Why you shouldn't say 그녀 for “she” in Korean

You often see the words 그 and 그녀 used to refer to “he” and “she” respectively, but that is only in written text. If you say 그 or 그녀 in spoken Korean, you will sound very unnatural or too formal or poetic. Then how DO you actually talk about someone as “he” or “she” in Korean? You use the person’s name or title. In this video lesson, teacher Hyunwoo explains why you shouldn’t actually use the words 그 or 그녀 in spoken Korean.
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[@ForestKuret]

'그녀' is modern created word to translate english word 'she.' before 1920's, korean used '그' for both 'he' and 'she.'

[@Majeed.]

A ha

[@ruthie_chie]

포쿠 good to know

[@agnesfonmarten]

same as the chinese 'ta'

[@jenniferyu2828]

yea tru

[@DELee-qo6kv]

@Karyadi Iskandar in the case 그 indicate 'he', it will be translated to 彼(kare) in japanese. similarly, 그녀 becomes 彼女(kanozyo).

[@huiyi4551]

I always thought the reason why 그 and 그녀 arent used in spoken Korean is because they sound a bit rude compared to using name or social title

[@user-Ou38uwHZ3]

The word '그,그녀' is the influence of European Language during 16~18th century In Meiji Period Japan, They first made these word in Kanji just for detail tranlation 'Kare/Kanojo(彼/彼女)'. And later, Korea adopted this directly-translated words. This is Why it is awkward when using the words in Conversation. It is stll used just for He-She translations from English literature.

[@kunwoododd2154]

Well when you think about it it's also sorta that reason too, but only because it's just so easy to accidentally say rude things in languages like Korean and Japanese.

[@plutoskn7316]

I am honestly really thankful that people like you exist, I love you all sooo much you’ve changed my year so much i have been a month learning korean and i am in level 6 now! I am able to speak korean to my korean friends now, also i am able to understand song lyrics when i read them , this is a first language i have learned on my own and i am really happy i feel so proud of myself❤️ I want you to know how amazing you are and thank you so much for your free lessons since i live in egypt and its hard to buy anything online❤️

[@talktomeinkorean]

That’s amazing!!

[@plutoskn7316]

Talk To Me In Korean ❤️❤️❤️

[@tea_jayy]

Level 6 after only a month? Teach me your ways, sunbaenim!

[@carleflores9065]

wow! congratulations! i've been learning for 6 months and still at basic! :000000 i'm so impressed!!!

[@plutoskn7316]

tajjrajah75 Maybe a month and half haha but i studyy alotttt everyday because i knew that ill be busy when the school starts

This topic is really confusing to me. Thanks for the explanation!

[@celiavdpol]

Your hair blends well with the background xD

[@sua1875]

i want to like your comment but i don’t want to ruin it

[@bratzlover501]

My korean friend uses 그녀 to talk about a girl she doesn’t like though 🤔😅

[@rizkynindy]

It's interesting that third person in Korean is genderless, just like in Indonesian. I didn't know this before. As an Indonesian learning Korean, I think it's easier to learn this way. Thank you for this. I found your videos are really helpful.

[@BunnyBunniee]

That's interesting. 😊

[@xolang]

@Erma Nurhidayah actually most native languages outside of Europe (except Afroasiatic family which includes Arabic & Amharic) don't distinguish her & him. It just happened that european languages ended up dominating the world of business today. In Europe itself notable languages without distinction of her & him are Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian and Basque spoken in Spain and France.

[@anara8287]

I’m sorry but what does third person is genderless mean??

[@jinliaxo1387]

In finnish it’s unnatural to say the words ”he/she/they”, we just use ”it” and ”they” (they as used for objects)

[@babyphotocards515]

Same for Turkish too! I think it's because of korean,turkish,finnish all of them are part of uralic-altaic language family

[@xolang]

@@babyphotocards515 actually most native languages outside of Europe (except Afroasiatic family which includes Arabic & Amharic) don't distinguish her & him. It just happened that european languages ended up dominating the world of business today. In Europe itself notable languages without distinction of her & him are Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian and Basque spoken in Spain and France.

[@PiroMunkie]

I always found this a bit of a struggle. Even though I've understood that they're never really used often from your early lessons, the native English speaker in me always wants to use them. However, now that I'm here teaching in Korea it's been a help to actually hear my coworkers refer to me in Korean as "this teacher" or "[Name] teacher" in contexts where I would normally use "he" or "she."

