이·그·저 (this · that · that over there) and 여기·거기·저기 (here · there · over there)

What This Unit Covers

You can choose a word from the 이, 그, 저 series depending on how far the thing is from the speaker and the listener. You can use 이것 (this one), 그것 (that one), 저것 (that one over there) and their short forms in the right places, and you can distinguish 이 사람 (this person) from 이분 (this person, honorific) when referring to a person. You can use 여기 (here), 거기 (there), 저기 (over there) to refer to places and 어디 (where) to ask about a place.

Distance Between the Speaker and the Listener

Korean divides words for referring to things according to whether the thing is near the speaker, near the listener, or far from both of them. A thing near the speaker is referred to as '이' (this), a thing near the listener as '그' (that), and a thing far from both as '저' (that over there). This standard applies equally to things, people, and places.

Since the three are compared on the same standard, the table below summarizes them.

'이', '그', '저' are determiners that are followed by a noun and modify it. '이것', '그것', '저것' are pronouns that are used alone in a sentence in place of a noun. Since a determiner must be followed by a noun, write them as '이 책', '그 책', '저 책'.

이것·그것·저것 (this one · that one · that one over there) and Their Short Forms

'이것', '그것', '저것' are pronouns that refer to things. In speech, '이것이' is often shortened to '이게', '그것이' to '그게', and '저것이' to '저게'. In addition, '이것', '그것', '저것' can each be shortened to '이거', '그거', '저거'.

'이것', '그것', '저것' end in the consonant 'ㅅ' with no following vowel, so they are read [이걷], [그걷], [저걷]. When the particle '은' follows, the 'ㅅ' moves to the next syllable, so '이것은' is read [이거슨] and '그것은' is read [그거슨]. When the particle '이' follows, '이것이' is read [이거시]. The short forms '이거', '그거', '저거' and '이게', '그게', '저게' are read as written.

Short forms are mainly used in speech, and in writing the basic form is generally used. '뭐' is a short form of '무엇' (what), and its use as a question word is covered in Unit 21.