grammar_너

 

Second-person pronouns

For the second person, there are a number of non-honorific pronoun forms:

너

(plural: 너희(들)), 자네 (plural: 자네들),당신 (plural:당신들 ) and 자기 (plural:자기들 ).

These forms all have very specific and limited applications: Korean does not have a universal ‘you’ that can

be applied politely in all interactions.

 

너 is an intimate pronoun that can be used towards close friends of the same or younger age

and towards children. It commonly occurs with either the intimate or the plain speech style:

너는 뭐 하냐? [PLAIN] What are you doing?
When comes before the subject particle, it has the alternative form 네 .

In addition, the possessive formed by combining 너 with the possessive particle 의 , 너의 , is also commonly abbreviated to 네. Since many younger speakers pronounce the vowels ᅦ and ᅢ the same, 네‘you, yours’ thus becomes homophonous with 내 ‘my, mine’. To avoid this confusion, many younger speakers pronounce (and even write) 네 as 니 :

 

자네 is a pronoun that is only used non-reciprocally by older adults (of at least 30 years of age) towards younger adults.

It most commonly occurs with a familiar speech style. The usage of

this pronoun and register of speech are becoming more unusual in modern Korean society:

당신 is sometimes mistakenly taken to be the closest form to the English ‘you’. However, its

usage is in actual fact extremely restricted and great caution should be exercised. In modern Korean, it is most frequently used between spouses – particularly between couples in their forties or above. Otherwise, this pronoun sometimes gets used as a deliberate way of being disrespectful and rude to someone when involved in an argument or confrontation:

Original form	Contracted form	Pronunciation
너 +가	네가	니가
너+ 의	네	니

이 일은 자네가 하게. [FAMILIAR]

You do this job.

당신이 뭔데 이래라 저래라 하는 거야 [INTIMATE]

Who do you think you are! Ordering me to do this and do that?

자기 represents a new second-person pronoun that is most frequently used between young unmarried couples. Originally, this form was a reflexive pronoun. It was only very recently that it also started to be used as a second-person pronoun:

In addition to these forms, there are several other expressions that may be used in a similar way to pronouns. An elderly person may be respectfully addressed as 어르신 :

 

Elder speakers may address an adult stranger as 댁 :

When addressing someone of similar age and you are unsure how else to call him/her, you may say 그쪽 , literally meaning ‘that side’:

 

In song lyrics or poetry, you may encounter the rather antiquated 그대 : .

When using automated machines or internet sites, you may see the form 귀하 as a way of addressing ‘you’. This form was originally an honorific word for ‘to’ used when addressing envelopes to an elder or senior.

 

As these descriptions suggest, there are many circumstances in Korean where it is not appropriate to apply any second-person pronoun at all. This particularly applies to interactions with elders, status superiors and non-intimates when you are using the polite and formal speech styles. So, if it is not possible to use any pronoun, what should you do? The first strategy is to retain the addressee’s name or otherwise use a title or kinship term. When you are unsure what term of address would be appropriate, using 선생님* (which literally means ‘teacher’) represents a safe choice. The second strategy is just to avoid saying anything at all; it is perfectly possible to form a Korean sentence with the subject and/or object dropped when it is obvious from context who you are talking about.

 
*요즘은 ‘쌤’이라고 줄여 사용하는 경우가 있다.

자기 지금 뭐 해?

What are you doing now?

어르신 어디 편찮으세요?

Are you feeling unwell?

댁은 어디 가세요?	Where are you going?

그쪽은요?

How about you?

나의 곁에 그대 없는 세상 있을 수도 없겠죠.

There cannot be a world where you are not by my side

귀하의 비밀번호는 최소한 8 개 문자를 포함해야 합니다.

Your PIN number must consist of at least eight characters.

 

출처, Reference: Korean, A Comprehensive Grammar By Jaehoon Yeon and Lucien Brown