The Sentence Skeleton · Lesson 4 of 6
이에요/예요 — It Is, It Isn't
Say what anything is — and isn't — with the ending you already met in self-introductions.
In your self-introduction you said 저는 ___이에요. That little ending is Korean's “to be” — and today it stops being just for names and starts working on everything.
이에요 / 예요 — saying what things are
Same rule you already know: consonant ending → 이에요, vowel ending → 예요.
김치예요
gimchi-yeyo
It's kimchi.
김치 ends in a vowel → 예요
물이에요
mul-ieyo
It's water.
물 ends in ㄹ → 이에요
This is gimbap. — 이거 (this thing) + the topic tag.
이거 (this) and 저거 (that, over there) are your pointing words — with 이에요/예요 they let you ask about anything you can see.
Questions cost nothing
Korean turns a statement into a question with rising intonation alone — no word shuffling, no helper verbs:
김치예요?
gimchi-yeyo?
Is it kimchi?
Same words, rising tone. That's the entire grammar.
아니에요 — what it isn't
김치가 아니에요
gimchi-ga anieyo
It's not kimchi.
The thing being denied wears 이/가 before 아니에요.
Try it
Point at a bowl and ask “is this bibimbap?” (비빔밥)Show answerAnswer
Someone guesses wrong. Say “it's not bibimbap, it's gimbap.”Show answerAnswer
What you just learned
- 이에요/예요 says what anything is — the name-rule generalized.
- Rising intonation alone makes it a question.
- 아니에요 denies it, with 이/가 on the denied thing.
- 이거/저거 — this and that, your pointing words.
Quick check
Did it stick?
Three quick questions — instant answers, no grades, no pressure.
1.물 (water) — “it's water” is…
2.How does 김치예요 become a question?
3.“It's not kimchi” is…
Want the why behind the words?
The reading path explains the culture and logic that make Korean click — a perfect companion to these lessons.