-는 것

Build it

When to use it

것 is a noun meaning “thing.” Put a modifier in front of it and the whole clause becomes something you can attach particles to: 한국어를 배우는 것이 재미있어요.

Because it uses the modifier system, tense is available: 먹은 것 (what I ate), 먹는 것 (what I’m eating), 먹을 것 (what I’ll eat). Adjectives take -(으)ㄴ, and stems in ㄹ drop it before -는 and -(으)ㄴ.

In speech it contracts constantly, and recognising the short forms matters more than producing them: 것이 becomes 게, 것을 becomes 걸, 것은 becomes 건, 것이에요 becomes 거예요. 이게 제가 만든 거예요.

How to attach it

In use

1. 한국 드라마를 보는 것을 좋아해요.

   I like watching Korean dramas.

2. 이건 어제 산 거예요.

   This is the one I bought yesterday.

3. 먹을 것 좀 주세요.

   Could I have something to eat?

4. 제가 하고 싶은 것은 여행이에요.

   What I want to do is travel.

5. 매일 운동하는 것이 중요해요.

   Exercising every day is important.

6. 늦게 자는 것은 몸에 안 좋아요.

   Going to bed late is bad for you.

Compared with

• -기

  -기 names an activity in the abstract and takes no tense; -는 것 refers to a specific instance and does. Several fixed patterns accept only one or the other.

  수영하기 쉬워요. (swimming is easy)  /  어제 수영한 것을 후회해요. (I regret swimming yesterday)

• Modifier + noun

  Same machinery, different noun. Replace 것 with a real noun and you have an ordinary relative clause.

  제가 만든 것 (the thing I made)  /  제가 만든 음식 (the food I made)

• -(으)ㄹ 것 같다

  One of many patterns built on this base. Knowing 것 well makes the whole family — 것 같다, 거예요, 것이다 — easier to unpack.

  비가 올 것 같아요.  /  비가 올 거예요.

Watch out

• 매운 것을 좋는 것을 몰랐어요.

  매운 것을 좋아하는 것을 몰랐어요.

  좋다 is an adjective meaning “is good.” To say someone likes something, the verb is 좋아하다, and it takes -는 것.

• 제가 만들는 것이에요.

  제가 만드는 것이에요.

  Stems ending in ㄹ drop it before -는, exactly as in the modifier system.

• 한국에 가는 것 전에 공부했어요.

  한국에 가기 전에 공부했어요.

  전에 accepts only -기. Not every noun-like pattern takes 것.

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