Learn Korean for Free | Beginner Korean Grammar # 7
Where’s your phone? Where’s your friend? Where’s the cat? 🐱
Use 에 있어요/없어요 to say where someone or something is—or isn’t.
The Rule
Place + 에 + 있어요
= is / exists at a place
Place + 에 + 없어요
= is not / does not exist at a place
교실에 있어요.
It is in the classroom.
집에 없어요.
It is not at home.
Useful Location Words
| Korean | English |
|---|---|
| 위 | on / above |
| 아래 | under / below |
| 옆 | next to |
| 안 | inside |
| 앞 | in front of |
| 뒤 | behind |
| 방 | room |
| 회사 | company / office |
Korean Grammar Examples
선생님은 교실에 있어요.
The teacher is in the classroom.
가방 안에 지갑이 있어요.
There is a wallet inside the bag.
책상 위에 휴대전화가 있어요.
The mobile phone is on the desk.
동생은 지금 집에 없어요.
My younger sibling is not at home now.
의자 아래에 고양이가 있어요.
There is a cat under the chair.
Quick Quiz 🎯
Fill in 에.
- 가방 안___ 책이 있어요.
- 교실___ 학생이 많아요.
- 방___ 침대가 있어요.
- 냉장고___ 물이 있어요.
Answers: 에 / 에 / 에 / 에
💡 Tip: Use 에서, not 에, when an action happens at a place.
Finding a missing phone
A: 휴대전화가 어디에 있어요? — Where is the phone?
B: 책상 위에 있어요. — It’s on the desk.
A: 가방 안에는 없어요? — Isn’t it in the bag?
B: 네, 가방 안에는 없어요. — That’s right, it isn’t in the bag.
Choose a location before choosing 있어요 or 없어요
책상 위에 means “on the desk”; 책상 아래에 means “under the desk.” 에 attaches to the final location word: 가방 안에, not 가방에 안. Use 있어요 if the object is there and 없어요 if it is absent. The topic or subject may be omitted once the listener knows which object you mean.
Practice in context
Situation: a book is inside a bag, and there is no book on the desk. Complete: ① 가방 안에 책이 ___. ② 책상 위에 책이 ___.
Answers and explanation
① 있어요 ② 없어요. Now place a real object somewhere, ask 어디에 있어요?, and answer without pointing. Your partner should be able to find it from your words.
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