[@nishh6852]

Just realised my language doesn’t have he & she either 😂😂😂😂 I never realised that😅 my language is HINDI bydw

[@jhilmilmengi7819]

I'm a hindi speaker too. It was your comment that cleared the whole concept up for me finally. ☺️☺️☺️It means maybe in the sentence itself, the verb tells whether it is he or she?

[@harbhajansinghania]

Even I didn't realize. But we use "Rahi hai" or "Raha he" in order differentiate the genders

[@jeonjungkookie4513]

@*Fancy June* are you also Indian ?

[@jeonjungkookie4513]

@*Fancy June* hmm we have to learn Hindi and English alone with our mother tongue and then if anyone wants to learn another language then its like a challenge so...

[@nishh6852]

no u wow tagalog? That’s a new language I’ve heard about

[@ouwkyuha]

I just realized people said 걔 instead of 개 :v i thought older people was rude to their kids jajajajajajaja

[@osfnzusjwnnoudisn7601]

😂

[@stinehald110]

ahahah

[@kendallwithluv]

hahah because 개 means dog

[@she9690]

what’s the difference though?

[@WholsomeHoney]

@@y22ks im having trouble pronouncing. 개 and 걔 sound the same to me...

[@YourDidItHun]

Your lessons are so good! Thank you for always being very clear.

[@kathy4259]

Yay you're back with your videos :D 보고 싶었어요 :( I look forward to these - I guess we have been spoilt receiving one nearly every day :p Thank you so much - you are all such amazing Teachers:)

[@susansouthgate2774]

Love these little sessions, very helpful thanks

[@mayracedeno9684]

Oh! This is kind of similar with Spanish, we tend to omit the subject or use the person' name in a sentence, or as for the bag example, the Spanish possessive pronoun for he/she is 'su' so without a name or previous context you wouldn't be able to tell if you're referring to a he or a she 😊 I'll keep this in mind for when I reach this in my books!

[@danielmartinez7047]

In Spanish we always use He or She. Same as English.

[@mayracedeno9684]

@@danielmartinez7047 for subject pronouns yes we use el/ella but for possessive pronouns we do use 'su' for both genders, at least when speaking OF a third person, like e.g.: esta es su maleta, we wouldn't know if the bag belongs to him/her, but then when speaking WITH someone,of course we could use: esta maleta es tuya/tuyo So I guess in Spanish we use both for possessive pronouns...

[@danielmartinez7047]

@@mayracedeno9684 Tienes razón. Esta es su maleta es correcto. Pensé que se decía diferente. Yo no tuve escuela y creo que esa es la razón de mi falta de comprensión. Gracias por ayudarme. I thought I was right but I wasn't. You are more cunning than I thought. Spanish is my first language but I always make a lot of mistakes when writing. 고마워 내 여자친구. 다시만나요!

[@xolang]

@@mayracedeno9684 true, and in Brazil, since most of them don't use tu nor vos, «a sua mala» could mean «your/her/his/their suitcase». to avoid confusion you usually simply say «a mala dele/dela/deles/delas/de vocês» which mostly ends up revealing the gender of the possessor.

[@ShiviRo]

I just love your Korean accent and voice. Either way I don't understand a lot korean ( learning stage) I can listen to you hours and hours just hear you speaking Korean. Can you do 1 hour Korean poetry or novel or anything.. 😁😁

[@mitchelllowery5940]

Thank you! This is definitely favourite series! 😊

[@gisels.5769]

Same here!

[@Worgiewoo]

This is timely, I’m struggling on pronouns at the moment. 👍

[@izabelleabreu9746]

This channel is very helpful, thank you

[@kendidoodle]

Yayyyy! I love your voice (idk if it’s weird to say that lol) also, even though English is my first language, you speak it better and more clear than I do 😂

[@eya107]

I really love your videos. Thank you ♡

[@beankurded]

Amazing! I always wondered about this!

[@graceribeiro6098]

Yaay you're back!!

[@michaelaoren7058]

Thank you! This video helps me so much.

[@dinah1110]

Thank you so much for your amazing explanation, showing us these beautiful aspects of this great language ❤

[@danielaespinosa5126]

Thank you so much for this video!

