Korean Personal Pronouns

St. Thomas Aquinas: Prayer before Study

Creator of all things, true Source of light and wisdom,
lofty origin of all being,
graciously let a ray of Your brilliance
penetrate into the darkness of my understanding
and take from me the double darkness
in which I have been born,
an obscurity of both sin and ignorance.
Give me a sharp sense of understanding,
a retentive memory,
and the ability to grasp things correctly and fundamentally.
Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations,
and the ability to express myself with thoroughness and charm.
Point out the beginning,
direct the progress,
and help in completion;
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
—St. Thomas Aquinas
What are the different kinds of personal
pronouns?
What are the different kinds of personal
pronouns?
• Subject Pronouns
• Object Pronouns
• Possessive Adjectives (Technically, they are adjectives; however, they
are taught under pronouns.)
• Possessive Pronouns
• Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns.
 Subject Object Possessive Possessive Intensive/
Adjective Pronoun Reflexive

First Person I Me My Mine Myself

We Us Our Ours Ourselves

Second You You Your Yours Yourself

Person You You Your Yours Yourselves

Third He, She, It Him, Her, It His, Her, Its His, Hers, Its Himself, Herself,
Person They Them Their Theirs Itself

Themselves
Korean Pronouns
• The subject pronoun and object pronoun use the same words in
Korean. We just use different particles, which will be discussed in the
future, to differentiate the two.
I / Me

•나 Informal
•저 Formal
You / You

•너 Informal
•당신 Formal
• Note: Address someone by their title rather than using the second
person pronoun when talking to them.
We / Us

•저희 Formal
•우리 Informal
He / Him

•그 Informal
•그분 Formal
She / Her

•그녀 Informal
•그 여자분 Formal
They / Them

•그들 Informal
•그분들 Formal
It / It

• 그것 – There is no formal or informal

because this is used for things, not people.
Korean Demonstrative
Pronouns
What are Demonstrative
Pronouns?
Demonstrative Pronouns
Spoken Form
• 이거 – This; the speaker is near the item
• 그거 – That; the speaker is far from the item while the
listener is near it
• 저거 – That; the speaker and the listener are far from the
item
• Note: Koreans aren’t particular about singular form and plural
form of demonstrative pronouns.
Demonstrative Pronouns
Written Form
• 이것 – This; the speaker is near the item
• 그것 – That; the speaker is far from the item while the listener
is near it
• 저것 – That; the speaker and the listener are far from the item
• 것 means ‘thing’. Thus, these demonstrative pronouns literally
mean ‘this thing’ and ‘that thing’.
Particles
Subject Particles

•은 used for consonant ending

subjects
•는 used for vowel ending subjects
Object Particles

•을 used for consonant ending

objects
•를 used for vowel ending objects
Special Particle or Topic Particle

•이 used for consonant ending

•가 used for vowel ending
Adverb Particles

•에 for moving verbs

•에서 for non-moving verbs
• Note: This will be explained further when we study verbs.
Let’s practice
• Put the correct subject and object particle to the personal pronouns
that you learned earlier.
Basic Korean Sentence
Pattern
English Sentence Pattern
• Subject – Verb – Object
• I eat bread.

• Subject – Verb – Complement

• I am a student.
Korean Sentence Pattern
• Subject – Object – Verb
• 나는 빵을 먹다 .

• Subject – Complement – Verb

• 저는 학생입니다 .
Let’s compare
• Subject – Verb – Object • Subject – Object – Verb
• I eat bread. • 나는 빵을 먹다 .

• Subject – Verb – Complement • Subject – Complement – Verb

• I am a student. • 저는 학생입니다 .
Remember
• Korean sentences always end in verbs. The conjugation of the verb
determines the level of speech of the sentence as well.
Thank you very much!

•감사합니다 !