Easy Korean Level 4 - Unit 26: State of being / -아/어/여 있다

You probably know that -고 있다 means "to be doing" something right now (like English "-ing"). For example, 먹고 있다 (is eating), 가고 있다 (is going).

However, some verbs express a change of state (like sitting down, standing up, opening, closing). When you want to say someone or something is in that finished state, you use:

-아/어/여 있다

-고 있다 vs. -아/어/여 있다

Let's look at the verb 앉다 (to sit).

1. 앉고 있어요
2. Meaning: "I am in the process of bending my knees and sitting down."

3. (This is rarely used because the action takes only 1 second).

4. 앉아 있어요

5. Meaning: "I sat down, and I am currently in a seated state."
6. (This is how you say "I am sitting" in Korean!)

Common Verbs used with -아/어/여 있다

This grammar is usually used with verbs that don't have an object (intransitive verbs).

1. 서다 (to stand)
2. 사람들이 서 있어요. (People are standing.)
3. 열리다 (to be opened)
4. 문이 열려 있어요. (The door is open.)
5. 닫히다 (to be closed)
6. 창문이 닫혀 있어요. (The window is closed.)
7. 죽다 (to die)
8. 벌레가 죽어 있어요. (The bug is dead.)
9. 켜지다 (to be turned on)
10. TV가 켜져 있어요. (The TV is on.)

How to Conjugate

Just like the present tense (-아요/어요), but attach 있다 instead of '요'. - 열리다 -> 열려요 -> 열려 있다 - 닫히다 -> 닫혀요 -> 닫혀 있다 - 서다 -> 서요 -> 서 있다