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Personal Pronouns

In the Korean language, there are pronouns for first person, second person, and third person, singular and plural. Personal pronouns are divided into three groups according to the rank of the person with who you are speaking:

Speaking with people of a higher rank or position
Speaking with people of an equal rank or position
Speaking with people of a lower rank or position

Person	Number	Speaking with
Person	Number	Higher Rank	Equal Rank	Lower Rank
1st	Singular	저, 제 "I"	나, 내 "I"	나, 내 "I"
1st	Plural	우리, 저희 "we"	우리 "we"	우리 "we"
2nd	Singular	당신 "You"	너, 네 "you" 자네 "you" 그대 "you" (poetic)	너, 네 "you"
2nd	Plural	당신 (들) "you"	너희 (들) "you"	너희 (들) "you"
3rd	Singular	그 "he, she"
3rd	Plural	그들 "they"

Examples:

나는 한국말을 배웁니다. "I study Korean."

우리는 미국에서 왔슴니다. "We came from the USA."

그는 학생입나다. "He is a student."

그들은 부부입나다. "They are married."

NOTE:

In Korean, the word 당신 "you" is usually replaced with special words indicating a person's position or relative age.

Examples:

A question addressed to a university professor:

교수님은 무엇을 강의하십니까? "What are you (professor) teaching?"

A question addressed to a village chief:

이장님의 집이 어디에 있습니까? "Where is your (village chief's) house?"

A question addressed to an old woman:

이 아이가 할머니의 손자입니까? "Is it your (grandmother's) son?"

The word 여러분 ("gentlemen") is used instead of the second person plural pronoun 당신(들) "you".

Examples:

Questions addressed to a group of villagers:

여러분에게 식수가 있습니까? "Do you have drinking water?"

여러분 아이들이 학교에 다닙니까? "Do your children go to school?"

Nouns with the demonstrative pronoun 그 ("this") are used instead of the third person pronouns.

그 사람, 그 학생, 그 남자, 그 아이 "this person, this student, this man, this child" (replacing "he")

그 여자, 그 아가씨, 그 직원 "this woman, this lady, this employee" (replacing "she")

Examples:

그 사람에게 질문을 해도 됩니까? - 그 사람은 아무것도 모릅니다. "Can I ask this man some questions? - He knows nothing."

그 아가씨가 일합니까? - 그 아가씨는 아직 대학생입니다. "Does this lady work? - No, she is still a student."