[Q&A] 이에요 vs 있어요

Many of my students are confused 이에요 and 있어요, so I am writing this post to make sure you understand 이에요 and 있어요.
이에요means “something/someone is/are/am a noun”. For example,
저는 한국 사람이에요. I am Korean.
(이 분이) 제 선생님이에요. This person is my teacher.
한국어 책이에요. It is a Korean book.
여기가 도서관이에요. Here is the library.
이게 제 가방이에요. This is my bag.

On the other hand, 있어요 has two different meanings. The first meaning is “have(possession)“, and the other one is “is/am/are at/in/on somewhere(existence)“. It is not just ‘is’, it means ‘is at/in/on somewhere(existence)‘.

Let’s look at some examples.
(저는) 한국 친구가 있어요. I have Korean friends. (possession)
시간이 많이 있어요. I have a lot of time. (possession)
앤디 씨는 가방이 많이 있어요. Andy has a lot of bags. (possession)
앤디 씨 집에 가방이 많이 있어요. At Andy’s house, there are lots of bags. (existence)
미나 씨가 집에 있어요. Mina is at home. (existence)
마이크 씨가 한국에 있어요. Mike is in Korea. (existence)
제 집이 도서관 앞에 있어요. My house is in front of the library. (existence)
책상에 책이 있어요. There is a book on the desk.(existence)
교실 옆에 화장실이 있어요. There is a bathroom next to the classroom. (existence)

As you can see, when 있어요 means “be at some place“, 있어요 follows after “-에” which is a place particle.

Let’s look at these two sentences.
1. 여기가 도서관이에요. Here is the library.
2. 제 집이 도서관 앞에 있어요. My house is in front of the library.

In these two sentences, 이에요 and 있어요 are used with a noun(place), however, 이에요 means “is a noun” while 있어요 means “is at a place”

Do you know what the opposite word of 이에요? It is 아니에요(is not a noun). You can learn 아니에요 by clicking here.

How about the opposite word for 있어요? It is 없어요. For more examples of -에 있어요/없어요 by clicking here. For more examples of 있어요(possession) by clicking here.

i.e)

[Grammar]-부터, -에서, -까지 / from, to

-부터 and -에서 are particles, they mean ‘from-‘. The difference of those two is that ‘-부터’ is often used for time, -에서 is often used for place. And -까지 means ‘to-‘ or ‘until-‘, you can use it for both time and place.

Noun + 부터(from- : time)	Noun+까지(to-)
Noun + 까지(from- : place)

For example,

• Noun+부터(from-)

1시부터 공부해요.	I study from 1 o’clock.
언제부터 시작해요?	When do we start?
아침부터 저녁까지 일해요.	I work from morning to evening.
어제부터 오늘 아침까지 회의를 했어요.	I have had a meeting from yesterday to this morning.
오늘부터 담배를 끊을 거예요.	I am going to quit smoking from today.

• Noun+에서(from)

집에서 3시에 나왔어요.	I left home at 3.
어느 나라에서 왔어요?	Which country did you come from?
서울에서 부산까지 3시간 걸려요.	It takes 3 hours from Seoul to Busan.
서울에서 몇 시에 출발할 거예요?	What time are you departing from Seoul?

• Noun+까지(to, until, by-)

1시까지 공부할 거예요.	I will study until 1.
내일까지 끝낼 거예요.	I will finish it by tomorrow.
부산까지 표가 얼마예요?	How much is the ticket to Busan?
지하철 역까지 같이 걸어 가요.	Let’s walk together to the subway station.

You can listen to the pronunciation here.

-으니까 Because, reason

verb/adj(으)니까 Because~, therefore/so~
noun(이)니까

-(으)니까 has two different functions. The first one is to connect reason and result sentences, and the other one is to find out something after you did something. In this post, I am talking about the first meaning, which is “because—-, so—–“. The conjugation is 

verb/adjective(consonant) + 으니까
verb/adjective(vowel) + 니까
noun(consonant) + 이니까
noun(vowel) + 니까

날씨가 좋으니까 공원에 같이 가요.
The weather is nice, (so) let’s go to the park.
비가 오니까 우산을 가져 가세요.
It is raining, (so) you should bring an umbrella.

• In formal sentences, we often omit 까 and just say -(으)니. 

If you want to learn the difference between 아서 and 니까, please click here.

