How To Say It, This, That, Those, And These In Korean?

This computer. This person. That guy. And, that mountain over there. How do we say all of those in Korean?

The Korean language has 3 modifiers, they are 이, 그, and 저. Before we break the explanation, I want to mention the formula below:

이/그/저 Noun

That formula will be used as our focus. Okay! Here we go.

이 (i) is used when the object is near you as the speaker, and you can still touch it with your finger when you mention it. In another word, we can say that 이 means this. For example:
◆ 이 책 = this book
◆ 이 사람 = this person
◆ 이것 = this (thing)
◆ 이쪽 = here

그 (geu) is used when the object is near the other person which is probably he/she is the listener. And also, you can't reach it with your finger when you mention it. We can say that 그 means the or that. For example:
◆ 그 책 = that book
◆ 그 사람 = that person
◆ 그것 = that (thing)
◆ 그쪽 = there, they, he, she, their, his, her
 
As an additional information, when we want to mention something or someone that we (both a speaker and a listener) can't see, we use 그.


저 (jeo) is used when the object is far away from us (both a speaker and listener). Very far until our finger can't reach it, but both of us can see it. We can say 저 means that (over there). For example:
◆ 저 책 = that book
◆ 저 사람 = that person
◆ 저것 = that (thing)
◆ 저쪽 = that side, that, those, the other side

Conversation

😍: 저 사람은 누구예요?
(Who is that person?)

😎: 저 사람은 흐엉 씨예요.
(That person is Ms Huong.)

😍: 베트남 사람이에요?
(Is she Vietnamese?)

😎: 네, 베트남 사람이에요.
(Yes, she is Vietnamese.)

Source: Yonsei University

Learning information

After learning about all of that. Then, our task today is thinking about how to implement it with the main sentence. This time, I want to combine it with a positive sentence that we have learned on the first lesson. Kindly read "noun as the topic markers", if you miss the previous lesson.

이/그/저 Noun은/는 Noun이에요/예요

For example:
이 사람은 기자예요.
This person is a reporter.

그 건물은 기숙사예요.
That building is a dormitory.

저 산은 브로모예요.
That mountain is Bromo.

Glossaries

사람 = a person
베트남 사람 = (a) Vietnamese.
기자 = a reporter
건물 = a building
기숙사 = a dormitory
산 = a mountain
브로모 = Bromo, Bromo Mountain