Korean Sentence Practice: Lesson 8 (To Be & To Have)

The ‘be’ verb can mean both ‘to be’ and ‘to have’ in Korean because of its fundamental meaning of existence or presence.

For the meaning ‘to be’ (이다, 있다):

• ‘이다’ indicates the identity of the subject. It means ‘to exist as something/someone’
  • 저는 학생이예요. (I am a student.)
  • 우리는 친구예요. (We are friends.)
• 아니다 is the negative form meaning ‘to not exist’
  • 저는 선생님이 아니예요. (I am not a teacher.)

• ‘있다’ indicates the existence or presence of something at a particular location or time.
• When used with location particles like ‘에’, it directly translates to ‘to be at’ a place.
• ‘있다’ means ‘to be present somewhere’
  • 책이 있어요. (There is a book.)
• ‘없다’ is the negative form meaning ‘to not have’ or ‘to be absent’
  • 펜이 없어요. (There is no pen.)

For the meaning ‘to have’ (있다, 가지고 있다):

• ‘있다’ is used to express possession or ownership of something.
• The possessed object is marked with the subject particle ‘이/가’, making it the grammatical subject of the sentence.
• For example, “제가 책이 있습니다” literally means “I have a book” but directly translates to “For me, there exists a book.”
• For possession, you can also use the topic particle ‘에게/한테’ with ‘있다/없다’
  • 저에게 책이 있어요. (I have a book.)
  • 그에게 차가 없어요. (He does not have a car.)
  • 그 책은 그녀가 아닌 저한테 있어요. (The book is not with her but with me.)

• Add ‘가지고’ before ‘있다’ to mean ‘to have’ or ‘to possess’.
  • 저는 새 가방을 가지고 있어요. (I have a new bag.)

• Add ‘가지고’ and ‘있지 않다’ to mean ‘to not have’
  • 그는 많은 돈을 가지고 있지 않아요. (He does not have a lot of money.)

The verb ‘이다’ is used for identity or condition. The verb ‘있다’ is used for existence/location, while ‘가지다’ and ‘가지고 있다’ are specifically for possession. The negative forms are ‘아니다’ and ‘없다’ for the verb ‘to be’ and ‘가지고 있지 않다’ for ‘to have’.

This dual usage stems from the Korean language’s fundamental concept of existence or presence.

Example Sentences

Where are you now?                   지금 어디 있어요?

The dog is on the sofa.                 개가 소파 위에 있어요.

My house is in Hongdae.             우리 집은 홍대에 있어요.

The package is in front of the door.    소포가 문 앞에 있어요.

Haeundae is in Busan.                           해운대는 부산에 있어요.

The bag is next to the chair.                 가방은 의자 옆에 있어요.

Where is Gangnam Station?                강남역은 어디 있나요?

I have a boyfriend.                       남자 친구가 있어요.

Do you have an older sister?     언니가 있나요?

He has a car.                                  그는 차가 있어요.