Korean Be Verb: 이다 vs 있다 vs No Verb at All

What you'll learn

• Choose 이다, 있다 or an adjective for an English sentence with "is", "am" or "are".
• Say 저는 학생이에요 ("I am a student"), 학교에 있어요 ("It is at school") and 학생이 아니에요 ("I am not a student").
• Tell 어디예요? from 어디에 있어요? when asking where something is.
• Pick the right negative: 아니에요 ("is not") or 없어요 ("does not exist").

Prerequisites: you know that Korean puts the verb at the end and that verbs and adjectives conjugate, as shown in How Korean verbs work. Time: about 20 minutes.

The first section turns that summary into a decision you can make in seconds.

How Do You Say Is and Are in Korean?

To say "is" or "are" in Korean, first ask what the English sentence is doing. If it says what something is (a noun), use 이다. If it says where something is or that it exists, use 있다. If it describes a quality (an adjective), use the adjective alone. Korean has no single verb that covers all three.

A quick test: replace "is" with "exists" or "is located". If the sentence still makes sense ("My bag is located in the car"), use 있다. If you can replace "is" with "equals" ("I equal a student"), use 이다. If neither works and the word after "is" is an adjective, use the adjective. The next three sections take each structure in turn.

Use 이다 for Identity and Category

이다 is the Korean copula: a linking word that says the subject equals or belongs to a noun. It attaches directly to the noun, with no space and no particle in between, and it changes shape with the noun's last sound. After a consonant the polite form is 이에요; after a vowel it is 예요.

In each sentence the subject usually takes the topic particle 은/는 ("as for"), which is explained in Korean topic and subject particles. The noun after it carries 이에요 or 예요. Because the full rule for 이에요/예요 has its own lesson, this page links to 이에요/예요 to be for the details. The formal, casual and past forms (입니다, 이야, 이었어요) are listed in 이다 conjugation.

이다 handles only nouns. As soon as the English "is" points to a place or to existence, Korean needs a different verb, which the next section introduces.

Use 있다 for Existence and Location

있다 is the Korean verb of existence: it says that something is there, is located somewhere, or is possessed. The place takes the location particle 에 ("at", "in"), and the thing that exists takes the subject particle 이/가. Its polite present is 있어요 [이써요].

Three English verbs map onto 있다: "is (somewhere)", "there is" and "have". Korean sees them as one idea: something exists, in a place or in your possession. The particle 에 marks the place; its partner 에서 marks where an action happens, and both are compared in Korean location particles.

One honorific detail matters early. When the person who "is somewhere" deserves respect, Korean uses 계시다 instead of 있다: 선생님이 교실에 계세요, "The teacher is in the classroom." For a respected person "having" something, 있으세요 is used: 시간 있으세요? The negative partner 없다 and its compounds are covered in 있다 and 없다 adjectives.

That leaves the largest group of English "is" sentences, the ones with adjectives.

Why Do Korean Adjectives Not Need a Be Verb?

Korean adjectives do not need a be verb because they already work like verbs: an adjective such as 예쁘다 means "to be pretty", with the "be" built in. It conjugates on its own, so "She is pretty" is 예뻐요, and adding 이에요 would double the "is". This is the largest single difference from English "be + adjective".

Linguists often call Korean adjectives descriptive verbs or stative verbs for exactly this reason: they conjugate with the same endings as action verbs. The two classes still differ in a few forms, such as the modifier before a noun: 가는 사람 ("a person who goes") but 큰 사람 ("a big person").

A useful rule of thumb: if an English sentence has "is" + adjective, delete "is" and conjugate the Korean adjective. If it has "is" + a noun, keep 이다. The next section shows sentences where the choice between 이다 and 있다 changes the meaning.

What Is the Difference between 이다 and 있다 in Similar Sentences?

이다 says what something is, while 있다 says that it exists or where it is, so swapping them changes the meaning even when the nouns stay the same. The minimal pairs below differ only in the be verb and the particle.

Look at the particles. With 이다, the noun joins the ending directly: 선생님이에요. With 있다, the noun takes the subject particle 이/가 and stands apart: 선생님이 있어요. In fast speech the particle is often dropped (선생님 있어요), but the space before 있어요 stays, because 있다 is a separate word. 이다 never takes a space before it. The two structures meet in the most common question of all.

Asking Where Something Is

Korean has two natural ways to ask where something is: 어디예요? and 어디에 있어요? Both are correct and both get the same answer. 어디예요? uses 이다 and literally asks "What place is it?"; 어디에 있어요? uses 있다 and asks "In what place does it exist?"

One-line rule: 어디예요 asks what the place is, 어디에 있어요 asks where the thing is, and in daily speech either one will get you to the restroom. Notice the spelling: 어디 ends in a vowel, so it takes 예요. The next section covers how to say the opposite of each structure.

How Do You Say Is Not and Does Not Exist?

To say "is not", use 아니다: N이/가 아니에요. To say "does not exist", "is not there" or "do not have", use 없다: 없어요. For adjectives, put 안 in front: 안 바빠요, "I'm not busy." Each positive structure has its own negative, and they cannot be mixed.

