In Preliminaries, we did an activity asking what items you have: 책 있어요? We will recycle this verb and talk about where things are. Talk with your classmates about how Korean and your native language may express the locations of items differently from English.

Read these dialogues especially paying attention to Seyoung’s responses. What verb does she use in each case? How might they be translated into English?

In this lesson, you will learn two verbs, 있어요 and 없어요, and use them to describe a room. You will also learn how to ask WHERE questions. Let the journey begin again!

제 친구 방이에요. 방에 책상하고 의자가 있어요. 그리고 침대가 있어요. 그런데 냉장고가 없어요.

1. NOUN이/가 있어요/없어요       there is/there is no NOUN

You’ll remember from the Preliminaries that 있어요 and 없어요 express possession and lack of an item, respectively.

가: 시계 있어요?                           Do you have a/the watch?

나: 네, (시계) 있어요.                    Yes, I do.

있어요 means (something) … exists, so the thing that exists is the subject of this verb in Korean. When the possessor of the item is not explicitly said, the interpretation is contextual (whoever you are talking about, or by default, the speaker). The item that is possessed takes the subject particle ‑이 (after a noun ending in a consonant)/가 (after a noun ending in a vowel).

가:  가방이 있어요?                      Does (someone) have a bag? (Literally, Is there a bag?)

나:  아니요, (가방이) 없어요        No, (they) don’t. (Literally, No, there isn’t (a bag).)

When there is no logical possessor, the meaning is simply something exists (or doesn’t), or there is (no):

	Subject	Subject Particle	Verb	(natural) English Translation
	창문 window	이 —	있어요. exists	There is a window/There are windows.
	냉장고 refrigerator	가 —	없어요. lacks/not-exist	There is no refrigerator/There are no refrigerators

In conversational Korean, the subject particle –이/가 is usually left out.

내일 시험이  있어요?                                    Is there a test tomorrow?

내일 숙제가  없어요.                                    There is no homework tomorrow.

* It might sound stilted or bookish to say the subject particle –이/가 when you speak Korean with your friends, but we recommend that you practice with it in the sentence to help you “get” Korean grammar thoroughly and be ready for more formal situations where people do use particle. Students quickly learn to “drop” particles once they have firmly grasp how they work, and it is not true the other way around. So, keep reminding yourself to put the subject particle after all subjects!

2. NOUN₁–에 NOUN₂–이/가 있어요/없어요 there is/is no NOUN₂  in/on/at NOUN₁

The location particle –에 indicates the point at which the noun it attaches to is located. It can be expressed as in, on or at in English. In “There is/there are…” sentences, the location is normally said first, what is at that location (that is, the subject) next, and then finally the verb:

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어디 Where

어디 is a Wh-question word that is used to ask for a location. As in the case of the question word 뭐, 어디 simply replaces the location phrase. The thing you are asking about is said first:

카이: 제 한국어 책이 어디에 있어요?                   Where is my Korean book?

얀: (카이 씨의 한국어 책은) 제 방에 있어요.        It (your Korean book) is in my room.

The particle –에 must be used after regular nouns, but it can be left out after location adverbs like 어디 where, 여기 here, 거기 there next to you, and 저기 way over there:

카이: 제 한국어 책이 어디에 있어요?                   Where is my Korean book?

얀: 저기에 있어요.                       It’s over there.

앞에, 옆에, 뒤에… In Front of, Next to, Behind…

–에 can do the work of expressing a general idea of location, but to talk about more specific locations such as in front of or next to, you need to use position words like 안 inside, 밖 outside, 위 top and 아래 area below. These are grammatically nouns in Korean. By coming after the reference point noun, they are in a sense “possessed” by it. When you add the location particle, –에, it becomes a location phrase:

침대(의) 옆   the bed’s side         침대(의) 옆에     at the bed’s side = next to the bed

의자(의) 뒤   the chair’s back     의자(의) 뒤에     at the chair’s back = behind the chair

So, to recap, the order of things in a sentence is: the reference point first, and then the position word (side, top, front, etc.)+에, followed by the subject, and then by the verb.

	Reference Point	Location Word	Location Particle	Subject Noun	Subject Particle	Verb	Translation
	책상 desk	뒤 back	에 at	의자 chair	가 —	있어요 there is	There is a chair behind the desk.
	지갑 wallet	안 inside	에 at	돈 money	이 —	없어요 there is no	There is no money in the wallet.

Can you guess what’s being talked about below and how the first sentence is different from the second in each case?

