Learn · notice · use · LESSON 3 / 4
있어요 and 없어요: presence and possession
Say that a thing is present or that you have it.
있어요 can express existence or possession. 없어요 expresses absence or not having something. The situation supplies whose possession or which location is meant.
There is a book. / I have a book, in context.
There is no water. / I do not have water, in context.
Is there a chair?
Examples in this unit are text-based. No pronunciation recording or automatic speaking score is used.
Attach 이 after a noun with a final consonant (책이, 물이) and 가 after a vowel (의자가). Spoken questions can use the same polite form with question intonation. 있어요 is not the same as the identity ending 이에요: 책이에요 identifies a book; 책이 있어요 says it is present.
Try it yourself
You have no water. Choose the useful statement.
Complete 의자__ 있어요. 의자 ends in a vowel.
Which says a book is present, rather than identifying something as a book?
Build “There is a book.”
…
RETRIEVE BEFORE YOU REVEAL
Say it in your own time.
Say you have a book but no water.
책이 있어요. 물이 없어요.
This is your own speaking check; pronunciation is not recorded or graded.
Resolve each question and make a recall self-check to save completion. Unit menus remain available for browsing.