2 · Before a noun, and verbs as nouns
The thing that …: 것, 거 and -는 것
nominalising with a dependent noun
The noun 것 after a modifier means “the thing that …” or turns a whole verb into a noun: 수영하는 것, swimming.
것 means “thing”, but it never stands alone: it needs something in front of it, like 이 in 이것, or a modifier. After a verb with -는, it turns the action into a noun, the way “-ing” does in English: 수영하는 것, “swimming”; 요리하는 것을 좋아해요, “I like cooking”. The new noun takes particles like any other: 것이, 것을, 것은.
With the other modifiers it means “the thing that …” and keeps their time: 제가 산 것, “the thing I bought”; 먹을 것, “something to eat”; 먹는 것, “what one eats” or “eating”. Because 것 is a separate word, it is written with a space: 하는 것, never 하는것.
In speech, 것 is almost always 거, and it fuses with the particle after it: 것이 becomes 게, 것을 becomes 걸, 것은 becomes 건, and 것이에요 becomes 거예요. 이게 뭐예요? is simply 이것이 뭐예요? as people say it. Write 것 in formal texts, and expect 거 in every conversation.
English speakers try to use the dictionary form as a noun, because “to swim” can be a noun in English: 수영하다를 좋아해요. A dictionary form is only a label in a word list; inside a sentence, a verb that acts as a noun needs -는 것 (or -기, the topic after next).
The form
| a verb as a noun | 수영하다 → 수영하는 것 |
| the thing that … (past) | 제가 산 것 |
| something to … | 먹을 것, 마실 것 |
| in speech: 거 | 하는 거, 산 거, 먹을 거 |
| fused with particles in speech | 것이 → 게, 것을 → 걸, 것은 → 건 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
-는 것 turns a verb into a noun.
저는 사진 찍는 것을 좋아해요.I like taking photos.
The new noun takes particles like any other noun.
한국어로 말하는 것이 아직 어려워요.Speaking Korean is still difficult for me.
After the other modifiers, 것 means “the thing that …” and keeps their time.
이게 어제 제가 산 거예요.This is what I bought yesterday.
In speech, 것 becomes 거 and merges with particles.
제가 좋아하는 건 이거예요.This is the one I like.
A closer look
-는 것 or a real noun?
Many activities have their own noun, usually a Sino-Korean word that also takes 하다: 수영, 요리, 운동. With those, 수영을 좋아해요 is shorter and just as natural as 수영하는 것을 좋아해요. -는 것 is needed when the activity is more than one word: 바다에서 수영하는 것, 친구들하고 요리하는 것.
-는 것 and -기 often compete. As a rough guide, -는 것 is the general-purpose form, while -기 belongs to fixed patterns (-기 전에, -기 쉽다) and to lists and headings.
How to spot it
- 것
- 거
- -는 것
- 게
- 걸
- 건
Example sentences
제 취미는 영화 보는 거예요.My hobby is watching films.
아침에 일찍 일어나는 것이 제일 힘들어요.Getting up early in the morning is the hardest thing.
이 가방은 제가 직접 만든 거예요.I made this bag myself.
냉장고에 먹을 거 있어요?Is there anything to eat in the fridge?
운동하는 걸 싫어하는 사람도 있어요.Some people hate exercising.
제가 말하는 건 그게 아니에요.That is not what I mean.
8 more example sentences
혼자 여행하는 것을 좋아하세요?Do you like travelling alone?
한국 음식 중에서 제일 좋아하는 건 뭐예요?What is your favourite Korean dish?
어제 본 거 다시 보고 싶어요.I want to watch what we saw yesterday again.
친구를 기다리는 게 지루하지 않았어요.Waiting for my friend was not boring.
이 단어를 외우는 게 쉽지 않아요.Learning this word by heart is not easy.
필요한 거 있으면 말씀하세요.If you need anything, just say so.
제가 산 걸 동생이 먹었어요.My younger brother ate what I had bought.
매일 일기를 쓰는 것은 좋은 습관이에요.Writing a diary every day is a good habit.
Worth knowing (1)
-
이게, 그건, 저걸
The fused forms you meet first are the demonstratives: 이게 (this, as subject), 이건 (this, as topic), 이걸 (this, as object), and the same with 그 and 저. They are 이것이, 이것은 and 이것을 said quickly, and they are spelt that way in everyday writing.
그건 제 거예요.That is mine.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The dictionary form is a word-list label, not a noun. To make an action into something you can like, the verb takes -는 and the noun 것 follows: 수영하는 것을, in speech 수영하는 거. Where a noun exists, it is even simpler: 수영을 좋아해요.
Verb plus -neun geot is a noun — and in speech geot is geo.
Your turn
9 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.