haru Korean › Grammar › Level 1A › N에 있어요 · 없어요

N에 있어요 · 없어요 — being somewhere — 'is there · is not there'

Being somewhere — 'is there · is not there'. Korean grammar for beginner learners — Level 1A, lesson 6: 어디에 가요? (Where are you going? — places and positions).

What it means

있어요 'there is · is there' and 없어요 'there is not · is not there' — the thing or person takes 이/가: 책이 있어요, 지우개가 없어요 (Lesson 4). Now add the place with 에 to say where: 교실에 있어요 'is in the classroom', 은행에 없어요 'is not at the bank'. 에 never changes: 받침 or no 받침, it is always 에. Ask with 어디: 선생님이 어디에 있어요? Start with the place or with the thing — both orders are natural: 교실에 선생님이 있어요 · 선생님이 교실에 있어요.

Forms

Key points

• N이/가 있어요 · 없어요 — there is · there is not (Lesson 4)
• N에 있어요 — where it is: 교실에 있어요 · 에 never changes

Examples

• 책이 있어요. 연필이 없어요.
• 안나 씨는 교실에 있어요.
• 선생님이 어디에 있어요? — 학교에 있어요.
• 가방에 책이 있어요.

Where university textbooks teach it

This point also appears in: Seoul National University Korean 1A, lesson 4; Yonsei University Korean 1-1, lesson 3; Sogang University Korean 1A, lesson 1; Ewha Womans University Korean 1-1, lesson 4; Hongik University Korean 1A, lesson 3; Hanyang University Korean 1-1, lesson 1.

Also in this lesson

• N 위 · 아래 · 안 · 옆에 있어요 — where exactly — on, under, in, next to …
• 여기가 N이에요 — naming places — here, there, over there
• N에 가요 · 와요 — going and coming — 'where are you going?'

← 안 VAll grammarN 위 · 아래 · 안 · 옆에 있어요 →