Sentences>>

여기 좀 시끄러우니까 다른 데로 가는 게 어때요?	It is loud here, how about going to another place?
민수 씨, 술을 많이 마셨으니까 운전하지 마세요.	Minsu, You drank a lot, don’t drive!
여기는 도서관이니까 조용히 해야 돼요.	Because we are at the library, we should be quite.
제가 아직 집에 있으니까 조금만 기다려 주세요.	I am still at home, please wait for me a little bit more.
저도 아침을 안 먹었으니까 같이 밥 먹으러 가요.	I haven’t had breakfast yet, let’s go eat.
오늘은 제가 좀 피곤하니까 내일 갈까요?	I am a little bit tired today, can we go tomorrow?
이 우유는 상했으니까 먹지 마세요.	This milk has gone bad, don’t drink it!

You can listen to audio pronunciation on my Quizlet.com. (Click here) 

 

 If you want to learn -(으)니까 as ‘realize’ or ‘found out’, please click here.

#으니까 #으니 #니 #으니까 grammar #으니까 meaning #니까 #니까vs아서 #니까vs #아서vs #(으)니까 #니까 suggestion #니까 reason #으니까 reason

[Grammar] -아/어/여서 ‘Because’, reasons

-아/어/여서 Because

We already know 그래서. 그래서 means ‘therefore’ or ‘so’ which expresses reason and result. For example,
오늘 비가 많이 왔어요. 그래서 날씨가 추워요. It rained a lot today, so it is cold.
오늘 아침을 안 먹었어요. 그래서 지금 정말 배가 고파요. I didn’t eat breakfast, so I am so hungry now.
돈이 없어요. 그래서 여행 못 가요. I don’t have money, so I can’t go travel.
시간이 없어요. 그래서 파티에 갈 수 없어요. I don’t have time, so I can’t go to the party.

As you can see, those are two separate sentences. In real conversations, we combine those two sentences in on sentence and we use -아/어/해서 to combine a reason and a result.

-아/어/여서 has two meanings. The first one is “because” and the second one is “and then” which is sequence of two actions. If you learn more about the second meaning, please click here. This post is about ‘reason and result’.

Conjugation 

1. When a verb/adjective stem ends with ‘아/오’ vowel  + 아서

i.e) – 비가 오(다) => 오(ㅗ vowel) +아서

– 잠을 못 자(다) => 자(ㅏ vowel) + 아서

2. When a verb/adjective stem ends with other vowels besides ‘아/오’ + 어서

– 밥을 안 먹(다) => 먹(ㅓ vowel) + 어서

– 술을 마시(다) => 마시(ㅣ vowel) + 어서

– 아직 안 배우(다) => 배우(ㅜ vowel) + 어서

3. When a verb or an adjective stem ends with ‘하’  + 여서 => 하여 => 해

– 공부를 안 하(다) + 여서 => 공부를 안 해서

– 피곤하(다) + 여서 => 피곤해서

비가 와서 날씨가 시원해요.	Because it rains, it is cool.
어제 잠을 못 자서 피곤해요.	Because I didn’t sleep well yesterday, I am tired.
밥을 안 먹어서 배가 고파요.	Because I haven’t had a meal, I am hungry.
어제 술을 많이 마셔서 머리가 아파요.	Because I drank a lot yesterday, I have a headache.
아직 안 배워서 몰라요.	Because I haven’t learned yet, I don’t know.
공부를 안 해서 시험을 못 봤어요.	Because I didn’t study, I didn’t do well on my exam.
어제 피곤해서 잠을 많이 잤어요.	Because I was tired, I slept a lot.

You can listen to the pronunciation on my Quizlet.com (Click here).

As you can see on those sentences, you can’t add the tense in front of -아/어/여서 even though the event happened in the past.  If you want to express the tense, you can add the tense verb ending at the end of the sentence.

One more thing, you can’t use a suggestion sentence or an imperative sentence with -아/어/여서. For example,

Because the weather is nice, let’s go for a walk.  날씨가 좋아서 같이 산책해요.(X)
Because it rains, don’t go outside. 비가 와서 밖에 나가지 마세요.(X)
Because the tickets are sold out, can we see it tomorrow?  오늘 표가 없어서 내일 볼까요?(X)

If you want to use a suggestion or an imperative sentence, you should use -(으)니까.