[@sobaksobak4185]

As an intermediate learner, these kind of videos help me the most. TTMIK 감사합니다!

[@antaratabassumpeuli9317]

I really needed this video thanks!!!

[@jeff__w]

I always thought that what was going on with dictionary sentences using 그 or 그녀 is, as you said, the actual identity of the person doesn't matter (there is _no_ person - it's just a sample sentence) so 그 and 그녀 are used to keep the sentence as generic as possible _or_ if the sentence is a translation from, say, English, those words convey the sense of the sentence where "he" or "she" is used. (In actual spoken Korean, you're usually referring to a real person and can use his or her name or title.)

[@shirin3166]

Nice to see you again Jeff! Remember me?

[@jeff__w]

@@shirin3166 Remember you? Cherries 🍒, I just chatted with you, like, _yesterday!_ ㅋㅋㅋ But nice to see you here. ☺️

[@shirin3166]

@@jeff__w 네! :D

[@NoMusicNoLife10x]

Thank you for this!!

[@kaouM]

정말 감사합니다 it was veryyyyy interesting and i really was waiting for a new video because i watched all your very usefull video ❤❤ please continue to help us to learn korean 😄😄

[@luuharu6580]

Wooow thanks! It was really helpful

[@BriFijiOfficial]

This was so helpful because I literally was just watching a learning video yesterday and they kept saying 그 and 그녀. I thought it was natural to say.

[@lalala37773]

Great explanation! ⭐

[@danielxu3104]

I love your video，thank you so much!!!!

[@jjsdrxvi]

Thanks for this! :)

[@youdontknowannyeonghaseyo4104]

Comparing two languages that I know which are Bengali and English, I see that there are a lot of similarities of Korean with both the languages. I'm happy as I can understand because of the similarities and also all of the teacher in TTMIK's clear explanations :) Thank you. I am an elementary Korean learner, in TTMIK level 2 and I am happy that I can make a lot of sentences by my own with the help of all of you. You do a lot of effort for all the Korean learners. 감사합니다💜😊 화이팅 여러분!! You can do it easily with TTMIK 😊😊

[@jaeinkim7597]

thank God i saw this vid! i'll keep those in mind! 선생님 감사합니다! 😊

[@juliayoongi7997]

Thank you Teacher 💕

[@graciiee8937]

Thank you so much for this! I make sample sentences and I always use “그녀”

[@maroua9409]

Thanks for sharing ❤

[@omerhamzabilgin8963]

Thank you very much TTMIK :)

[@plutoskn7316]

고마워요 선생님! 오늘 TTMIK에서 많이 공부할 겸해서 , 연습할 겸해서

[@crush3630]

When I learned that we can't remove subjects from sentences in English, I was very surprised. We also can omit subjects in Turkish. And also we don't have male/female things even for the third person (she/he) we always say "O". So easy😄👌

[@topazmiranda95]

I’m the opposite. I’m a native English speaker trying to learn Korean, and once I got to the lessons where the subject could be omitted, everything went downhill for me. 😂 I never seem to be able to keep track of who or what is being talked about without the subject being stated. I remember thinking to myself, “It only takes a second to say the subject and about 30 seconds to go back and clarify what was being talked about. How is this more efficient?!” Then I realized other languages are just used to not having them.

[@jihunIee]

Yes Koreans are very used to guessing what's being talked about and it takes zero effort. I'm sure you'll realize that not every situation needs to be clarified to communicate 😁 Also, there are many other verb conjugations that indicate the subject.

[@jihunIee]

Well technically they won't specify the subject, but they will help you understand the situation in ways like telling it's citation or showing respect etc.

[@marialuisaachille9608]

선현우 선생님, 제가 정말 이 수업을 기다리고 있었네요!! 많이 감사합니다! 👏🏻👏🏻😊😊🌻

[@lampbearer851]

It was so helpful! Thank you! Our Korean teacher have not mentioned it yet.may be because we have just started to learn Korean and so that we don't get confuse..I am learning Korean language since past 6 months at Korean culture and language center (KCLC) in my city..I am about to complete beginner level..love from India~

[@ayoukh3126]

I'm so grateful for being able to watch ttmik on KZbin

[@talktomeinkorean]

We're grateful for being able to teach it to you guys :)

[@delalima]

that was great because i have heard these words in songs , very good to know

[@Shellszs]

현우님은 최고요!!! 감사합니다!

