5.5. Expressing Possession with the Particle 의

The particle that is spelled 의 (but pronounced [ 에 ]!) is a ONE-SHAPE PARTICLE: it is always the same, whether it comes after a vowel or a consonant. Its function is to link noun expressions together in such a way that the first one modifies, describes, or limits the meaning of the second one. The instances you have observed illustrate the POSSESSIVE meaning of 의.

  1. 남선생님(의) 종이에요?
    Is it Mr. Nam’s paper?
  1. 어느 분(의) 잡지에요?
    Whose [which esteemed person’s] magazine is it?
  1. 김선생님(의) 것이에요, 의사선생님(의) 것이에요?
    Is it Mr. Kim’s or is it the doctor’s?

In this usage the particle corresponds to the English suffix -‘s: John’s. . ., Mr. Cooper’s. . .
English pronouns, of course, are made possessive in other ways: I > my, you > your, he > his, and so on. Even who plus “‘s” undergoes a spelling alternation: whose. In Korean, the following possessive pronouns are also somewhat irregular:

MY (Plain/Intimate)  MY (Humble/Polite) YOUR (Plain/Intimate)
내 제 네

내 my is actually a combination of 나 I and the possessive particle 의, run together. Likewise, 제 is from 저 + 의, and 네 is from 너 + 의. It is also perfectly acceptable to use the unabbreviated sequences of 나의, 저의 and 너의.

Note that it is not possible to abbreviate 나의 NOUN and 저의 NOUN my NOUN to 나 NOUN and 저 NOUN, respectively.

Quite often a possessive meaning is present in phrases even when there is no 의:

  • 그사람 우산    
    that person’s umbrella
  • 김선생님 담배  
    Mr. Kim’s cigarettes

In effect, there are three different ways to make a possessive construction, as indicated below (remember, N = Noun):

      1. a) N 의 N:                       크리스씨의 선생

Chris’ teacher

      1. b) N     N:                       선생님 와인

your wine

      1. c) N [squeeze!] N:         선생님 것 [껏]

yours (your thing)

By “squeeze” here is meant the following: the pronunciation of initial/ㅂ, ㄷ, ㅈ, ㄱ, ㅅ/ in the second member of some NOUN + NOUNpairs like 것 thing in (c) can double (in pronunciation, but not in writing) for no good reason.

An important difference between English and Korean is that Korean sentences do not usually end with possessive phrases of the kind This is mine, as English sentences sometimes do, for the particle 의 must have another noun expression after it. This may be the unspecific quasi-free noun 것 the thing, the one, which in this usage corresponds to the English possessives in such sentences as This is the teacher’s and Where is Mr. Dewey’s? The following examples illustrate the point:

  1. 그것은 선생님(의) 위스키에요.
    That whiskey is the teacher’s.

[lit.: That thing is the teacher’s whiskey]

  1. 그 위스키는 선생님(의) 것이에요
    That whiskey is the teacher’s (thing!).

You must not say something like:

*그 위스키는 선생님의에요.

Here are some further examples of the POSSESSIVE PARTICLE:

  1. 이집이 영진씨(의) 집이에요?
    Is this house Youngjin’s?
  1. 이것이 일본말 선생님(의) 연필이에요.
    This is the Japanese teacher’s pencil.
  1. 저 신문이 누구(의) 신문이에요? ? 제것이에요.
    Whose newspaper is that? It’s mine.
  1. 저 담배가 어느 분(의) 것이에요? ? 제 것이에요.
    Whose cigarettes are those? They’re mine.

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