The Sentence Skeleton · Lesson 5 of 6

있어요/없어요 — There Is, I Have

One pair covers existence, possession, and the survival question “where is the bathroom?”

12 min

One pair of words covers “there is”, “I have”, and the single most useful question a traveler can ask. Meet Korean's existence verbs.

있어요 / 없어요

있어요

isseoyo

there is / (I) have

없어요

eopseoyo

there isn't / (I) don't have

물이water (subject)있어요exists

There's water. — and with rising tone, “is there water?”

저는as for me시간이time (subject)없어요doesn't exist

I don't have time. — literally “as for me, time doesn't exist.” Poetic and practical.

Where things are: 에

Add the location particle 에 (at/in/to) and 있어요 tells you where things live:

집에at home있어요am/is

(I'm) at home. / It's at home.

The survival question

화장실이 어디에 있어요?

hwajangsil-i eodie isseoyo?

Where is the bathroom?

어디 = where. Swap the first word for anything you're hunting: 지하철역 (subway station), 카페…

팁

Notice you built this from parts you own: 화장실 + subject tag 이 + 어디 + location 에 + 있어요. Practice both the parts and the complete question.

Try it

Ask a server if there's water.Show answer

물 있어요? — particles often relax in quick speech; 물이 있어요? is the full form. Both natural.

Say “there's no time.”Show answer

시간이 없어요.

Ask where the café is. (카페)Show answer

카페가 어디에 있어요? — vowel ending → 가.

Three questions that need different answers

In an original café scenario, imagine that you are looking for water. 물이 있어요? asks whether water is available. 물이 어디에 있어요? asks where it is. 저는 물이 있어요 tells someone that you have water already. The shared 있어요 does not erase the different jobs of the surrounding words.

A: 물이 있어요? (Is there water?) B: 네, 있어요. (Yes, there is.) A: 어디에 있어요? (Where is it?) B: 저기에 있어요. (It's over there.) The noun can be left out once both speakers know what you are discussing. If the topic changes, name it again rather than assuming your listener can guess.

A small particle change is not just decoration

Use 이 after a consonant and 가 after a vowel for the thing that exists: 물이 있어요, 커피가 있어요. For the location, use 에: 카페에 있어요 means “I'm/it's at the café,” depending on context. 카페가 있어요 means “There is a café.” Changing 가 to 에 changes the role of 카페.

Choose the answer to “Where is the coffee?”: 커피가 있어요 or 저기에 있어요. Explain your choice.Show answer

저기에 있어요 gives a location: “It's over there.” 커피가 있어요 only says there is coffee, so it does not answer the location question.

Correct 저는 물을 있어요 to say “I have water.” Why does the English word “have” not justify 을?Show answer

저는 물이 있어요. In this pattern, 물 is the thing that exists or is available to you, so use 이. Translating an English object word by word can produce the wrong Korean particle.

Try a transfer task with your own bag: choose a book (책), an umbrella (우산), or a pen (펜). Say whether you have it, then say where it is using 가방에 있어요. These are suggested practice tasks, not a claim that a particular study time guarantees fluency.

What you just learned

있어요/없어요 — existence and possession in one pair.
에 marks location: 집에, 어디에.
화장실이 어디에 있어요? — ask for a location with 어디에.

References

Revised September 29, 2026 by Korean ESY with AI assistance. This revision adds contextual practice and corrects overbroad explanations. Examples and answers are original editorial material; no independent teacher or classroom review is claimed. See our editorial policy or report a correction.

National Institute of Korean Language: 있다 — existence, location, and possession; checked September 19, 2026.
UBC Korean Language and Culture Program, lesson 7.2 — 있어 and 없어 among verb forms; checked September 29, 2026.

Quick check

Did it stick?

Three quick questions — instant answers, no grades, no pressure.

1.“I don't have time” uses…

2.The particle 에 marks…

3.“Where is the bathroom?” is…

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