이것이 무엇이에요?

This posting is specially for Jean. She asks what does 것이/을 mean exactly in English and when and how is it used in sentences.



것 means "thing". 것 is used when people know the thing you are talking about. You can use 것 in place of book, car, house or anything that is inanimate.

The particle 이/을 behind 것 determines whether 것 is a subject or an object in a sentence. 이 behind 것, as in 것이, makes 것 a subject. Similarly 을 behind 것, as in 것을, makes 것 an object.


In example 1, the particle 이 is used to define 것 as a subject. When 것 is made a subject, the next thing you are going to do is to say or describe something about the subject. To do that, you will have to use stative verb like 싸다(cheap), 예쁘다(pretty), etc.

1. 이것이 싸요. This thing is cheap.


In example 2, the particle 을 is used to define 것 as an object. When 것 is an object, the next thing you are going to do is to say what you are doing to the object. To do that, you will have to use action verb like 좋아하다(like), 사랑하다(love), etc. The subject in this case is yourself. In Korean language, subject like "I" is normally omitted since it is understood who is performing the action. But this omission has also caused much confusion to beginners who are not particularly clear about the difference between 이/가 and 을/를.

2. (나는) 그것을 좋아해요. I like that thing.


To further add, the more frequent use of 것 is actually in nominalising verb to become noun. Verb can be changed into noun using 것 by following the below pattern.

Action Verb + 는 것 (Present Tense)
Action Verb + 은 것 (Past Tense)
Action Verb + 을 것 (Future Tense)


If I take 배우다 as the action verb, the examples below will show how 것 is used in each case.

배우다 + 는 것 = 배우는 것 (Learning)
배우는 것이 재미있어요. (Learning (thing) is interesting.)
배우는 것을 좋아해요. (I like learning (thing).)

배우다 + 은 것 = 배운 것 (Thing learned)
배운 것이 재미있었어요. (The thing learned was interesting.)
배운 것을 좋아해요. (I like the thing that I learned.)

배우다 + 을 것 = 배울 것 (Thing to learn)
배울 것이 재미있을 거예요. (The thing to learn will probably be interesting.)
배울 것을 좋아할 거예요. (I will probably like the thing I will be learning.)

Let say if 문화(culture) is the thing you are talking about, you can insert it in the following manner:

문화를 배우는 것이 재미있어요. (Learning culture is interesting.)
문화를 배우는 것을 좋아해요. (I like learning culture.)


것 can also be used to normalise stative verb like 예쁘다 in the following way:

Stative Verb + 은 것

예쁘다 + 은 것 = 예쁜 것 (Pretty thing)
예쁜 것이 비싸요. (Pretty thing is expensive.)
예쁜 것을 좋아해요. (I like pretty thing.)



I hope I do not confuse you, Jean. Sometimes I feel that the more I try to explain, the more confusing it get. Furthermore, I am explaining based on what I know. I hope my understanding of the use of 것 is correct. There are many more things that I can write about 것 since it is such a common word but I don't think I can go on without creating more confusion. If you don't understand what I wrote, I would say that it is my fault. Perhaps there is still something that I have not yet fully understood.


******


Jean, I think you are in luck. Kaye has kindly helped to elaborate on the three ways of nominalising verb to noun. Nominalisation with ~는 것, as I have shown above, is just one of the three ways. Read more in Kaye's blog.