1-2. Pronoun(대명사)

Pronoun(대명사)

Pronouns indicate nouns and are used instead of them. 

There are two kinds of pronouns in Korean: personal pronouns and demonstrative pronouns.

 

A man, 수민, is looking at a flower. In Korean, we can say this:

수민이가 꽃을 본다(Sumin looks at a flower).

And then, the following sentence could be 그는 그것을 좋아한다(He likes it).

그 is a personal pronoun that refers to 수민(이), while 그것 is a demonstrative pronoun that indicates 꽃.

 

 

1) Personal Pronoun(인칭대명사)

• the first person(1인칭): 나(I), 저(I, a humble form), 우리(we), 저희(we, a humble form)
• the second person(2인칭): 너(you), 당신(you, to your spouse or to a stranger), 그대(you, not frequently used these days), 너희(you, a plural form)
• the third person(3인칭): 그(he), 그녀(she), 그들(they)
• indefinite pronoun(부정칭): 아무(anyone, sometimes can be used as an undetermined pronoun)
• undetermined pronoun(미지칭): 누구(who, sometimes can be used as an indefinite pronoun)

 

For a more detailed explanation, go to the Words and Expressions category

 

 

 

2) Demonstrative Pronoun(지시대명사)

	이  when close to a speaker	그 when close to a listener	저 far from both the speaker and listener
Objects(사물)	이것 this	그것 that	저것 that
Locations(장소)	이곳, 여기 here	그곳, 거기 there	저곳, 저기 there

 

More detailed explanation: go to the words and expressions category(will be posted soon).