In this lesson we’re going to learn what descriptive verbs are, and how to use the descriptive verbs 있다 and 없다. We are also going to learn about possession particles and location particles in Korean.
About 있다 and 없다
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있다 is a descriptive verb in Korean meaning “to have or exist” or “to be at a location”. In English, these meanings are expressed with two different verbs, but in Korean, the same word is used to express both meanings. You can make this easier to remember by thinking of 있다 as simply meaning “to exist” and adjust the way you think about having objects or being at places. “Having” a pen is the same thing as having a pen “exist” in your possession and being “at” a location is the same thing as “existing” at that location.
없다 is the opposite of 있다 and it means “to not have or exist” or “to not be at a location”. Both 있다 and 없다 are descriptive verbs in Korean (we call these adjectives in English) and that makes them behave differently than verbs.
What are descriptive verbs?
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Up to this point we haven’t really talked much about descriptive verbs, but you should be familiar with the difference between active verbs (verbs) and descriptive verbs (adjectives). One of the most common mistakes involving adjectives (a mistake I still make from time to time) is using incorrect particles with descriptive verbs). Let’s take this step by step so you can work through this on your own. We have an English sentence. "Sunflowers are pretty". In this sentence we have a verb and an adjective. It is important to note that in Korean we don't have to use the 이다 verb with adjectives, so we can just say "Sunflowers pretty." (The Korean verb for "pretty" contains the meaning of "to be" already, so we don't need to state it twice.) Now that we have this basic English sentence, we can take a look at the sentence and identify the parts of speech. Is the word "Sunflowers" a subject or an object?
*If you can answer this question, you already understand the particle rules involving descriptive verbs.
If you guessed that it is the subject, you're correct. "Sunflowers" is the subject of the sentence (the main thing we're talking about.) It cannot be an object, because the definition of an object is "the thing in a sentence that is affected by the action of a verb." Since "pretty" is not a verb (it is an adjective), then "sunflowers" cannot be the object. If you haven't guessed already, the particle rule involving descriptive verbs (adjectives) is that you cannot use object markers in a sentence where a descriptive verb is the predicate. This means that if the word at the end of the sentence is a descriptive verb, you cannot use an object marker to signify what is "pretty", "big" or "beautiful". We need to use the subject marker. Makes sense, right? If you're still struggling with this sentence, let's take a look at another example:
My sister is beautiful.
Take this English sentence and rearrange the words so that "my sister" comes AFTER the adjective "to be beautiful".
You can't do it right? This is because English sentence structure won't let you. In the English sentence structure (Subject-Verb-Object,) the object has to come after the verb. Since we can't place "my sister" after "beautiful" in this sentence, we can't make "my sister" an object and we can't use the object marker.
Let's look at some additional example sentences. Once you're sure you understand this concept, you can move onto the next part.
제 친구가 아름다워요
My friend is beautiful
이 김치 찌개가 너무 매워요
This Kimchi Jjigae is too spicy
제 한국어 숙제가 어려워요
My Korean homework is difficult
What does that have to do with 있다 and 없다?
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The not-so-intuitive part of this rule revolves around a difference of opinion. In English, the words "to have" and "to exist" are both considered verbs. In Korean, they're descriptive verbs (adjectives). This means that the particle rule we just talked about in the last section (you cannot use object markers in a sentence where a descriptive verb is the predicate) also applies to the Korean words for "to have or exist, or to be at a location:" 있다 and 없다.
Someone who didn't know this rule may be sorely tempted to say 저는 커피를 있어요. "I have coffee." This is incorrect. We cannot use 을/를 to mark the thing that we have when we use the descriptive verbs 있다 and 없다. Instead, we have to use the subject markers, 이/가. The correct way to write that sentence would be 저는 커피가 있어요. Let's look at some more examples:
고양이가 없어요
There isn't a cat; I don't have a cat
저는 남동생이 없어요
I don't have a little brother
공책이 있어요?
Do you have a notebook?
Possession particle 의 & 제
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의 is used much like the 's in English. It is very commonly pronounced as [에]. This indicates that something belongs to someone.
제, 내 and 네 are short for 저의, 나의 and 너의
제 = mine formal
내 = mine informal (only used with close friends)
네 = yours informal (only used with close friends)
(네 is often pronounced (and sometimes written) as 니 because it sounds so similar to
내)
그 것은 제 펜이에요 (That is my pen)
고양이의 우유예요 (It's the cat's milk)
저는 우리 언니의 초콜릿을 먹었어요 (I ate my older sister’s chocolate)
제 강아지의 이름은 카롱이에요 (My dog’s name is Karong)
Exception:
You only use these for things that are yours. The exceptions to this are children, pets, friends.
You do not use this for shared items (housing... your bank etc.)
You do not use this with people (except for children or friends)
For things that aren't completely yours, you use 우리 which means "our". This is because in Korean, it is selfish to claim people or things that are shared
우리 언니 -> my older sister
우리 부모님-> my parents
우리 선생님-> my teacher
Location particle 에
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-Marks the time period something will happen
-Specific destination marker (that marks the final destination) When using 있다, 없다, 가다 or 오다 with locations, you have to mark the location with
에. 2021년 일월에 한국에 갈 거예요 - I will go to Korea (한국에) in January 2021 (2021년
1월에)
In other words, 에 is used both to indicate time and location.
저는 매일 학교에 가요 - I go to school every day
아침에는 밥을 안 먹어요 - I do not eat in the mornings
지금 어디에 있어요? - Where are you now?
Location particle 에서
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-From a location
미국에서 왔어요
I came from America
-Marks where an event or action takes place
화성에서 파티를 해요
We are having a party on mars
꿈에서 만나요
Let’s meet in a dream
한국에서 한국어를 공부해요
I study Korean in Korea
에서 vs 에
Ex: I go to the mall
Since you are talking about the destination (where you are going) you have to use 에.
쇼핑몰에 가요 o
쇼핑몰에서 가요 x
Ex: I play at the amusement park
Since you are talking about where an action is taking place you have to use 에서.
놀이공원에서 놀아요 o
놀이공원에 놀아요 x
Recap
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What did we learn in this lesson?
- When you're using an adjective as a predicate (the conjugated word at the end of a
sentence,) you can't use object markers to mark the thing you're describing
- When using 있다 or 없다 to say you "have ____" or "don't have ____," you use the subject
marker to mark the thing that you have. (This also applies when saying something
exists.)
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