Here, there, and where?

A question about a place, and a pointing answer

Play the two lines. The question ends in 어디예요? — 어디 (where) plus 예요, built exactly like 뭐예요? from the last lesson.

The answer is one word and the same ending: 저기예요, “it is over there”. Korean does not repeat “the restroom” or add an “it”. What is obvious is left out, and the short answer is the normal one.

여기, 거기, 저기: the same three distances

You have read 여기 and 거기 before. With 저기 the set is complete, and it matches the last lesson: 여기 is the place near me, 거기 the place near you, 저기 a place away from both of us.

Set the two families side by side: 이거 and 여기, 그거 and 거기, 저거 and 저기. The 거 words are things; the 기 words are places.

저기 “over there” is not 저기요 “excuse me” — the 요 turns it into a call for attention.

The place you are looking for takes 이 or 가

Look at what follows each place: 은행이, 편의점이, 카페가. It is the particle from unit 2, the one that marks what the question is about.

The form follows the usual rule. After a final consonant it is 이, and the consonant links over: 편의점이 sounds like [펴니저미]. After a vowel it is 가: 카페가.

Places worth asking for

One new word, 역 (a train or subway station), next to three places you can already read: 은행 bank, 병원 hospital, 편의점 convenience store.

All four end in a final consonant, so all four take 이 in the question: 역이 어디예요?

역이 sounds exactly like 여기. “Where is the station?” and “Where is this place?” are told apart by context, not by ear.

Saying what a place is

여기가 학교예요 names the place you are standing in or pointing at: “this is the school”. English uses “this”; Korean uses the place word 여기, because a place is not a thing.

여기, 거기 and 저기 all end in a vowel, so the particle is 가. Then comes the noun with 이에요 or 예요 as always: 학교예요, 식당이에요.