3.6 Existence — There Is, There Is Not, and Having — Epoché
What you will be able to do Say that something exists or is somewhere, and that something is not: 우유는 냉장고에 있어요. and 숟가락이 없어요. Say that you have something with the same two verbs, so that one construction covers English "there is" and English "have": 컴퓨터가 있어요. Give the possessed thing the subject ending rather than an object ending, and say why that follows from what the verb means. Recognise the two verbs doing two further jobs: making a progressive, as in 가고 있어요. , and making an ability, as in 포기할 수 없어요. See the verb for existence inside a word you already know, 맛있어요 , and explain how the word is built. Prerequisites : 3.3, which gave you the location endings; this lesson is where they earn their keep. You also need 3.5 Grammar , because the pair of verbs here is constantly confused with the copula, and knowing what the copula does is half of keeping them apart. Two verbs, and between them they do the work of four English constructions. One means that something exists or is present; the other, which is not built from it but is a separate word, means that something is absent. English has "there is" and "there is not", "have" and "have not", and the last two of those have nothing grammatically to do with the first two. Korean uses one pair for all four, and the pair turns up again as an auxiliary and again inside ordinary vocabulary, which makes it the most useful thing in this volume. The pattern The positive verb says that something is there. Where it is takes the static location ending of lesson 3.3. Korean Block by block English 여기 있어요. [1] 여기 here · 있어요 is Here you are. 우유는 냉장고에 있어요. [2] 우유는 as for the milk · 냉장고에 in the fridge · 있어요 is The milk is in the fridge. 책상 위에 책이 있어요. [3] 책상 위에 on the desk · 책이 a book · 있어요 is The book is on the desk. 그는 아직 여기 있어요. [4] 그는 as for him · 아직 still · 여기 here · 있어요 is He is still here. 왜 여기 있어요? [5] 왜 why · 여기 here · 있어요 are How come you're here? The third of these shows how Korean says "on". There is no preposition: the word for the top of something is an ordinary noun, it follows the thing it is the top of, and the location ending goes on the end of the whole phrase. Every English preposition of place works this way in Korean, and lesson 5.5 collects them. The same verb, with no change at all, says that somebody has something. Korean Block by block English 컴퓨터가 있어요. [6] 컴퓨터가 a computer · 있어요 exists I have a computer. 개가 있어요? [7] 개가 a dog · 있어요 exists Do you have a dog? 두통이 있어요. [8] 두통이 a headache · 있어요 exists I have a headache. 질문 있어요. [9] 질문 a question · 있어요 exists I have a question. 방 있어요? [10] 방 a room · 있어요 exists Do you have a room? 집 있어요? [11] 집 a house · 있어요 exists Do you have a house? 핸드폰 있어요? [12] 핸드폰 a mobile · 있어요 exists Do you have a mobile phone? 자리 있어요? [13] 자리 a seat · 있어요 exists Are seats available? Nothing in any of those sentences says who has the thing. The owner is left out, exactly as the subject was left out in lesson 3.1, and the situation supplies it. When the owner does appear, it takes the topic ending, and the thing owned keeps the subject ending, which is the double marking of lesson 3.2. The negative verb is a separate word, not the positive one with something added. Korean Block by block English 돈이 없어요. [14] 돈이 money · 없어요 is lacking I have no money. 내가 돈이 없어요. [16] 내가 it is I · 돈이 money · 없어요 is lacking I have no money. 숟가락이 없어요. [15] 숟가락이 spoons · 없어요 are lacking There are no spoons. 수원에서 인천까지 정류장이 없어요. [17] 수원에서 from Suwon · 인천까지 to Incheon · 정류장이 a stop · 없어요 is lacking There is no stop between Suwon and Incheon. 문제 없어요! [18] 문제 a problem · 없어요 is lacking No problem! 상관 없어요! [19] 상관 a connection · 없어요 is lacking It doesn't matter! The last two are set phrases worth memorising whole. Both are of the same shape as everything else in the table: a noun, and then the statement that it does not exist. How This Differs from English There is no verb "to have". This is the largest single fact of the lesson. English "have" is a transitive verb: it takes a subject and an object, and the object carries no marking because English has none to carry. Korean says instead that the thing exists, with the thing as the grammatical subject and the owner, if mentioned at all, as the topic. So the thing owned takes the subject ending, never an object ending. An English speaker who says the equivalent of "I have a computer" with an object ending on the computer has produced a sentence with a subjectless transitive verb and no verb to be transitive, which is not repairable by intonation. The consequence is easier than the rule sounds. Whenever you want to say that you have something, say instead that it exists, and let the situation supply whose it is. 질문 있어요. is "a question exists", which is how a Korean says that they want to ask one. Negation is a different word, not a particle. English builds "there is not" out of "there is". Korean has two independent verbs, and the negative one cannot be derived from the positive. This is the same shape of fact as the copula and its negative in lesson 3.5, and the two pairs are worth learning side by side: one pair is about identity and the other about existence, and each pair has a separate negative word. What it says Positive Negative A is B 저는 학생이에요. [26] 농담 아니에요? [27] A exists, A is somewhere, somebody has A 컴퓨터가 있어요. [6] 돈이 없어요. [14] The same verb makes a progressive. Attached to another verb, the positive verb says that the action is going on now. English uses "be" plus a participle; Korean uses the verb for existence plus a linking ending, and the result is one of the commonest patterns in speech. Korean English 가고 있어요. [20] I am coming. 한국어를 배우고 있어요. [21] I'm learning Korean. 나는 사과를 먹고 있어요. [22] I'm eating an apple. The same pair makes an ability. With a small noun meaning roughly "a way", the two verbs say that something can or cannot be done. The full account is in the second phase, and the shape is worth recognising now, because it is everywhere. Korean English 포기할 수 없어요. [23] We can't