필자

When you read an article or an essay, you might see the writer refer to themselves as 필자. It is a very common way to say 'I' or 'the author' in formal Korean writing.

Think of it as a professional way to step back and look at your own work. By using 필자, the writer sounds more like an expert or a reporter rather than just a person talking to a friend.

The word 필자 is composed of two Chinese characters: 筆 (brush/pen) and 者 (person). So, literally, it means 'a person of the pen' or 'a brush-user'.

Historically, this reflects the era when writing was done with brushes and ink. It has evolved from a general term for someone who writes to a specific, widely used pronoun in modern journalism and academic papers.

You will mostly see this in newspapers, magazines, or academic journals. It is rarely used in spoken conversation because it sounds too stiff and formal.

Commonly, you will see it paired with verbs like 생각하다 (to think) or 주장하다 (to argue). For example, '필자는 다음과 같이 생각한다' means 'The author thinks as follows'.

While 필자 itself isn't an idiom, it appears in set phrases. 1. 필자의 견해 (the author's view). 2. 필자의 의도 (the author's intent). 3. 필자 미상 (author unknown). 4. 필자의 경험 (the author's experience). 5. 필자의 생각 (the author's thought).

This is a standard noun. It doesn't have a plural form in the same way English does, as context usually implies the singular author. It is pronounced [필짜] due to the tense sound rule in Korean.

It acts as the subject or object of a sentence. It rhymes with words like 학자 (scholar) or 기자 (reporter) because of the common 자 suffix.