Korean Personal Pronouns
Pronouns replace nouns in a sentence, just like “he, she, and it” in English. We are going to focus on personal pronouns today.
*Note that personal pronouns are often omitted in Korean in daily conversations
First person = speaker
(non-honorific) 나 / 저 (honorific) = I / Me
(non-honorific) 우리 / 저희 (honorific) = We
If the listener is older or higher in seniority, you should use 저 or 저희 when referring to yourself to show respect
Example: The phrase “I’ll leave first” — When saying to…
A teacher: 저 먼저 갈게요 VS A friend: 나 먼저 갈게
우리 is often used to replace 나
Example: 우리 학교 = my (our) school; 우리 나라 = our country
Second person = listener
(non-honorific) 너 / 자네 / 당신 = you
(non-honorific) 너희 (들) / 자네들 / 당신들 = you (plural)
너 = Used among close friends, or to children and juniors
자네 = Usually only used when the older generation is speaking to the younger generation
당신 = There are two usages: 1) a slightly rude and disrespectful usage 2) if it is a husband and wife relationship, it implies respect
너희 means “you guys” already, but adding 들 makes the plural more obvious
“You” can also be expressed in the following ways:
그쪽 = You → Usually used to strangers or people whom you are not familiar with. If you know the other person, you will then refer them by their name or position
선생님 = Teacher / Sir/ You (honorifics) → In addition to the meaning of teacher and sir, it also implies being respectful
Third person = The third party other than the listener or speaker (referring to someone else)
To be precise, Korean does not have a third-person pronoun.
They usually…
1) directly call the other person’s name or position or title OR
Examples: 윤기, 부장님 (Minister), 엄마 (Mom)
*Usually add 님 or 씨 after the name to show respect
2) use 이 (this), 그 (that), 저 (that over there) plus 분 or 사람 (person)
Example: 이 분 = this person; 그 사람 = that person