[@sihemsihem4202]

Thank you so much😊

[@cmt2187]

Thank You!!

[@StellarTwinkles]

Great explanations Hyunwoo, great explanations, though sorry 4:59 I was momentarily distracted (in a fun way lol) by Kyeongeun at 4:59 hahaha. Those interstitials are great.

[@389293912]

Actually, it's easier for me to remember these general rules of speech (drop a lot of pronouns) than it is to learn new words. New words hard. General rules easy. In European languages everything has gender, even non-living things. And verbs and adjectives all have to be conjugated based on various pronouns. Korean is MUCH easier than all that.

[@choupette3725]

Thank you 😊

[@elimoon]

Hello! Thank you very much for this lesson! I really appreciate it. I've been learning Korean for a couple of months now and I feel like I'm stuck, so I am thinking about purchasing some books from your store, however, I'd like to know.. I already know that the e-book for level 1 has the same content as the physical textbook for level 1, but does the e-book come with a workbook? do you have an e-workbook? Once again, thank you very very much!

[@mingdiprincess]

you got to the point, thx brother

[@pr3ttyWaHin3]

this is very helpful

[@watoonkh3966]

진짜 고마워요ㅛㅛㅛ 💜💜

[@MARIO-sq1ez]

Excelente video!!!!

[@0royal_]

Oh this was uploaded on my Birthday ☺️ thank you for the valuable information!!

[@kobop8620]

royalempress _ happy birthdayyyyy

[@0royal_]

Ko Bop thank you very much!! 😊

[@sugabiology4951]

It's been a few months since I started learning Korean through your website and my native friends say I'm getting better everyday :'))) can't wait to leave for dorms and buy your books (mom won't let me buy books at home😩)

[@janarodriguez7788]

thank you 😊

[@ileanazen6805]

선생님 감사합니다~

[@essyl0621]

감사합니다 선생님!😊

[@Luna70537]

감사합니다😘

[@Jorge007dr]

Much needed video.

[@taliatutiven2977]

Gracias, espero pronto tengan más videos los subtitles in spanish. Thank you

[@sanderland3487]

I also heard it was because 그 년은 and 그녀는 have identical pronunciation, which is a bit unfortunate.

[@mehehehek]

what's the meaning of the first word?

[@sierramobley8962]

@@mehehehek 년 can mean "bitch" and is often used like 나쁜년 "bad bitch" (not in the good way😅), 미친 년 "crazy bitch," etc, so I'm guessing that's another reason not to say these pronouns lol my boyfriend, who is from Korea, even told me to refer to specific years as 20--년도 because of this also lol

[@shirin3166]

@@mehehehek 년 can also mean year lol

[@wktmalsMoli]

I've also heard 얘 and 쟤, and never understood them 🤔 thank you for all your help!

[@tatianagoulart13]

Thank you

[@rawiii5578]

Thank you so much really

[@maryam-ly9ed]

So helpful🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@katreenajoyceparcon5639]

Hi! I'm big fan of your channel. It's very helpful for us, people who wanna learn korean. I just have a question, is it possible for me to buy the book in a soft copy? I'm from the Philippines and if I buy a single book, shipping fee will be more expensive than the actuall book.

[@sarehkazemizadeh6224]

nice lesson. thank you very much. I wanted to know if in describing things, like her bag, if using jagi is unnatural too? like jagi kabang sorry I don't have Korean keyboard on my laptop so I should write it in English, just the sound of it :)

[@dianassa97]

"녀" sounds like an spanish "ñ" right?? am I listening correctly?

[@hankri9344]

yes

[@danielmartinez7047]

No.

[@selina4233]

녀 is like ñyeo, kinda if you say jalapeño but with the o prpnounced differently.

[@MiguelEnriqueCVeluz]

에녜

[@catenjoyer76]

Super late but I speak Spanish and I think it's the sound of ñ but a bit less aggressive

[@thiswowzer3217]

Thank you:D

[@imusician8885]

감사합니다 for this.