Because the weather is nice, let’s go for a walk.  날씨가 좋으니까 같이 산책해요. (O)
Because it rains, don’t go outside. 비가 오니까 밖에 나가지 마세요.(O)
Because the tickets are sold out, can we see it tomorrow?   오늘 표가 없으니까 내일 볼까요?(O)

You can click here to learn more about -(으)니까.

#아어서 #아서 #어서 #해서 #reason #result #아서니까 #서grammar #아서grammar #그래서 #그래서 because #아서because

[Vocabulary] English words in Korean

텔레비전	television
컵	cup
샴푸	shampoo
커튼	curtain
컴퓨터	computer
피아노	piano
뉴스	news
커피	coffee
버스	bus
택시	taxi
인터넷	internet
에어컨(Konglish)	air-conditioner
핸드폰(Konglish) : hand+phone	cell phone
아파트(Konglish)	apartment
리모콘(Konglish)	remote control

Konglish means Korean English 🙂
핸드폰 is also called 휴대전화(portable phone), however a lot of people use 핸드폰.

You can also listen to pronunciation here.

-아/어/여도 돼요/괜찮아요 : You can do~, Can I do~?

Verb+아/어/여도 돼요(되어요)

means ‘you can do~(permission)’ or ‘can I do~?(ask permission)”

A lot of Koreans write this ‘되요’ because the pronunciation of ‘되’ and ‘돼’ are the same!   However it is WRONG!!!!  You should write it ‘돼요’ instead of ‘되요’.

Verb(ends with 아 or 오vowel) + 아도 돼요/괜찮아요
Verb(ends with other vowels) + 어도 돼요/괜찮아요
Verb(ends with 하다) + 여도 돼요 => 해도 돼요/괜찮아요

가(다) go	아도 돼요	가도 돼요	You can go
보(다) watch	아도 돼요	봐도 돼요	You can watch
먹(다) eat	어도 돼요	먹어도 돼요	You can eat
마시(다) drink	어도 돼요	마셔도 돼요	You can drink
쓰(다) use, write	어도 돼요	써도 돼요(으 drop)	You can use
듣(다) listen	어도 돼요	들어도 돼요(ㄹ irregular)	You can listen
말하(다) speak	여도 돼요	말해도 돼요	You can say

Let’s make some sentences.

이제 집에 가도 돼요.	You can go home.
아이가 이 프로그램 봐도 돼요?	Can kids watch this program?
여기서 음식 먹어도 돼요?	Can I eat food here?
이 물 마셔도 돼요?	Can I drink this water?
이 컴퓨터 써도 돼요?(으 drop)	Can I use this computer?
여기에서 음악 들어도 돼요? (ㄷ irregular)	Can I listen to music here?
민수 씨한테 말해도 돼요?	Can I say this to Minsu?

If you add ‘안’ in front of this expression, it means ‘I(you) don’t need to do~’ or ‘I(you) don’t have to do~’.

오늘 학교 안 가도 돼요.	I(you) don’t need to go to school today.
몸이 안 좋으면 오늘 안 나와도 돼요.	You don’t need to come today if you don’t feel well.
배부르면 다 안 먹어도 돼요.	You don’t have to finish your food if you are full.
지금 이메일 안 보내도 돼요.	I(you) don’t need to send emails now.
지금 일 안 해도 돼요.	I(you) don’t need to do work now.

You can also listen to pronunciation here.

#아어도 되다 #아어도 돼요 #도 돼요. #도 되다 #어도 돼 #어도 되 #되vs돼 #돼요or되요 #되요 #해도 되다 #되다 #도 돼

 

 

[Grammar] Verb-지 마세요 : Don’t ~

Verb-지 마세요

is a verb ending which means ‘Do not + verb’ in English.

It is originally ‘-지 말(다) +(으)세요’ (ㄹ drop).  

Practice>>

먹(다)	eat	먹지 마세요	Do not eat
마시(다)	drink	마시지 마세요	Do not drink
가(다)	go	가지 마세요	Do not go
오(다)	come	오지 마세요	Do not come
보(다)	look,see,watch	보지 마세요	Do not watch
하(다)	do	하지 마세요	Do not do it
울(다)	cry	울지 마세요	Do not cry
기대(다)	lean on	기대지 마세요	Do not lean on

 

 

Let’s make some sentences.

