beginner things

있어요 [i-sseo-yo] comes from the verb 있다 [it-tta], which expresses that something “exists”. If you are talking about someone or something existing in a specific place, 있다 means “to be”: Ex) I am here. / It is over there. / I am at home now. If you are talking about something (or someone in some cases) in your possession, it means “to have”: Ex) I have a sister. / I have eleven dogs. / Do you have a private airplane? Sometimes, however, it can mean both. For example, the sentence “I have a sister” can be replaced by the sentence “There is a sister (in my family)” in Korean. 없어요 [eop-sseo-yo] is the opposite, and it comes from the verb 없다 [eop-tta]. Even though there IS a way to say the same thing by using 있어요 in a negative sentence, there is this independent verb in Korean (없어요) for expressing non-existence. It is more convenient to use 없어요 rather than saying 있지 않아요 [it-jji a-na-yo] or 안 있어요 [an i-sseo-yo] (which will be covered in a future lesson). So, in conclusion: 있어요 ←→ 없어요 [i-sseo-yo] [eop-sseo-yo] When you use 있어요/없어요 with other nouns, you have to put what you have or what you do not have IN FRONT OF “있어요” [i-sseo-yo] or ”없어요” [eop-sseo-yo]. Sample Sentences 물 있어요. [mul i-sseo-yo.] = There is water. / Water exists. / I have water. / They have water. 물 있어요? [mul i-sseo-yo?] = Is there water? / Do you have water? / Do they have water? 친구 있어요. [chin-gu i-sseo-yo.] = I have friends. / I have a friend. / There are friends. 친구 있어요? [chin-gu i-sseo-yo?] = Do you have friends? / Do they have friends? 시간 있어요. [si-gan i-sseo-yo.] = There is time. / I have time. / They have time. 시간 있어요? [si-gan i-sseo-yo?] = Is there time? / Do you have time? / Do they have time? Just by replacing 있어요 [i-sseo-yo] with 없어요 [eop-sseo-yo] you get sentences in the opposite meanings. 물 없어요. [mul eop-sseo-yo.]= There is no water. / I do not have water. / They do not have water. 친구 없어요. [chin-gu eop-sseo-yo.] = I do not have friends. 시간 없어요. [si-gan eop-sseo-yo.] = There is no time. / I do not have time. / We do not have time. Do you remember the usages of -은/는 [-eun/neun], the topic marking particles, and -이/가 [-i/ga], the subject marking particles? -은 and -는 mark the topic of a sentence, and at the same time emphasize the contrast between the topic of the sentence and the other things. If you say “시간은 있어요 [si-ga-neun i-sseo-yo]”, people may think you have nothing but time, meaning that you have no other resources, or that you have time but you do not want to spend any of that time with them. If you say “시간 없어요 [si-gan eop-sseo-yo]”, it means “I do not have time” in the most neutral sense. However, if you want to say “I have other things, but TIME is not what I have”, you can simply add -은 [-eun] to the end of 시간 [si-gan], and the phrase becomes “시간은 없어요.” If someone asks you “What is it that you don’t have?” or “What are you saying that you don’t have?”, you can answer by saying “시간이 없어요”, which means “TIME is what I don’t have.” 있어요 and 없어요 can be used to form many interesting and frequently used expressions in Korean. For example: 재미 [jae-mi] = fun 재미 + 있어요 = 재미있어요 This literally means “fun exists”, but it means “it is interesting”. * Notice how the two words are even written without any space in between. That is because it has already become an expression used daily. Ex) TalkToMeInKorean 재미있어요! [jae-mi-i-sseo-yo!] = TalkToMeInKorean is fun! / TalkToMeInKorean is interesting!