Do you want to learn how to say Where is it in Korean?
In this lesson, we will learn how to ask and answer the location of a person or a thing.
I will teach you the Korean grammar that is “에 있다, 없다’.
You will be able to ask the location of things in a restaurant or a store in Korean well after this lesson.
Basic Korean Words
| Word | Pronunciation | Audio | part of speech | In English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 학생 | hagsaeng | Noun | student | |
| 교실 | gyosil | Noun | classroom | |
| 선생님 | seonsaengnim | Noun | teacher | |
| 필통 | piltong | Noun | pencilcase | |
| 집 | jib | Noun | house | |
| 펜 | pen | Noun | pen | |
| 물 | mul | Noun | water | |
| 냉장고 | naengjang-go | Noun | refrigerator | |
| 소주 | soju | Noun | soju | |
| 맥주 | maegju | Noun | beer | |
| 동생 | dongsaeng | Noun | younger brother/sister | |
| 학교 | haggyo | Noun | school | |
| 아빠 | appa | Noun | dad | |
| 회사 | hoesa | Noun | company | |
| 엄마 | eomma | Noun | mom | |
| 은행 | eunhaeng | Noun | bank | |
| 안 | an | Adverb | inside | |
| 밖 | bakk | Adverb | outside | |
| 옆 | yeop | Adverb | beside | |
| 위 | wi | Adverb | on top | |
| 밑 | mit | Adverb | below | |
| 앞 | ap | Adverb | in front |
What is ‘에 있다, 없다’
Let’s study ‘에 있다, 없다’.
First of all ‘있다’ is ‘There is’ in English.
‘없다’ is ‘There is not’ in English.
And ‘에‘ has so many meanings, but one of them is attached to a noun or pronoun for indicating a location.
So let’s see how to use ‘에 있다, 없다’.
How to use ‘에 있다, 없다’
'에 있다, 없다' attaches to the end of a noun, indicating the location people or things.For example, if you want to ask where the water is at a restaurant, you can say “물은 어디에 있어요?” in Korean,
When you want to ask the location of people or things, you can say “어디에 있어요?”
The difference between ‘있다’ and ‘있어요’
First of all, in conclusion, there is no difference in meaning between ‘있다’ and ‘있어요’.
The only difference is that ‘있다’ is used in a general style, and is used to express the situation naturally rather than asking the other person.
On the other hand, ‘있어요’ is a polite and respectful expression, used with strangers or older people.
In addition, it can be used in more diverse situations, but I will post about the culture related to honorific words later.!!
The Form of ‘에 있다, 없다’
Regardless of whether or not a noun has batchim, use ‘에 있다, 없다’.
In the grammar I introduced before, the form used to change depending on the batchim of the noun.
However, I think it will be easier to accept this time because it is not affected by batchim of ‘에 있다, 없다’.
- A sentence with batchim.
- 선생님이 교실에 있어요.
- A sentence without batchim.
- 제 가방은 어디에 있어요?
If you want to know batchim, you can read my article about batchim.
The Practice of ‘에 있다, 없다’
Let’s practice ‘에 있다, 없다’ with various sentences.
| 그 학생은 어디에 있어요? | Where is the student? | |
| 그 학생은 교실에 있어요. | The student is in the classroom. |
| 선생님은 어디에 있어요? | Where is the teacher? | |
| 선생님은 교실에 없어요. | The teacher is not in the classroom. |
| 제 필통은 어디에 있어요? | Where is my pencil case? | |
| 필통은 집에 있어요. | The pencil case is at home. | |
| 제 펜은 필통 안에 있어요. | My pen is in the pencil case. |
| 물은 어디에 있어요? | Where’s the water? | |
| 물은 냉장고 안에 있어요. | The water is in the refrigerator. |
| 소주는 어디에 있어요? | Where is the soju? | |
| 소주는 없어요. | There is no soju. |
| 맥주는 어디에 있어요? | Where’s the beer? | |
| 맥주는 물 옆에 있어요. | The beer is next to the water. |
| 탄산수는 어디에 있어요? | Where’s the sparkling water? | |
| 탄산수는 냉장고 밖에 있어요. | Sparkling water is outside the refrigerator. |
| 동생은 어디에 있어요? | Where is your brother? | |
| 동생은 학교에 있어요. | My brother is at school. |
| 아빠는 어디에 있어요? | Where is Dad? | |
| 아빠는 회사에 있어요. | Dad is at work. |
| 엄마는 어디에 있어요? | Where is mom? | |
| 엄마는 은행에 있어요. | Mom is at the bank. |
Wrap up
In this lesson, we studied how to say where is it in Korean.
I hope this helps. Thanks for reading.
