WATCH THE LESSON: https://youtu.be/q15hGRKI3YM
In this lesson we'll learn about possessive pronouns and nouns. To understand this lesson it's important to already know your Korean personal pronouns. These ones. I've got a video on that is the description if you need it. If not, let's get started.
To make a noun or pronoun into it's possessive form all that you do is, basically, add 의 (ui) to the end of your pronoun or noun. It's sort of equivalent to adding ('s) in English.
But there are quite a few quirks with this 의(ui). So, don't stop watching yet!
First of all, it is not pronounced as 의(ui) like it usually is. Well... you can pronounce it like "ui", and, sometimes, you will hear it that way. But, when 의 is used to show possession it is far more commonly pronounced as "e". Sometimes it blends with the last vowel in the word and gets a bit of a "y" sound "yeh", or, sometimes, you may hear a little bit of a "w" sound "weh". I've decided that I will romanize it as "e" with quotes around it. I believe this is a clear way to indicate that something is pronounced differently than it is written.
Another thing to note is that in Korea, making your nouns possessive is, for the most part, optional. You don't have to say (Ben's Camera) Ben-e ka-me-ra you can just say Ben ka-me-ra
So to make a noun possessive you add "e" 의(ui). You can add it to the end of names, job titles, or any noun.
For pronouns you add the "e"의(ui) ending and then, for some of them, it blends with the ending vowel sounds of the pronoun to give us an entirely different sound. Let's learn about those.
Let's start with first person singular: I and My
In the casual form I is (na). So add the "e"의(ui) to turn I into My
(na)+(e) 나+의
You can pronounce it na-"e" but it is more common to blend the two vowels together to make
=nae =내
that is your casual My.
In the polite/formal form I is 저 (jeo). So, add the 의"e" and you get jeo-e
저+의 =저의
jeo+"e"= jeo-"e"
You CAN pronounce it like that, and that is an acceptable pronunciation. But, it feels a little weird to say "eo-e", So, a more common pronunciation is 제 (je) . 제 (je) is the formal/polite My.
Now, second person singular: You and YOUR.
CASUAL You is 너 (neo). So, when we add the possessive ending it is
너 + 의
neo+"e"
Again, this is an acceptable pronunciation but this is the same vowel combination we just saw with formal/polite My. So, we modify the vowels the same way and we get
= 네 ne ...
Let's compare casual My and casual Your
my= 내 nae and your=네 ne
...Remember learning about theㅐ(ae) vowel, and how it's meant to be pronounced "ay" but is often pronounced like "e"? Well, you really don't want to get "my" and "your" mixed up, so having two very similar sounding words is going to get confusing. So here's what Koreans do:
casual my (내) is pronounced "neh" and "nay" Just like it's written.
casual your (네) is pronounced "ni". It's one of those words that is not pronounced the way it is written. It is "Ni". Sometimes, in unofficial communication, like chatting on the internet, some people will even write it as 니.
So, now polite/formal Your.
If you watched my pronoun video you'll know there is no real polite/formal You. Typically you just use names, job titles, or words like man or woman, or 당신 (dang-sin) if you are talking to a lover. All of these words can be made possessive by simply adding the "e"의.
Now let's talk about 3rd person singular that is: He or She and His or Her
Remember, Korean doesn't really have a direct translation for he and she. Instead we use "this person" or "that person"
In the casual form the third person pronouns are 얘 yae, 걔 gae and 쟤 jae
adding "e" onto these sounds a little awkward
this child 얘+의
that (nearby) child 걔+의
that (far away) child 쟤+의
There's no way anyone's going to want to pronounce that. So, what they do in Korean is make their possessive 얘 yae, 걔 gae and 쟤 jae. Exactly the same. You don't change them at all.
In the polite and formal forms, however, you can add the "e"의 ending and you get something that is easy to pronounce and translates into "this person's" or "that person's". And remember we had two versions of person. The polite one 사람 sa-ram and the more formal version of person: 분 "bun".
Now, plural first person We and Our
You have a few options
1. you can leave them the same without the "e"의(ui) ending
or 2. you can add the "e"의(ui) ending
and remember these pronouns have an optional 들(-deul) at the end. So you have a total of four options for the casual our, and four options for the polite/formal our
our cas = uri 우리 우리의 우리들 우리들의
our polite/formal=jeo-hui 저희 저희의 저희들 저희들의
The most commonly used ones, however, are these ones 우리 and 저희 the ones that are the same as the personal pronouns and do not contain 들 (-deul).
Time to for second person plural "Plural You" and "Plural Your"
The casual Plural You is 너희 (neo-hui) or 너희들 (neo-hui-deul)
You can add "e"의(ui) to the end of them to make them possessive.
Casual 너희의 and 너희들의
Polite/formal you doesn't exist but what you can say instead is "everyone" 여러분 (yeo-reo-bun) and add "e"의(ui) to turn it into everyone's
Polite/formal 여러분의
Lastly, third person plural : They and Their.
The Korean version of they is more accurately translated as these people or those people
these words all end in 들 deul so to make them possessive you can simply and easily add the possessive "e"의(ui) ending.
In sum,
add "e"의(ui) to the end of nouns to make then possessive.
but don't add "e" to 얘yae, 걔gae, and 쟤jae. Keep them exactly the same
and it is common not to add "e" when you make we possessive. But, you can if you want to.
"e"의(ui) blends the end of the pronouns 저 jeo, 나 na, and 너 neo to make 제 je, 내 nae, and 네"ni".
and that's all you need to remember.
Right! So now you know possessive pronouns in Korean. Take advantage of the links in the description and on the screen if you think they'll be helpful. and annyeonghi gyeseyo! Thanks for studying with me!
WATCH THE LESSON: https://youtu.be/q15hGRKI3YM
