This chapter contains a more in-depth explanation of Korean verbs, as well as introduces a few more important verbs that you’ll need to know. Also, you’ll be introduced to the Subject Marker, and another way of working with verbs – to connect two sentences using "but" ("I am an American, but I love Korea.").
Conversation
A: 저는 한국 사람입니다. 한국에 아파트가 있습니다.
B: 저는 미국 사람입니다. 미국에 집이 있습니다.
A: 저는 미국에 가고 싶습니다.
B: 저는 한국에 가고 싶지만 지금 미국에 있습니다.
Let’s go over each line in the conversation one at a time.
A: 저는 한국 사람입니다. 한국에 아파트가 있습니다.
"I am a Korean. I have an apartment in Korea."
More About 입니다
입니다 is actually the verb 이다 conjugated to the present tense.
The verb 이다 (here, 입니다) attaches directly to the word before it, with no spaces.
저는 일본 사람입니다.
"I am Japanese."
저는 영국 사람입니다.
"I am English."
저는 독일 사람입니다.
"I am German."
The Verb 있다
The verb 있다 literally means "to exist." However, it can be used in two ways.
First, you can use the verb 있다 to say that something or someone exists – there is something or someone. Use a noun, followed by the Subject Marker (we’ll go over this next), and then conjugate the verb 있다.
집이 있습니다.
"There is a house."
Literally this sentence means, "a house exists."
And second, you can use 있다 to say that you have something.
저는 돈이 있습니다.
"I have money."
Literally this sentence means "I, money exists," but you can use 있다 in this way to say that you have something. Use the Subject Marker after what it is that you have.
저는 자동차가 있습니다.
"I have a car."
저는 펜이 있습니다.
"I have a pen."
Advanced Notes:
As you discover more about Korean markers in this book in later chapters, you will learn that other markers can also be used instead of only the Subject Marker.
저는 자동차도 있습니다.
"I also have a car."
자동차는 있습니다.
"As for a car, I have one."
The Object Marker, however, cannot be used in this way.
The sentence 저는 자동차를 있습니다 would therefore be incorrect. This is because the verb 있다 does not have an object – it merely means that something or someone exists.
Introducing the Subject Markers – 이 and 가
In the sentences above you’ll notice either 이or 가after a noun. These are Subject Markers.
A Subject Marker in Korean marks a subject of a verb. This is different from the Topic Marker, which I’ll go over in a later chapter. For now, you don’t need to know exactly how to use a Subject Marker yet; we’ll cover it more in detail later on as we use it. Simply know that a Subject Marker is used together with 있다 to say that you have something, or to say that something or someone exists.
The Subject Marker is 이 when it comes after a consonant, or 가 when it comes after a vowel.
집이
자동차가
한국이
아파트가
Let’s look at some examples with the Subject Marker and the verb 있다.
저는 일이 있습니다.
"I have work."
저는 자동차가 있습니다.
"I have a car."
자동차가 있습니다.
"There is a car," or "I have a car."
집이 있습니다.
"There is a house," or "I have a house."
The context of a sentence will always make it clear whether someone is talking about something they have or something that simply exists.
More About 에
In the last chapter we focused on how 에 can mean "to" (to somewhere). In this chapter we’ll learn how it can also mean "at" (located at somewhere) and "in" (located in somewhere).
(저는) 한국에 집이 있습니다.
"I have a house in Korea."
This sentence literally can mean "I, a house exists in Korea," but here in context 있다 is being used to mean "have."
What you have, or what exists, will most often come right before the verb 있다 in a sentence.
저는 집에 티비가 있습니다.
"I have a TV at my house."
Advanced Notes:
It is also accurate to say (저는) 집이 한국에 있습니다. Switching 집이 around with 한국에 is still grammatically accurate, and adds emphasis to the location. Although the English translation would be similar, you can think of it meaning "I have a house in Korea" (emphasis added).
병원에 환자가 있습니다.
"There are patients at the hospital."
한국에 한국 사람이 있습니다.
"There are Koreans in Korea."
저는 미국에 여자 친구가 있습니다.
"I have a girlfriend in America."
저는 한국에 남자 친구가 있습니다.
"I have a boyfriend in Korea."
Additional Notes on "Have"
While the verb 있다 is used to say that someone "exists" for people and things, it cannot be used to say that you "have" an animal. For animals, the verb 키우다 ("to raise") must be used.
저는 고양이를 키웁니다.
"I have a cat (as a pet)."
저는 개를 키우고 싶습니다.
"I want to have a dog (as a pet)."
However, you will still use the verb 있다 when stating that an animal simply exists.
학교에 고양이가 있습니다.
"There is a cat in the school."
B: 저는 미국 사람입니다. 미국에 집이 있습니다.
"I am an American. I have a house in America."
It’s not required to state 저는 at the beginning of every single sentence, once it’s already clear that you’re talking about yourself.
An alternate word for 미국 사람 is 미국인. Both have the same meaning, but 미국인 is a bit more formal sounding. 인 means "person," but can’t be used by itself. Feel free to use either word. The same thing applies to 일본인 and 한국인, among others.
A: 저는 미국에 가고 싶습니다.
"I want to go to America."
있다 can also be used for saying that a person is "in" or "at" a location.
저는 집에 있습니다.
"I am at home."
Literally this means, "I exist at home."
저는 한국에 있습니다.
