Let’s dig into Korean ‘this’ and ‘that’: 이, 그, and 저.
- 이 points to something close to me, or something I’m thinking about.
- 그 points to something we already mentioned, or something you know.
- 저 points to something far from both of us.
So yes. 이 is ‘this,’ 그 is ‘that,’ and 저 is ‘that over there.’
But here’s the key. You can’t just say 이, 그, and 저 alone. You need a noun after it.
- 이 사람 – this person
- 그 사람 – that person, or the person
- 저 사람 – that person over there
In honorific speech, 사람 becomes 분.
- 이분 – this person
- 그분 – that person, or the person
- 저분 – that person over there
Korean has dependent nouns. Nouns that depend on something before them. They can’t stand alone and need another word to complete the meaning.
The most common ones are 것 and 거. They mean “thing,” but they’re too vague by themselves. So we should attach pointers.
In a formal way:
- 이것 – this (thing)
- 그것 – that (thing)
- 저것 – that (thing) over there
In an informal way:
- 이거 – this (thing)
- 그거 – that (thing)
- 저거 – that (thing) over there
Here’s a tricky part. Spacing.
If the noun can stand alone, like 사람, write it separately. Like 이 사람. When it comes to dependent nouns like 분, 것, and 거, they should be like 이분, 이것, and 이거. Over time, these became single words.
And the same rule applies to places!
- 여기 – near me = here
- 거기 – near you or already mentioned = the place
- 저기 – far from both of us = over there
In old Korean, 여기 and 거기 used to say 이어긔 and 그어긔, and those gradually changed into 여기 and 거기.
Finally, all those “그” conjunctions: 그리고, 그래서, 그러니까, 그러면, 그런데… That “그” means something we already know or said before. So these conjunctions literally connect what was just mentioned. That’s how they developed in Korean.
