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adnominals (III) : this,those,that and those other things waaaay over there

# Posted: 11 Jan 2007 10:18 KST - Edited by: _joseph_
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This is always the first things you learn when you speak a language. Get on your first grade thinking caps and remember these expressions to use with your friends.

these are commonly called the where the h(*2 is XYZ thingie expressions. Or, technically, demonstrative pronouns

the main 3 are:

이 this thing close to the speaker
그 that thing close to the listener, but not to the speaker or that which is known to both speaker and listener
저 that thing away from both speaker and listener or that which is unkown to both of them

And, today is your lucky day! Since Korean has no plurals, this = these and that = those.

These are a little different from Kono, Ano, and Sono in Japanese.

We have two ways of saying distance stuff:
One:

여기 here
거기 there in that known place
저기 있는 것 the thing over there

Two:

이곳 here
그곳 there
저곳 there

We put the propositional article on the front of the noun we are referring to:

이것
그것
저것

그게 that thing (here, thing is the object of conversation sometimes, not just an actual something)

Additional examples can be found at kkoma's korean language learning site on msn

Additional explanation and examples can be found http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/korean/kkl101/lesson01/l01_08.html#5

there as 거기 and as 저기

There is another thing you must know -- there are two ways to refer to there.
Look again at:

이곳 here
그곳 there
저곳 there

I was trying to explain a story about a special teacher's room which was central to the story. I said 저기 but she said that's not 저기 that's really 그곳 because we had mentioned it before; it was known to both the speaker and the listener. Here's what I said

커피를 마시기위해서 저기 있었는데
we were there to drink coffee

This was corrected to

거기서 커피를 마셨습니다

She also corrects me with the following

그런데 어느날 6학년 사회선생님께서 그 곳은 원어민 강사 휴게실이 아니기 때문에 우리가 들어가면 안된다고 하셨습니다. One day the 6th grade teachers said that that place was not our rest area, so we weren't allowed in there

Quoting: dreamer

그곳 is for the place which is already mentioned or the place which the hearer knows. Both the speaker and the hearer are not in or near the place.

_joseph_
Moderator
Posts: 119,684
native english

# Posted: 4 Jul 2009 21:21 KST - Edited by: _joseph_
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The following is cut-and-pasted from http://parksguide.blogspot.com/2006/11/another-useful-this-it-and-that.html

This, It and That

One of the most frequently used words are \"this, it and that\".

* This = 이것
* It = 그것
* That = 저것

Eg.

* 이것은 연필이야. = This is a pencil.
* 그것은 칠판이야. = It is a blackboard.
* 저것은 꽃이야. = That is a flower.

However, in spoken Korean, 이것, 저것 and 그것 changes to 이건, 저건, 그건 for more convenience in pronunciation.

* 이건 연필이야.
* 그건 칠판이야.
* 저건 꽃이야.

\"Here, there and over there\" are used similarly to \"This, it and that\".

Formal

* Here = 이곳
* There = 그곳
* Over there = 저곳

Informal

* Here = 여기
* There = 거기
* Over there = 저기

Eg.

* 여기 어디야? = where is here?/where is this place?
* 여기는 서울이야. = Here is Seoul / This place is Seoul

여기는 is also reduced to 여긴 for easier pronunciation.

* 여기는 - 여긴
* 거기는 - 거긴
* 저기는 - 저긴

Sam: 화장실 어디 있어? Where is toilet?
Cindy: 저기. Over there.
Sam: 저긴 출구야! Over there is exit!
Cindy: 아.. 여기다. 미안. Ahh... here. Sorry

http://parksguide.blogspot.com/2006/11/another-useful-this-it-and-that.html

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