“It, this thing, that thing” in Korean

Generically referring to objects in Korean.

In English, "this" and "that" are primarily known as pronouns, but they are also used as adjectives/determiners, as in "this thing," or "that thing." In Korean, separate determiners and pronouns are used.

이거

this thing

• A contraction of 이 ("this") + 거 ("thing").

거

thing

• Alternatively "것," but 거 is now colloquially dominant.

이

this

• Used to refer to something near the speaker.

이 고양이

"This cat"

저

that (distant from speaker and listener)

• Used to refer to something distant from both the speaker and the listener.

• Homonym for the humble first-person singular pronoun, but is never ambiguous since one is an adjective and the other is a pronoun.

그

that (near listener)

• Used to refer to something near the listener.

• Also used when neither person can see the object, functioning more like "the."