이/그/저 + noun and whose it is

Pointing with the noun spelled out

Take the 것 away from 이것, 그것, 저것 and you are left with the three pointing words 이, 그, 저, which sit directly in front of any noun: 이 책 this book, 그 사람 that person near you, 저 건물 that building over there. There is a space between the pointer and the noun. The distances are exactly the ones you learned: 이 is mine, 그 is yours or already known, 저 is far from both.

Whose is it: 누구 거, 제, 우리, 의

Possession is a particle, 의, placed after the owner: 친구의 책 my friend's book. It is pronounced 에, and in speech it is dropped whenever the meaning is clear: 친구 책. The humble my has its own short form, 제 (from 저의), and Koreans say 우리 our for things that are shared or felt as shared – 우리 집, 우리 학교, even 우리 어머니. To ask whose something is: 누구 거예요? – literally whose thing is it? – and the answer is owner plus 거: 제 거예요, 친구 거예요.

이 우산은 누구 거예요?Whose umbrella is this?

그 모자는 제 거예요That hat is mine.