Personal Pronouns 1. the first-person pronouns

We've figured out the two critical concepts in personal pronouns in the previous article: the usage of pronouns to compose a sentence and the existence of some particular pronouns used in honorifics.

 

Now, let's see how the first-person pronouns work.

 

[Table 1. Types of first-person pronouns]

Forms	singular	plural
ordinary	나	우리(들)
honorific	저	저희(들)

 

In plural forms, you can add -들 after 우리 or 저희. There is no difference between 우리(저희) and 우리들(저희). '-들' is a suffix that makes a word plural form, so adding '-들' stresses the meaning of plural.

 

Honorific forms are used when you are talking to someone in a higher social position or at a formal event.

 

[To a friend]

나는 노트북을 새로 샀어.   I bought a new laptop.

우리는 노트북을 새로 샀어.  We bought a new laptop.

 

[To a grandmother]

저는 노트북을 새로 샀어요.  I bought a new laptop.

저희는 노트북을 새로 샀어요.  We bought a new laptop.

 

 

'는' is not actually a subjective particle. It is a subsidiary particle, and one of its role is to present a topic. 

 

I'll sum them up in the following two tables.

 

[Table 2. How first-person pronouns work as a constituent in a sentence: singular]

Case	Subjective	Possessive	Objective	Possessive Pronoun	Reflective
English	I	my	me	mine	myself
Korean - ordinary	내가, 나는	나의	나를	나의 것	나 자신
Korean - honorific	제가, 저는	저의	저를	저의 것	저 자신

 

[Table 3. How first-person pronouns work as a constituent in a sentence: plural]

Case	Subjective	Possessive	Objective	Possessive Pronoun	Reflective
English	we	our	us	ours	ourselves
Korean - ordinary	우리가, 우리는	우리의	우리를	우리의 것	우리 자신
Korean - honorific	저희가, 저희는	저희의	저희를	저희의 것	저희 자신