비싸요 The watch is expensive. |
| 우산 | umbrella | 우산이 있어요? Do you have an umbrella? |
| 휴대폰 | mobile phone | 휴대폰이 없어요 I do not have my phone. |
Exercises
This lesson has 11 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 4
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 2
- translate the sentence: 1
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which word points to a thing near the listener?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.