이게 or 이거?
Hello!

What’s the difference between 이게 and 이거? I suppose both of them mean ”this” (not sure though) but i don’t know when both are being used.

I’ve heard these sentences before:
-”뭐야 이거?”
-“이게 뭐야?”

I think both of them mean ”what is this?”, and if that’s the case, why do they use sometimes 이게 and sometimes 이거?

Thanks!

Question

이게 or 이거?
Hello!

What’s the difference between 이게 and 이거? I suppose both of them mean ”this” (not sure though) but i don’t know when both are being used.

I’ve heard these sentences before:
-”뭐야 이거?”
-“이게 뭐야?”

I think both of them mean ”what is this?”, and if that’s the case, why do they use sometimes 이게 and sometimes 이거?

Thanks!

Answer

1) 이게 is a contraction of 이것 +이(suffix)  So 이게=이것이
2) 이거 is a contraction of 이것.  So 이거=이것
3) 이것,거 is 이(this) + 것,거(thing). So 이것 means 'this thing.'

이게 and 이거 both mean 'this thing' but they are different grammatically.
While you can say '이거(-를) 먹어도 되나? as in, can I eat this(-thing)?' you can't say 이게(이것이) 먹어도 되나?