	책상 옆에 ________ 이/가 있어요. There is … next to the desk.	vs.	_________ 이/가 책상 옆에 있어요. The … is next to the desk.
	책상 뒤에 ________ 이/가 있어요. There is … behind the desk	vs.	_________ 이/가 책상 뒤에 있어요. The … is behind the desk

Position words are relative in nature, and they can be culture- or language-dependent. Do you agree that the 의자 is behind the desk?

Use of position words is also sensitive to idioms or fixed expressions. If you just got in bed, you just 침대에 (not 침대 안에) 누웠어요, but if you are sitting on the bed, you are 침대에 or 침대 위에 앉아 있어요 in Korean.

Finally, 안 inside is for things that you can usually open and see into. If not, you need to use another word, 속 (deep) inside:

물속 in(side) the water      숲속 in(side) a forest     사람 속 a person’s deep feelings/thoughts

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1. –도 also (parallel)As we learned in Lesson 2, –도 means too or also and comes after the new or added noun. 도 is frequently used after the conjunction 그리고.

방에 시계가 있어요. 그리고 가족 사진도 있어요.

There is a clock in the room. There is also a family photo.  (A family photo also exists.)

2. –은/는 (contrast)

You already know –은/는 as a topic particle. It can also mark contrast to a preceding referent as shown in Nicole’s post above, 화장실은 없어요.  More examples:

전화 옆에 컴퓨터가 있어요.  그런데 프린터는 없어요.

There is a computer next to the phone. But as for a printer, there is none. (i.e., There is no printer, however.)

We will learn more about this usage of –은/는 later in this book!

Celina has just moved into a new dorm room, and Wei is asking her about it. Listen and find the information to answer the questions in Korean.

1) List three things that are in Celina’s room (other than the desk).

2) Name one thing that is not in Celina’s room.

3) Where is the desk in her room?

4) What does Wei think about Celina’s room?

Nicole is describing her dorm room which she just moved into to a language partner who is a little older than her. Listen to her description and draw a picture of her room.

Celina has posted a picture of her new room on a social media. Read her post to see if she has learned the lesson on location words well!

여기는 내 방이에요. 내 방은 아주 좋아요! 내 방에 침대하고 책상이 있어요.

그리고 의자도 있어요. 의자는 책상의 앞에 있어요. 그리고 책상 옆에도 있어요.

책상 위에 한국어 책하고 가방이 있어요. 가방 안에 컴퓨터 하고 책이 있어요.

그리고 지갑도 있어요. 책상 뒤에 창문이 있어요. 창문 옆에 냉장고가 있어요.

그런데 내 방에 화장실은 없어요.

Having read Celina’s post, can you answer the following questions?

1) What is next to Nicole’s desk?

2) Where is the chair?

3) What is in the bag?

4) What is not there in the room?      

내 방 My Room

Draw a picture of your belongings on a piece of paper, carefully positioning the items with respect to each other.  Hide the picture from your classmate, who will ask a series of questions about the room. Describe it to them so they can draw a picture. Compare your drawing with your partner’s when they are done. See how they are different. Have your partner draw a picture of their belongings, too, and repeat the game. Don’t forget to use –이/가, –은/는, and –도 when necessary!

Korean Nouns: Definiteness and Word Order

Determiners such as a and the are not part of Korean grammar, and the definiteness distinction (e.g. a book vs. the book) is usually of no concern to Korean speakers. For similar concepts, the Korean language uses number words (e.g. one, five, fifty-seven books) and demonstratives (e.g. this book vs. that book).

Korean can also make a noun definite (signal it as “the one we are talking about” or “the specific one I have in mind”) by placing it before the location in 있어요/없어요 sentences:

방에          침대가       있어요.             There is a bed in the room/There are beds in the room.

침대가       방에          있어요.             The bed is in the room.

방에          냉장고가    없어요.            There is no (= not a) fridge in the room.

냉장고가    방에          없어요.            The fridge is not in the room.

Since “I” am always definite (well, we know “I” exist!), it is usually first in the sentence, and since it is already a known entity, it is typically marked with a topic particle. The same rule applies to other definite things:

저는          제 방에      있어요.                I am in my room.

제 친구는 학교에         있어요.             My friend is at school.

차는          밖에          있어요.                 The car is outside.

Korean Houses (한옥)

A traditional Korean house is called 한옥. People used to sleep on the floor after putting a mat (요) down and covering themselves with a cotton-filled comforter (이불). They used a small pillow (베개) filled with grains, seeds, or cotton. The stone floor (온돌) would be kept warm in the winter by heat recycled from the kitchen (and circulated under the floor boards). Even nowadays in apartment buildings, the floors are still heated. Visit 북촌 한옥 마을 (Village) and 전주 한옥 마을 when you go to Korea and find out about 온돌!

북촌 한옥 마을

전주 한옥 마을

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