Click on the play button below to listen to the audio recording.
For more explanations on the following sentences below, please refer to the lesson, Possessive - 의.
Eg.
- 나 + 의 → 나의 = my
- 너 + 의 → 너의 = your
- 그 + 의 → 그의 = his
- 그녀 + 의 → 그녀의 = her
However, in most spoken Korean, they are simplified for easier pronunciation.
Eg.
- 나의 → 내
- 너의 → 네 (pronounced 니)
- 그의/그녀의 → 쟤,걔 (casual form)
- 누가(who) → 누구 (whose)
내 and 네(니) are more commonly used than other possessives in spoken Korean. In most cases 의 is omitted.
Eg.
- My car = 내 차
- Your shoes = 네 신발 (pronounced 니 신발)
- Michael's car = 마이클의 자동차 (written form) or 마이클 차 (spoken form)
Notice that 의 has been omitted. Also, 자동차 has been simplified to 차.
- 누구 차야? (Whose car is it?)
- 마이클 (차) (You can either answer by saying 마이클 or 마이클 차)
Eg.
- Lisa's friend1: 리사 가방 진짜 예뻐. (Lisa's handbag is really pretty)
- Lisa's friend2: 진짜? 나도 그거 사고 싶다. (Really? I, too, want to buy that)
Another thing to note is that 네 is attached to a personal name if a noun being possessed is a group/organisation. (Spoken Form)
- Lisa's friend1: 리사네 집 진짜 커 (Lisa's house is really big)
- Lisa's friend2: 리사네 학교도 커. (Lisa's school, too, is big)
리사네 집 = Lisa's house (it implies that she lives in that house with her family, although 리사네 집 can still be used to refer to the house where she lives alone.)
