Korean Stories #5

My Room (있다/없다)

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Key Words

- room

- desk

- bed

- window

- book

- computer

- spider

- to exist/to be

- to not exist/to not be

- to see/look

- to open

- small

- and

- now

- still/quietly

A watercolor drawing of a Korean room with a desk, a bed, and a window. A spider is on a book on the desk.

na-ui 나의 bang 방

na-neun 나는 nae 내 bang-eul 방을 bon-da. 본다.

bang-e 방에 chaek-sang-i 책상이 it-da. 있다.

chim-dae-do 침대도 it-da. 있다.

geu-ri-go 그리고 chang-mun-i 창문이 it-da. 있다.

na-neun 나는 chaek-sang-eul 책상을 bon-da. 본다.

chaek-sang 책상 wi-e-neun 위에는 chaek-i 책이 it-da. 있다.

seu-taen-deu-do 스탠드도 it-da. 있다.

keom-pyu-teo-neun 컴퓨터는 eop-da. 없다.

i-je 이제 na-neun 나는 chaek-eul 책을 bon-da. 본다.

chaek 책 wi-e 위에 mu-eot-i 무엇이 it-da. 있다.

jak-eun 작은 geo-mi-ga 거미가 it-da. 있다.

geo-mi-neun 거미는 ga-man-hi 가만히 it-da. 있다.

na-neun 나는 chang-mun-eul 창문을 yeon-da. 연다.

i-je 이제 chaek 책 wi-e-neun 위에는 geo-mi-ga 거미가 eop-da. 없다.

Test Your Knowledge

Quiz: My Room (있다/없다)

Test your understanding of the key Korean words and grammar from the story 'My Room'.

Related Grammar Concepts

있다/없다: To Exist / Not Exist

To express that something exists or is present in a location (“there is…”), you use the verb 있다 (itta). To express that something does not exist or is absent (“there is not…”), you use the verb 없다 (eopda).

This is also used to express possession (e.g. “I have a book”).

Sentence Structure

The noun that exists or doesn’t exist is marked with the subject particle 이/가. The choice depends on whether the noun ends in a consonant or a vowel:

If the noun ends in a consonant, use 이 (i).
- 책 (chaek) + 이 있다 = 책이 있다 (chaeg-i itda)
- 물 (mul) + 이 없다 = 물이 없다 (mur-i eopda)
If the noun ends in a vowel, use 가 (ga).
- 의자 (uija) + 가 있다 = 의자가 있다 (uija-ga itda)
- 시간 (sigan) + 이 없다 = 시간이 없다 (sigan-i eopda)

Sentences

English	Korean Sentence	Romanized
There is a book.	책이 있다.	Chaeg-i itda.
There is a chair.	의자가 있다.	Uija-ga itda.
There is no time.	시간이 없다.	Sigan-i eopda.

Adding a Location

To specify where something exists, you can add a location noun followed by the location particle 에 (e).

방에 책상이 있다. (There is a desk in the room.)
책상 위에 고양이가 있다. (There is a cat on the desk.)
집에 텔레비전이 없다. (There is no TV at home.)

Possession

The same form is used to express possession of an object.

English	Korean Sentence	Romanized
I have a book	나는 책이 있다.	na-neun chaek-i itda.
I have a chair.	나는 의자가 있다.	na-neun uija-ga itda.
I don’t have time.	나는 시간이 없다.	na-neun sigan-i eopda.

In this case, you usually use the topic particle 은/는. Recall that the topic particle can be though of as saying as for… So you can imagine that:

나는 책이 있다 literally translates to as for me, book exists, and means “I have a book”.
나는 시간이 없다 literally translates to as for me, time doesn’t exist, and means “I don’t have time”.

The Particle 도: Also/Too

The Korean particle 도 (do) is a simple but powerful particle that means “also” or “too”.

The only tricky part about 도 is that it replaces other common particles like the subject particle (이/가) and object particle (을/를).

How It Replaces Other Particles

Notice how 도 takes the place of the original particle.

Original Sentence	Meaning	With 도	Meaning
사과가 맛있어요.	Apples are delicious.	사과도 맛있어요.	Apples also are delicious.
물을 마셔요.	I drink water.	물도 마셔요.	I drink water too.

You need to use the context of the sentence to determine if the word with 도 is the subject or object.