Mallo Bits

Possessive Particle: 의

Written by Min Sung Kim | Jul 20, 2023 7:13:26 AM

Hey, that's mine! Is this yours? Possessive pronouns are used everyday, and mastering it is a quick and sure way to sound fluent in Korean. After this 15 minute Korean lesson, you will be one step closer to sounding like a Korean native!

How to pronounce 의 (eui)

Let's break down 의. It consists of:

  • : open vowel sound (no sound)
  • : eu
  • l   : i

TIP: If you are finding the pronunciation difficult, try saying: 으 이 quickly! If you are finding Hangul pronunciations difficult, study these quick (15 minute) Korean lessons on Pronunciation!

It should sound like this:

 

How to use 의:

Pronoun + + object

  • 책 (na-eui chek) = My book
  • 선생님 연필 (sun-seng-nim-eui yeon-pil) = Teacher's pencil

In this way, adding is like adding 's in English!

 

In Practice:

For I and you, we rarely use 나의 and 너의. Look at the chart below to find out a quick hack to sound more fluent in Korean!

Pronoun (KOR) +의 (ENG) "Textbook" In Practice
My 나의
Your 너의 (read and written as: 니/너)

Using this knowledge, how would you say:

  • This is my cup. (polite)
    • => 이건 컵이에요.

 

  • Is this your water? (casual)
    • => 이거 네 (너/니) 물이야?