Korean grammar · Level 1 · 1급
N이/가 있어요 · 없어요
To have, to be there — and not
Taught in Level 1, Unit 2: What is this?
you can ask what things are — now you can also say whether you have them or not, which is the first real conversation about your day.
있어요 means “there is” and, with a person as the topic, “(I) have”. 없어요 means “there isn't” or “(I) don't have”. They are the polite forms of 있다 and 없다, opposites of each other. The thing that exists or that you have takes 이/가 (subject): 연필이 있어요. If you also say who has it, that person takes 은/는: 저는 연필이 있어요 (“As for me, I have a pencil”). A question is just the same sentence with a raised ending: 우산이 있어요? Answer 네, 있어요 or 아니요, 없어요. To ask what is there, use 뭐가 있어요? In fast speech the particle is often dropped: 우산 있어요? is completely normal. Where things are (in the bag, on the desk) is the next unit — for now, only say what exists.
Examples
저는 볼펜이 있어요.
I have a ballpoint pen.
호떡이 없어요.
There's no hotteok.
지갑 있어요?
Do you have a wallet?
Practise it in context · Level 1, Unit 2
What is this?
The rule with a table, Sori’s tips, practice that checks itself, a review room and a one-page cheat sheet.
Open the unit →