LEARN + KOREAN / Note 9 TOPIK I

Whose Is It? (이/그/저)

English collapses distance into two words, “this” and “that.” Korean keeps three, because it’s tracking not just distance from you but distance from the person you’re talking to. And there’s no dedicated word for “whose” at all: you just say 누구 (who) directly in front of the object, and Korean reads it as a possessive automatically.

Demonstratives

Korean	English
이 i	this (near me)
그 geu	that (near you)
저 jeo	that over there (far from both of us)

Whose Is This?

이 시계는 누구 시계예요?

i sigyeneun nugu sigyeyeyo?

Whose watch is this?

유진 씨 시계예요.

yujin ssi sigyeyeyo.

It's Yujin's watch.

저 책은 누구 책이에요?

jeo chaegeun nugu chaegieyo?

Whose book is that, over there?

제 책이에요.

je chaegieyo.

It's my book.

그럼 누구 펜이에요?

geureom nugu penieyo?

Then whose pen is it?

그 펜은 주노 씨 펜이에요.

geu peneun juno ssi penieyo.

That pen is Juno's pen.

In Real Life

이 사람 / 그 사람 / 저 사람 are the polite way to refer to a third person. Close friends often compress them into 얘 (this one), 걔 (that one), 쟤 (that one over there) when gossiping about someone who isn’t in the room. It’s casual enough to sound rude directed at someone senior to you, so save it for people your own age.

Is It There?

있다 covers two jobs English splits into different verbs: it describes something existing somewhere, and it describes someone having something. 있어요? on its own, with no location attached, is simply “do you have it?” 없다 is the shared negative for both meanings, “to not exist” and “to not have,” and it’s a separate word entirely, not 안 있다.

수지 씨가 집에 있어요?

suji ssiga jibe isseoyo?

Is Suzy at home?

아니요, 집에 없어요. 학교에 있어요.

aniyo, jibe eopseoyo. hakgyoe isseoyo.

No, she's not home. She's at school.

가방이 교실에 있어요?

gabangi gyosire isseoyo?

Is the bag in the classroom?

아니요, 가방이 교실에 없어요.

aniyo, gabangi gyosire eopseoyo.

No, the bag isn't in the classroom.

In Real Life

것 (thing) almost never shows up in its full form out loud. It contracts to 거 in speech, and combined with the demonstratives from this lesson gives you 이거 / 그거 / 저거, “this thing / that thing / that thing over there.” 이거 뭐예요? (“what’s this?”) is one of the most common questions you’ll actually use, and it never requires knowing the object’s real name.

Vocabulary

Korean	English
펜 pen	pen
핸드폰 haendeupon	cell phone
지갑 jigap	wallet
돈 don	money
거울 geoul	mirror
방 bang	room
침대 chimdae	bed
주인 juin	owner
분실물 bunsilmul	lost item
찾다 chatda	to find, to look for
열쇠 yeolsoe	keys
우산 usan	umbrella
이거 igeo	this (thing), casual contraction of 이것
저거 jeogeo	that (thing) over there, casual contraction of 저것
시계 sigye	watch, clock
가방 gabang	bag
신분증 sinbunjeung	ID card