Grammar
-(으)ㄴ/는 것
Meaning
Beginner-(eu)n/neun geot
Turns a verb or adjective clause into a noun phrase, like English '-ing' or 'the thing that ~'. Use -는 것 for something happening now and -(으)ㄴ 것 for a finished action, so 다시 만든 것입니다 means 'it is something that was made again'. Because the result behaves like a noun, it can take any particle: 것은, 것을, 것이, or 것만으로 ('just by ~ing'), as in 보여 주는 것만으로 ('just by showing').
Form
Attach the modifier ending to the stem, then the bound noun 것 with a space before it. Verbs take -는 것 in the present (가다 → 가는 것, 읽다 → 읽는 것) and -(으)ㄴ 것 for a completed action (찍다 → 찍은 것, 보다 → 본 것). Adjectives take -(으)ㄴ 것 for the present (좋다 → 좋은 것, 크다 → 큰 것). Stems ending in ㄹ drop it before both endings: 살다 → 사는 것, 만들다 → 만든 것. In speech 것이/것을/것은 are often shortened to 게/걸/건.
Examples
혼자 미술관에 가는 것은 생각보다 재미있습니다.
Going to a museum alone is more fun than you would think.
저는 미술관에 가는 것을 좋아합니다.
I like going to art museums.
이 사진은 제가 찍은 것입니다.
This photo is one I took myself.
제 목표는 한국어로 뉴스를 읽는 것입니다.
My goal is to read the news in Korean.
제가 좋아하는 것은 바닷가에서 사진을 찍는 것입니다.
What I like is taking photos at the seaside.
제 취미는 주말에 기차를 타는 것입니다.
My hobby is riding trains on weekends.
동작을 보여 주는 것만으로 로봇이 배울 수 있습니다.
The robot can learn just from being shown the motion.
Common mistakes & nuance
것 is a bound noun, so leave a space before it — 가는 것, never 가는것. Learners often use -는 것 for adjectives too, but an adjective takes -(으)ㄴ 것 even when it describes the present (좋는 것 is wrong; 좋은 것 is right). And because 것 is a noun, something has to follow it — a particle or the copula 이다 — so a sentence ends 제 취미는 여행하는 것입니다, written together, not 것 입니다.
Similar grammar
- -(으)ㄴ 것은 -이다
-(으)ㄴ 것은 -이다 is one fixed sentence pattern built on this nominaliser, used to single out one part of a situation and comment on it. -(으)ㄴ/는 것 itself is just the noun-making tool, free to sit anywhere a noun can — as subject, object, or complement.
- -는 것이 좋다
-는 것이 좋다 is this same -는 것 followed by 좋다 to give advice ('it is good to ~'). Seeing it that way makes the pattern easy: once a verb is a noun, ordinary predicates like 좋다, 중요하다, or 어렵다 can be attached to it.