음식이 상했어요. 먹지 마세요.	The food has spoiled, do not eat it.
술 너무 많이 마시지 마세요.	Don’t drink too much.
그 음식점에 가지 마세요. 정말 불친절해요.	Don’t go that restaurant, their service is terrible.
들어오지 마세요.	Do not enter.
그 영화 보지 마세요. 재미없어요.	Don’t watch that movie, it is not funny.
걱정하지 마세요. 다 잘 될 거예요.	Don’t worry, everything will be fine.
유진 씨, 울지 마세요.	Don’t cry, Yujin.
문에 기대지 마세요.	Don’t lean on door.

You can listen to the pronunciation here.

[Grammar] 이/가 vs 은/는 : Subject particle vs topic particle

We have learned Korean particles in the previous post(click).  This post is about subject particles and topic particles. The subject particles are  이 and 가, the topic particles are 은 and 는

Noun(ends with a consonant) + 이 

Noun(ends with a vowel) + 가

For example,

이름이 뭐예요?.  What is your name?
오늘이 며칠이에요? What date is today?
아기가 예뻐요. The baby is pretty.

And many people are confused the subject particle with the topic particle -은/는.

-은 and 는 are not subject particle. 

-은/는 can substitute -이/가(subject particle) and -을/를(object particle), which means you CAN’T use the topic particle and the subject/object particle for one noun.  We should use either topic particle or subject/object particle.

Noun(ends with a consonant) + 은

Noun(ends with a vowel) + 는

For beginners, we just need to know -은/는 are used for

1. when you introduce a noun

For example,

저는 이민수예요.  I am Lee Minsu.
저는 한국 사람이에요. I am Korean.
저는 28살이에요. I am 28 years old.
우리 한국어 선생님은 남자예요. My Korean teacher is a male.

2. when you compare two nouns

For example,

민수 씨는 사과를 좋아해요. 그런데 유진 씨는 사과를 안 좋아해요.
(Minsu likes apples, but Yujin doesn’t like apples)
– 민수 씨 and 유진 씨 are subjects.
* 민수 씨가는(X), 유진 씨가는(X)

민수 씨가 사과는 좋아해요. 그런데 (민수 씨가) 바나나는 안 좋아해요.
(Minsu likes apples, but he doesn’t like bananas.)
– 사과 and 바나나 are objects. 
* 사과를은(X), 바나나를은(X)

3. When you ask about new information, it is safe to use -이/가 and when you answer the question, you should -은/는

For example,

A: 이름이 뭐예요? What is your name?
B: 제 이름은 이민수예요. My name is Lee Minsu.

A: 오늘이 며칠이에요? What date is today?
B: 오늘은 8월 7일이에요. Today is August 7.

A: 이 분이 누구예요? Who is this person?
B: (이 분은) 제 어머니예요.  (This person is) My mother.

You can also listen to the pronunciation here.

#이 subject particle #가subject particle #subject particle #topic particle #topic #은는 #은topic #는topic #은subject #는subject #이/가vs은/는 #은는 topic #이가subject #subject marker #subject topic #Korean topic #은는 subject

[Grammar] 고 싶어요 want to

-고 싶다 want to

-고 싶다 means ‘want to do something’ or ‘would like to do something’.  The subject of -고 싶다 should be ‘I’ or ‘You’.  If you want to put ‘he/she’ as a subject, you should ‘-고 싶어하다’. 

1) Present tense :-고 싶어요
먹다(to eat)  I want to eat  :  먹고 싶어요.
자다(to sleep) I want to sleep : 자고 싶어요.
가다(to go)  I want to go : 가고 싶어요.
배우다(to learn)  I want to learn : 배우고 싶어요.
말하다(to speak)  I want to speak  : 말하고 싶어요.

2) Past tense : -고 싶었어요
먹다   I wanted to eat : 먹고 싶었어요.
자다   I wanted to sleep : 자고 싶었어요.
가다   I wanted to go : 가고 싶었어요.
배우다 I wanted to learn : 배우고 싶었어요.
말하다  I wanted to speak : 말하고 싶었어요.

3) Future tense (predict, guess) : – 고 싶을 거예요
먹다  I might want to eat : 먹고 싶을 거예요.
자다   I might want to sleep : 자고 싶을 거예요.
가다   I might want to go : 가고 싶을 거예요.
배우다  I might want to learn : 배우고 싶을 거예요.
말하다  might want to speak : 말하고 싶을 거예요.

