haru Korean › Grammar › Level 1A › N이/가 있어요 · 없어요
N이/가 있어요 · 없어요 — there is / there isn't — I have / I don't have
There is / there isn't — I have / I don't have. Korean grammar for beginner learners — Level 1A, lesson 4: 이거는 뭐예요? (What is this?).
What it means
있어요 means 'there is / I have' and 없어요 'there isn't / I don't have'. The noun before them takes 이 after a consonant and 가 after a vowel — 책이 있어요, 지우개가 없어요 — the same 받침 check as 이에요/예요. To ask what someone has, say 뭐가 있어요? With two nouns joined by 하고, 이/가 goes after the last one only: 책하고 공책이 있어요. Use 은/는 instead only to contrast two things, as in Lesson 3: 연필은 없어요. 볼펜은 있어요.
Forms
| Pattern | When | Example |
|---|---|---|
| N이 있어요 · 없어요 | 받침 O | 책 + 이 있어요 → 책이 있어요 |
| N가 있어요 · 없어요 | 받침 X | 의자 + 가 있어요 → 의자가 있어요 |
Key points
- N이/가 있어요 · 없어요 — always 이/가 before 있어요 · 없어요
- 받침 O → 이 있어요 (책이 있어요) · 받침 X → 가 있어요 (의자가 있어요)
Examples
- 책이 있어요. 연필이 없어요.
- 받침 O → 이 있어요. 받침 X → 가 있어요.
- 뭐가 있어요? — 책하고 공책이 있어요.
- 연필은 없어요. 볼펜은 있어요.
Where university textbooks teach it
This point also appears in: Seoul National University Korean 1A, lesson 2; Yonsei University Korean 1-1, lesson 2; Sogang University Korean 1A, lesson 1; Hongik University Korean 1A, lesson 2; Hanyang University Korean 1-1, lesson 1; Ewha Womans University Korean 1-1, lesson 3.
Also in this lesson
- 이거 · 그거 · 저거 + N이에요/예요 — this · that (near you) · that (over there) — asking what something is
- N하고 N · N과/와 N — and — joining two nouns: 하고 when you speak, 과/와 in writing
- N 주세요 — please give me N — asking for something