"I am in Korea."
Remember that 에 can mean both "in" or "at" (as we used it with 있다), or "to" (as we used it last chapter). Also remember that the location you are going "to" will come before the verb.
저는 유럽에 가고 싶습니다.
"I want to go to Europe."
B: 저는 한국에 가고 싶지만 지금 미국에 있습니다.
"I want to go to Korea, but now I’m in America."
Verb Stem + 지만
In Chapter 4 we learned about how to use 하지만 at the beginning of a sentence to mean "but" or "however." This time, let’s learn how to say "but" or "however" when it’s in the middle of a sentence.
Take the verb stem and attach 지만, then finish the sentence with whatever you want to say. That’s all there is to it.
저는 미국 사람이지만 한국을 사랑합니다.
"I am an American, but I love Korea."
이지만 comes from the verb 이다. However, the verb stem of 이다 changes when used after words ending in a vowel.
First, here is what 이다 looks like with 지만 when used after a consonant:
미국 사람이지만
And here is what it looks like after a vowel:
남자지만
Notice how after a vowel, the verb stem of 이다 changes to become nothing.
Advanced Notes:
Although I said that the verb stem of 이다 changes after a vowel, it’s actually not completely wrong to say 남자이지만. But this sounds lengthy and looks more like something you might find in an old textbook than in modern spoken Korean.
저는 우유를 싫어하지만 마십니다.
"I dislike milk, but I drink it."
저는 한국 사람이지만 한국말을 공부합니다.
"I am a Korean, but I study Korean."
The Adverbs 지금 and 이제
지금 is an adverb, meaning it describes a verb (similar to how an adjective describes a noun); it means "now" or "right now," and comes before the verb in a sentence.
저는 지금 가고 싶습니다.
"I want to go now."
저는 지금 한국에 있습니다.
"I am in Korea now."
Notice how it comes before the verb – in the first sentence before 가다, and in the second sentence before 있다. It will never appear at the end of the sentence.
Another similar word is 이제, which also means "now." While 지금 emphasizes "right now," 이제 emphasizes "from now." However, both will translate simply as "now."
저는 지금 가고 싶습니다.
"I want to go (right) now."
저는 이제 가고 싶습니다.
"I want to go (from) now."
Both have similar meanings, so feel free to use either one.
Practice
Translate to English:
1. 저는 지금 유럽에 갑니다.
2. 저는 핸드폰이 있습니다.
3. 저는 미국에 자동차가 있습니다.
4. 저는 한국에 가고 싶지만 미국에도 가고 싶습니다.
Translate to Korean:
5. "I’m going to Korea."
6. "I’m going to America now."
7. "I have a car."
8. "There is kimchi in Korea."
9. "There are Americans in America."
10. "I want to go to England, but I want to go to Korea also."
New Vocabulary
말(을) 하다 - "to speak," "to say"
거짓말(을) 하다 - "to lie"
이다 - "to be"
있다 - "to exist"
키우다 - "to raise"
진실(을) 말하다 - "to tell the truth"
고백(을) 하다 - "to confess"
한국말 - "Korean (language)"
영어 - "English (language)"
중국말 - "Chinese (language)"
일본말 - "Japanese (language)"
독일어 - "German (language)"
프랑스어 - "French (language)"
스페인어 - "Spanish (language)"
말 - "word"
거짓말 - "lie"
진실 - "truth"
의미 - "meaning"
의견 - "opinion"
성격 - "personality"
차이 - "difference"
사이다 - "cider," "soda"
아파트 - "apartment"
환자 - "a patient"
여자 - "girl," "woman"
남자 - "boy," "man"
친구 - "friend"
여자 친구 - "girlfriend"
남자 친구 - "boyfriend"
외국 - "foreign country"
외국어 - "foreign language"
섬 - "island"
정원 - "garden"
호수 - "lake"
강 - "river"
한국 - "(South) Korea"
한국 사람 - "a Korean (person)"
한국인 - "a Korean (person)"
미국 - "America"
미국 사람 - "an American (person)"
미국인 - "an American (person)"
일본 - "Japan"
일본 사람 - "a Japanese (person)"
일본인 - "a Japanese (person)"
영국 - "England"
영국 사람 - "English (person)"
독일 - "Germany"
독일 사람 - "a German (person)"
중국 - "China"
중국 사람 - "a Chinese (person)"
유럽 - "Europe"
북한 - "North Korea"
지금 - "(right) now"
이제 - "(from) now"
사람 - "person"
인간 - "human"
괴물 - "monster"
귀신 - "ghost"
신 - "god"
텔레비전 - "television"
티비 - "television" (abbreviation)
펜 - "pen"
우유 - "milk"
물 - "water"
마시다 - "to drink"
보다 - "to see"
읽다 - "to read"
듣다 - "to listen"
믿다 - "to believe"
신문 - "newspaper"
뉴스 - "news"
지도 - "map"
사진 - "photo"
카메라 - "camera"
사진(을) 찍다 - "to take a photo"
그림 - "drawing"
그리다 - "to draw"
그림(을) 그리다 - "to draw (a drawing)"
출발(을) 하다 - "to depart"
도착(을) 하다 - "to arrive"
떨어지다 - "to fall"
떨어뜨리다 - "to drop (something)"
열다 - "to open (something)"
닫다 - "to close (something)"
만들다 - "to make"