걔

걔 U+AC54, 걔 HANGUL SYLLABLE GYAE Composition: ㄱ + ㅒ ← 걓 [U+AC53] Hangul Syllables 걕 → [U+AC55]

걔걕걖걗걘걙걚 걛걜걝걞걟걠걡 걢걣걤걥걦걧걨 걩걪걫걬걭걮걯
갸 ←	→ 거

Korean

Etymology

Contraction of 그 애 (geu ae, “that kid”). Cognate with Jeju 가이 (gai).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [kjɛ] ~ [kje̞]
• Phonetic hangul: [걔/계]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	gyae
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	gyae
McCune–Reischauer?	kyae
Yale Romanization?	kyay

Pronoun

걔 • (gyae)

1. (colloquial) that kid; he or she

   걔는 학교에서 늘 우등생이었어.

   gyaeneun hakgyoeseo neul udeungsaeng'ieosseo.

   That kid was always on the honor roll in school.

Usage notes

In colloquial Korean, 걔 (along with deictic variants 얘 (yae), 쟤 (jae)) is the word that most closely resembles the English third-person pronoun. Despite the etymology, it can be used for all human referents with the restrictions given below, and is value-neutral.

Like 너 (neo, “you”), the use of 걔 implies that the person being referred to by the pronoun is of equal or lower social rank compared to the speaker. When referring to a social superior, speakers use either a title, a word referring to the relationship between the speaker and the addressee, or circumlocutional phrases like 그분 (geubun, “that [honored] person”). Thus a college student may use the pronoun 걔 to refer to a classmate, but their professor must be referred to as 교수님 (gyosunim, “honorable professor”).

The use of 걔 in socially impermissible contexts, such as when referring to a superior, should be understood as the speaker showing contempt for the referent.

See also

Korean demonstratives edit
Determiner		이	그	저	어느
Pronoun	Human	이이	그이	저이	뉘
		이분	그분	저분	어느 분
		이자	그자	저자
		얘	걔	쟤
	Object	이	(그)	(저)	어느
		이것	그것	저것	어느 것
		이거	그거	저거	어느 거
	Place	여기	거기	저기	어디
		이곳	그곳	저곳	어느 곳
	Direction	이쪽	그쪽	저쪽	어느 쪽
	Time	이때	그때	접때	언제
Verb		이러다	그러다	저러다	어쩌다
		이리하다	그리하다	저리하다	어찌하다
Adjective		이렇다	그렇다	저렇다	어떻다
		이러하다	그러하다	저러하다	어떠하다
Adverb		이리	그리	저리	어찌
		이렇게	그렇게	저렇게	어떻게
		이만큼	그만큼	저만큼	얼마만큼(얼마큼)