Possesive Particle - 의 (~ ui)
What is the meaning of 의?
- Fairly straightforward, the ~의 (~ ui) particle indicates possession. It is attached to the person who possesses the object, similarly to ‘s in English.
- Korean postposition 의 works same to English preposition ‘Of’ but it also means possession without possessive pronouns such as mine, yours.
1. 의 and Pronouns
- Korean is fundamentally different from English when it comes to pronouns!
- Koreans don't use pronouns as often as English speakers do because Korean is a contextual language and the meaning of who the sentence is being addressed to or who is being talked about is not indicated by pronouns, but assumed by the context and the situation.
- So in order to turn 'I' into 'Mine' or 'You' into 'Yours' just add 의 to the pronoun and you're done.
저+ 의= 저의→ 제 (humble/formal form of “my”)
나 + 의 = 나의→ 내 (casual form of “my”)
너 + 의 = 너의→ 네 (your)
Examples:
- 내 (나의) 친구 (My friend)
- 제 (저의) 이름 (My name)
- 네 (너의) 핸드폰 (Your cellphone)
* Note:
Basically there are also pronouns like 제가, 내가, which mean 'I' and 네가, which means 'You' (pronounced 니가). They are used in certain instances like these:
- 네가 좋아해- I like you
- 내가 밥을 먹었어요- I ate the food
2. 의 and Nouns
- As I've mentioned before, 의 can be used not only with pronouns but any nouns in Korean. The drill is the same though- just add it to the end of the word.
Examples:
- 아빠의 커피 (Dad’s coffee)
- 르리스씨의 선생 (Chris’ teacher)
- 엄마의 카메라 (Mom’s camera)
- 케이트씨의 모자 (Kate’s hat)
3. 의 with Question Words
- It is possible add 의 to not only nouns and pronouns, but also to a question word 누구. On its own it means 'who' and when you add 의 to it, it turns into 'whose.'
Examples:
- 이것은 누구의 책이에요? - Whose book is this?
- 그것은 누구의 음식입니까? - Whose food is that?
- 누구의 집 (whose house)
- 누구의 가방 (whose bag)
SUMMARY:
- The pronunciation of the “ㅢ” can change depending on how and when it is used.
- It is mainly used to combine two nouns and specifies a possessive role of preceding noun.
- 의 is pronounced 에 when used as the Owner/Possessor Particle.
- Adding ‘의’ to a word has a meaning like “‘s” or “of” in English.
- When pronouns like 나, 저 and 너 combined with 의 they become 나- 나의 = 내，저 – 저의 = 제 and 너 – 너의 =네.
- In a sentence, 의 is set between the owner or possessor and the ownership or possessions.
You can even add ‘의’ after 누구 (who) to make ‘누구의’ (whose)
Examples:
- 나 + 의 → 나의 = my (casual form)
- 저+ 의→ 저의 = my (formal form)
- 너 + 의 → 너의 = your
- 그 + 의 → 그의 = his
- 그녀 + 의 → 그녀의 = her
- However, in most spoken Korean, they are simplified for easier pronunciation.
Examples:
- 나의 → 내(casual form)
- 저→ 제(formal form)
- 너의 → 네 (pronounced 니)
- 그의/그녀의 → 쟤,걔 (not commonly used)
-For all possessives, only 내 and 네(니) are commonly used in spoken Korean. In most cases 의 is omitted.
For translations:
1. 친구의 아버지가 오셨어요.
- “(My) friend's father came.” (literally, “The father of my friend came.”)
2. 그 여자의 눈은 아름다워요
- That woman’s eyes are beautiful
3. 선생님의 차는 커요
- The teacher’s car is big
4. 저의 손가락은 길어요
- My finger is long
5. 이것은 누구의 가방입니까?
- Whose bag is this?
6. 나은 씨의 우산입니다.
- It’s Naun’s umbrella.
7. 한국의 수도는 서울이다
- Korea's capital is Seoul.
8. 저것이 누구의 집이죠?
- Whose house is that?
9. 이 사람의 이름은 무엇이에요?
- What is this person's name?
10. 이것은 저의 안경이에요
- These glasses are mine.
*10.
이것은 제 안경이에요.
these are my glasses
이 안경은 제 거예요
이 안경은 내 거야 (꺼야)
these glasses are mine
Ctto