Two details trip learners. First, 아니에요 is a separate word, and the noun before it takes 이/가: 학생이 아니에요, with 이 after the consonant and 가 after a vowel (의사가 아니에요). Second, 안 is not used with 이다, and 있다 in the sense "exist" or "have" is negated with 없다 instead: 안 학생이에요 and 시간이 안 있어요 are wrong. The full set of negation patterns is in Korean negation.

Is 이다 a Verb?

이다 is called a verb in most English-language learner materials, but Korean school grammar (학교 문법) classifies it as a copular particle, 서술격 조사, because it attaches to nouns like a particle while conjugating like a verb. Linguists also use the label copula (지정사). For a learner the label changes nothing: 이다 conjugates (이에요, 이었어요, 입니다) and must be attached to a noun.

있다 has a similar double identity. The Standard Korean Language Dictionary (표준국어대사전) of the National Institute of Korean Language lists 있다 as both a verb and an adjective, depending on the sense, and some grammars group 있다 and 없다 as "existential words" (존재사). This is why both take the verb-style modifier (있는, 없는), even though 없다 is classed as an adjective. The next section lists the mistakes this three-way split produces.

Common Mistakes with the Korean Be Verb

Learners make five recurring mistakes with the Korean be verb, nearly all from translating English "is" word for word.

Learners often assume 있다 means "is" in general. Actually 있다 means "exists" or "is located"; 학생이 있어요 means "There is a student", not "I am a student." Fix: use 이다 whenever a noun follows "is".

An honest limit: native speech drops particles and even whole verbs, and casual replies such as "학생" (just the noun) are common. This page teaches the full structures because they are what you must produce in polite speech. Practice comes next.

Practice

Choose 이다, 있다 or an adjective, then write the Korean in the polite style. Check your answers below.

1. I am a teacher.
2. The bank is over there. (over there = 저기)
3. It is hot. (덥다)
4. This is water. (water = 물)
5. There is a problem. (problem = 문제)
6. I am not a student.
7. Mom is not at home. (Mom = 엄마)
8. The coffee is delicious.
9. Where is the station? (station = 역)
10. I have a car. (car = 차)
11. I'm not hungry. (배고프다)
12. My name is Sara. (사라)

Answer key

1. 저는 선생님이에요. (이다)
2. 은행이 저기 있어요. (있다)
3. 더워요. (adjective)
4. 이건 물이에요. (이다)
5. 문제가 있어요. (있다)
6. 저는 학생이 아니에요. (아니다)
7. 엄마가 집에 없어요. (없다)
8. 커피가 맛있어요. (adjective)
9. 역이 어디예요? or 역이 어디에 있어요? (both correct)
10. 저는 차가 있어요. (있다)
11. 배 안 고파요. (adjective with 안; 안 배고파요 is also heard)
12. 제 이름은 사라예요. (이다; 사라 ends in a vowel)

If you used 이에요 in item 3 or 8, reread the adjective section. If you used 학생이에요 for item 6 with 안, reread the negatives section.

What Should You Learn after the Korean Be Verb?

After the Korean be verb, learn 이다 conjugation: every form of 이다 and 아니다, including 입니다, 이야 and the past 이었어요/였어요. Then read 있다 and 없다 adjectives, which shows how 있다 and 없다 build words such as 맛있다 ("delicious") and 재미없다 ("boring"). The meaning of 있어요 and 없어요 in sentences is also explained step by step in 있어요 없어요 meaning.

What this page does not cover. It does not cover the honorific system in full, the plain written style (학생이다), or 이다 after numbers and dates in detail. About this page. Last updated 2026-10-09. The Korean text, spoken forms and audio on this page were machine-generated and reviewed and signed off by Min-ji Park on 15 October 2026. Romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean and is shown only as a learning aid.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a space between the noun and 이에요? No. 이다 and its forms attach directly to the noun, so 학생이에요, 의사예요 and 학생입니다 are written as one unit. 있다 is different: it is a separate word, so the noun and 있어요 have a space between them, as in 시간이 있어요. A space before 이에요 is one of the most common spelling errors.

How do I say "I have" in Korean? Use 있다, the verb of existence. "I have a car" is 저는 차가 있어요, literally "As for me, a car exists." The thing you have takes the subject particle 이/가, not the object particle 을/를. The negative is 없어요: 저는 차가 없어요, "I don't have a car."

How do I say "there is" in Korean? Use N이/가 있어요. 문제가 있어요 means "There is a problem", and 냉장고에 우유가 있어요 means "There is milk in the fridge." Add the place with 에 if you need it. For "there is not" or "there are no", replace 있어요 with 없어요: 문제가 없어요, "There is no problem."

What is the past tense of the Korean be verb? The past of 이다 is 이었어요 after a consonant and 였어요 after a vowel: 학생이었어요, 의사였어요. The past of 있다 is 있었어요 and of 없다 is 없었어요. Adjectives take their own past, such as 추웠어요 for "it was cold." Each structure keeps its own verb in the past.

What is the honorific form of 있다? It depends on the meaning. For a respected person being somewhere, use 계시다: 선생님이 교실에 계세요. For a respected person having something, use 있으시다: 시간 있으세요? Using 있으세요 for location, as in 할머니가 집에 있으세요, is a common learner mistake; the natural form is 할머니가 집에 계세요.

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