There is, I have: 있어요 and 없어요

One thing is there, one is not

Two sentences with the same shape: a noun, then 이, then a last word. 물이 있어요 — water exists. 시간이 없어요 — time does not exist.

Read them that plainly for now. The noun with 이 or 가 is the thing in question, and the last word says whether it is there or not.

있어요 and 없어요: a pair of opposites

있어요 means “exists”. 없어요 means “does not exist”. It is a separate word, not 있어요 with a “not” attached. Learn them as a pair, like “present” and “absent”.

The spelling hides the sound. In 있어요 the final ㅆ links to the next vowel: [이써요]. In 없어요 the ㅂ stays and the ㅅ moves over, sounding tense: [업써요].

Write 있어요 with ㅆ under 이, even though you hear 이써요.

The same two words say “have”

고양이가 있어요 is how Korean says “I have a cat”: literally “a cat exists”. 동생이 없어요 — “I have no younger sibling”. The owner is usually left out, since it is clear who is speaking.

This is where English misleads. In “I have a cat”, the cat is the object. In Korean the cat is the thing that exists, so it takes 이/가, never 을/를.

Asking, and answering yes or no

돈이 있어요? is the statement with a rising voice, as in the last two lessons. Depending on the situation it means “is there money?” or “do you have money?”

To answer, repeat the word that is true: 네, 있어요 or 아니요, 없어요. There is no “I do” or “I don’t”; the verb itself is the answer.

Where something is: place + 에

친구가 집에 있어요 — “my friend is at home”. The place carries a small particle, 에, and then comes 있어요. To ask, put 어디 in the place slot: 화장실이 어디에 있어요?

에 marks the place where something exists. It has one form only: 집에 after a consonant, 카페에 after a vowel. English “is” in “is at home” is 있어요 here, not 이에요.

집에 is pronounced [지베]: the final ㅂ links to 에.