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Korean nouns and pronouns, are a class of words which take the same endings. Pronouns pose some difficulty to speakers of English due to their complexity. The Korean language makes extensive use of speech levels and honorifics in its grammar, and Korean pronouns also change depending on the social distinction between the speaker and the person or persons spoken to.
In general, Koreans avoid using second person singular pronouns, especially when using honorific forms.
Contents |
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| First person | 저 (jeo), 나 (na) | 저희 (jeohui), 우리 (uri) |
| Second person | 당신 (dangsin), 너 (neo) | 당신들 (dangsindeul), 너희 (neohui) |
| Third person | 그, 그녀(f) (geu/geunyeo) | 그들, 그녀들 (f) (geudeul/geunyeodeul) |
For each pronoun there is a humble/honorific and an informal form for first and second person. In the above table the first pronoun given is the humble one, which one would use when speaking to someone older or of high social status. Note that 당신 is also sometimes used as the Korean equivalent of "dear" as a form of address. Also, whereas uses of other humble forms are straightforward, 당신 must be used only in specific social contexts, such as between two married couples. In that way it can be used in an ironic sense when used between strangers, usually during arguments and confrontations. It is worth noting that 당신 is also a honorific third-person pronoun, used to refer to one's social superior who is not present.
There are two third person pronouns, male and female; however, the female form sounds awkward (due to its similarities with a bad word, 그년), and is mostly used when translating texts from other languages. Like Japanese, Korean originally had only one third person pronoun for both genders, 그, which literally means "it". However it has increasingly been interpreted as a "male" pronoun used for both genders. Although in recent years the pronoun 그녀 is slowly gaining ground as a female counterpart due to the influence of translations from European languages, it is almost restricted to specific styles of written language, because Korean generally uses subjectless or modifier+noun constructions.
Korean has personal pronouns for the 1st and 2nd person, with distinctions for honorifics, and prefers demonstrative pronouns in the 3rd person, which make a three-way distinction between close, distant, and previously mentioned.
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person familiar | na 나 | wuli 우리 uri wuli tul 우리들 urideul |
| 2nd person familiar | ne 너 neo | nehuy 너희 neohui nehuy tul 너희들 neohuideul |
| 3rd person familiar | ku 그 geu | ku tul 그들 geudeul |
| 1st person humble | ce 저 jeo | cehuy 저희 jeohui cehuy tul 저희들 jeohuideul |
| 2nd/3rd person respectful | (see below) | |
As you can see, the plural suffix tul is also used with pronouns, both where it's necessary, as in ku tul 그들 geudeul "they," and optionally in some cases like wuli tul 우리들 urideul where it's redundant.
Ku 그 geu has a range of meanings, "he," "she," or "it." Due to this ambiguity and the ability of the Korean language to drop pronouns which can be reconstructed from context, ku is seldom used by itself. But it has enjoyed a revival recently as the translation of "he" in works translated from European languages.
The monosyllabic pronouns na 나, ne 너 neo, and ce 저 jeo, add i/-y ㅣ or -y ka ㅣ가 rather than the expected ka -ga to form the nominative case (see below). This produces the forms nay 내 nae, ney 네 ne, and cey 제 je. Ku 그 geu is found in all three forms, as ku-i 그이 geui and ku-i ka 그이가, in addition to regularly formed ku ka 그가 geuga.
Additionally, because many Koreans have lost the distinction between the vowels ㅐ ae and ㅔ e, ney 네 ne "you" is dissimilating to 니 ni.
In colloquial Korean, the topic forms nanun 나는 naneun "me" and nenun 너는 neoneun "you" are often pronounced, and sometimes written, as 난 nan "me" and 넌 neon "you". Similarly, the accusative forms na lul 나를 naleul and ne lul 너를 neoleul tend to become 날 nal and 널 neol. The possessives na ey 나의 na-e "my" and ne ey 너의 neo-e "your" have the alternate forms nay 내 nae and ney 네 ne.
The classifier ccok 쪽 jjog "side" is also used when referring to people. I ccok 이쪽 ijjog "this side" then means "this person, these people" (that is, he, she, or they), but is further extended via "our side" as a polite form for "us" or "me".
| Prefix | Object | Place | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near | i 이 i- | i ges 이것 igeot "this" | i kot 이곳 igos, yeki 여기 yeogi "here" |
| Given | ku 그 geu- | ku kes 그것 geugeot "that" | keki 거기 geogi "there" |
| Far | ce 저 jeo- | ce kes 저것 jeogeot "that" | ceki 저기 jeogi "there" |
| Which? | enu 어느 eoneu- | mues 무엇 mueos "what?" | eti 어디 eodi "where?" |
The "given" series is often called "medial", and said to be close to the addressee rather than the speaker. However, they actually refer to referents already established in the conversation, whether near or far. With new referents, the near or far forms will be used.
In colloquial speech, the object words, composed of the prefix plus the generic noun classifier kes 것 geot, frequently drop the final s (pronounced t), with proximate i kes 이것 igeot becoming i ke 이거 igeo This occurs before case clitics as well, with the nominative form i kesi 이것이 igeosi becoming ikey 이게 ige, topical i kes un 이것은 igeoseun becoming i ken 이건 igeon, and accusative i kes ul 이것을 igeoseul becoming i kel 이걸 igeol "this".
In colloquial Korean, interrogative mues 무엇 mueos contracts to mwe 뭐 mwo "what" (often pronounced meo, as w tends to drop after m), and the accusative mues ul 무엇을 mueoseul contracts to 뭘 mwol "what".
The word for "who" is nwukwu 누구 nugu, which in the nominative is nwu ka 누가 nuga. "How many" is myech 몇 myeoch.
Korean has a tu-vous distinction in the second person. Ne 너 neo is the pronoun corresponding to tu, but instead of a single equivalent to vous/usted, a variety of strategies are used. More specifically:
If none of these are possible, an honorific common noun, e.g. tangsin 당신 dangsin "said body" or caney 자네 jane "oneself" (used for "you" in the familiar speech level). The pseudo-pronoun tangsin 당신 dangsin is actually a noun, the Sino-Korean loanword 當身 "the aforementioned body". There are a large number of such pseudo-pronouns in Korean.
These methods are ambiguous, that is, they can indicate a third person as well as a second person. In order for an honorific noun to be interpreted as a second person pronoun, it most agree with the speech level of the verb - that is, the level of respect used must be consistent throughout the sentence. Korean verbs reflect the social status of the person being spoken to, so if that same person or group of people listening is also mentioned in the sentence, neither reference should be higher than the other. A lowly noun used with a high speech level, or an honorific noun used with a low speech level, can only be interpreted as a third person pronoun.
For example, jane is used for "you" in the familiar speech level, and is appropriate only as long as the familiar speech level itself is. The familiar speech level is used to talk in a friendly way to close friends and family who are younger or subordinate. In situations where that speech level would be inappropriate or insulting, jane is too.
Even when the pronoun used and the speech level agree, there is still some possible ambiguity, but this can be resolved by context.