[@NayunRakim205]

you're are saving us for sure, you have the best explanation ever. i've seen many other channels but you're the BEST of all. thank you so much. always your videos are on point and so helpful and useful.

[@sergiodiazjimenez6259]

Your videos are very helpful. I am currently looking for a month cultural and language exchange in Seoul. any recommendation?

[@aerisscallon9730]

SIR YUNHOO THANK YOU MUCH,,

[@orangejmoothies]

I’m Korean American and whenever I talked to my mom and use “그녀는...”, I would accidentally combine “녀+ㄴ” and well...ended up saying something entirely different lolol so i try not to use it.

[@t_tina]

Thank you so much for breaking this down to me! Hopefully I will fully grasp the pronouns soon!

[@ellababy3961]

Thanks

[@bri1850]

I haven’t learnt many pronouns yet but this is a good tip even though I know it’s going to make me even more confused. Sometimes when I’m reading korean sentences I get so confused with who they are talking about. But I know over time I’ll get better and with more practice since I’m only at level two.Your lessons really do help me a lot. 감사합니다 선생님.

[@lunacelestia77]

Gasp! Korean has gender neutral pronouns! Thank you so much for making these videos! They help break difficult concepts or concepts we don't see often in other languages down and make it so much easier to understand

[@moonmelodies8974]

Uh, yeah. Like basically every language.

[@lunacelestia77]

@@moonmelodies8974 I'm trans, let me be excited

[@gwnbld9479]

@@lunacelestia77 ew

[@rt1947h]

Thank you for this video! I realised this is the same for Japanese, where they prefer to use names and titles, and the subject is also usually omitted since both parties (in the conversation) will know what the other person meant. This makes learning Korean for me much easier.

[@rt1947h]

Yes, I was (pleasantly) surprised to find that out only after I started learning Korean. I am also fluent in Chinese (Mandarin) so it helps a lot when learning Korean. I instinctively try to find the Chinese “equivalent” when learning new Korean vocabulary. Knowing the Hanja (if applicable) helps me remember the words.

[@rt1947h]

Karyadi Iskandar Yes, I write more Kanji in my notes than English or Chinese.

[@broytingaravsol]

hi, this is a learner r there participles for korean's verbs? and is there a reflexive and prepositions in korean language? or just by particles or called markers?

[@actualtrash2546]

There is a similar concept in Japanese where the direct translation for he and she would be 彼 and 彼女 but nobody ever uses it when speaking.

[@mishparubhavathy]

Can you recommend best English Korean dictionary please

[@errolg]

Ahh, the little Kyeong-eun at 4:50

[@michaelpanlilio6500]

In our language, Filipino (Tagalog), we use the word 'Siya' both means he or she and can be used in both context and spoken Filipino. And it can be distinguished depending on the context or person being talked about.

[@cserannie80]

헝가리어 똑같아요. 우리는 he/she 말하지 않아요. 사용하는 단어가 “ő”에요

[@sameershaik9151]

Bro can you make a video about "Chuseok"

[@birdeynamnam]

I tried to go back to duolingo, but it drives me crazy that they demand I use 그 and 그녀

[@ahmetbabaniyazow8147]

안녕하세요 Talk To Me in Korean 에서 잃아고 있는 사람들.이렇게 동영상을 많이 주셔서 감사함니다. 앞으로도 또 많이 이야기 동영상 주시기를 바람니다.

[@ohpinkiepie]

FINALLY someone told me this. After 3 years of learning Korean

[@eng7129]

thank uuu

[@serenityq26]

but what about when you dont KNOW the person to say their name or social title? like you are with a friend and want to say "did you see that girl? she was pretty" wouldnt 그녀 fit in this case?

[@talktomeinkorean]

Then you say 저 여자 or 저 아줌마, 저 학생, 저기 저 사람 or some other nouns :)

[@PRANCINPRINCE]

I would say "저 여자 봤어? 쟤 예쁘다” (쟤=저 아이). The subject doesn't specifically have to be a kid to use 얘/쟤/걔

[@michaelcorbett4236]

English has this for "you" (singular and plural). It can get so confusing that it's common to hear "you all", "youse" or "youse'uns"

[@BernardoIsadora]

jesus, 그 is used for so many things, i'm going crazy over this at least now i don't have to worry about it in this case! thank you for your great videos!!!

[@BunEsub]

IKR