Korean grammar · Level 1 · 1급
N이에요/예요
“to be” (is / am / are)
Taught in Level 1, Unit 1: Hello, I'm Hoya
after 저는 you need something to say — a name, a job, a country — and in Korean a noun becomes a full sentence only when you add 이에요/예요.
Korean puts “am / is / are” at the very end of the sentence, attached to the noun. The word itself is 이다 (“to be”). In polite speech it becomes 이에요 after a batchim and 예요 after a vowel; 예요 is simply 이에요 squeezed together (the 이 is absorbed into the vowel). There is no change for I / you / he / she — 저는 학생이에요, 소리 씨는 선생님이에요, 호야 씨는 학생이에요 all use the same ending. To ask a question you keep the same sentence and raise your voice at the end; in writing you add ?. The subject is often dropped when it is clear: 학생이에요? can mean “Are you a student?”. Notice that 저 is a vowel, so “I am” is 저예요.
| When | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| noun ends in a batchim | 이에요 | 학생이에요 · 선생님이에요 |
| noun ends in a vowel | 예요 | 호야예요 · 의사예요 · 저예요 |
Examples
마이크 씨는 의사예요.
Mike is a doctor.
저는 요리사예요.
I'm a cook.
리사 씨는 캐나다 사람이에요?
Is Lisa Canadian?
Practise it in context · Level 1, Unit 1
Hello, I'm Hoya
The rule with a table, Sori’s tips, practice that checks itself, a review room and a one-page cheat sheet.
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