4) Third person subject : -고 싶어하다
먹다  he/she wants to eat : 먹고 싶어해요.
자다  he/she wants to sleep : 자고 싶어해요.
가다  he/she wants to go : 가고 싶어해요.
배우다 he/she wants to learn : 배우고 싶어해요.
말하다 he/she wants to speak : 말하고 싶어해요.

5) Short Negation : 안 + -고 싶어요
먹다(to eat)  I don’t want to eat  :  안 먹고 싶어요.
자다(to sleep) I don’t want to sleep : 안 자고 싶어요.
가다(to go)  I don’t want to go : 안 가고 싶어요.
배우다(to learn)  I don’t want to learn : 안 배우고 싶어요.
말하다(to speak)  I don’t want to speak  : 말 안 하고 싶어요.

6) Long negation : -고 싶+지 않아요
먹다(to eat)  I don’t want to eat  :   먹고 싶지 않아요.
자다(to sleep) I don’t want to sleep :  자고 싶지 않아요.
가다(to go)  I don’t want to go :  가고 싶지 않아요.
배우다(to learn)  I don’t want to learn :  배우고 싶지 않아요.
말하다(to speak)  I don’t want to speak  : 말하고 싶지 않아요.

You can listen to the pronunciation here.

[Grammar] -습니다 Formal verb ending

-습니다 Formal verb ending

-(스)ㅂ니다 is a formal verb/adjective ending.  We’ve learned the friendly/polite verb ending -아/어/여요 in the previous post, whereas -(스)ㅂ니다 is a formal/polite verb ending.  We will hear and see this verb ending a lot on TV news or on newspaper.

The present tense is -(스)ㅂ니다.  The form of (스)ㅂ니다 depends on whether a verb/adjective stem ends with a consonant or a vowel.

Verb/adjective(ends with a consonant) + 습니다

Verb/adjective(ends with a vowel) + ㅂ니다

For example,

Verb/adjective(ends with a consonant)+습니다	먹(다)+습니다	먹습니다
	읽(다)+습니다	읽습니다
	좋(다) +습니다	좋습니다
Verb/adjective(ends with a vowel)+ㅂ니다	가(다) + ㅂ니다	갑니다
	오(다) + ㅂ니다	옵니다
	예쁘(다)+ㅂ니다	예쁩니다

You can also listen to the pronunciation here.

 

The past tense of -습니다 is -았/었/였습니다.  The form of -았/었/였습니다 depends on a vowel of a verb/adjective’s stem.

Verb/adjective		-았/었/였습니다	Output
아/오 vowel	가(다)	가+았습니다	갔습니다
	오(다)	오+았습니다	왔습니다
	좋(다)	좋+았습니다	좋았습니다
other than 아/오 vowel	만들(다)	만들+었습니다	만들었습니다
	먹(다)	먹+었습니다	먹었습니다
	흐리(다)	흐리+었습니다	흐렸습니다
하(다)	공부하(다)	공부하+였습니다 (하+여=해)	공부했습니다
	일하(다)	일하+였습니다(하+여=해)	일했습니다
	피곤하(다)	피곤하+였습니다(하+여=해)	피곤했습니다

You can also listen to the pronunciation here.

 

The future tense of -습니다 is -(으)ㄹ 겁니다.  The form of -ㄹ 겁니다 depends on whether a verb/adjective stem ends with a consonant or a vowel.

Verb/adjective(ends with a consonant)+을 겁니다	먹(다)+을 겁니다	먹을 겁니다
	읽(다)+을 겁니다	읽을 겁니다
	좋(다) +을 겁니다	좋을 겁니다
Verb/adjective(ends with a vowel)+ㄹ 겁니다	가(다) + ㄹ 겁니다	갈 겁니다
	마시(다) +ㄹ 겁니다	마실 겁니다
	공부하(다)+ㄹ 겁니다	공부할 겁니다

You can also listen to the pronunciation here.

 

 

* -입니다 is the formal version of -이에요/예요.

Noun+입니다

학생입니다

선생님입니다

동생입니다

아버지입니다

의사입니다

컴퓨터입니다

 

You can also listen to the pronunciation here.