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Grammar / Level 1 / Lesson 2

이다 and 아니다

By Daniel Buckley · 9 minute read · TOPIK 1

Vocabulary

  1. 학생 - student
  2. 선생님 - teacher
  3. 의사 - doctor
  4. 친구 - friend
  5. 사람 - person
  6. 이름 - name
  7. 책 - book
  8. 가방 - bag
  9. 뭐 - what
  10. 아니요 - no

To say you're a student in Korean, you don't reach for a separate word like "am". You stick an ending straight onto the noun: 학생이에요. That's one word and a full sentence.

The ending comes from 이다, and its opposite is 아니다. Together they say what something is and what it isn't.

이에요 and 예요

이다 joins onto the noun with no space, which is why Korean school grammar classes it as a particle even though it changes form like a verb. Its everyday form has two shapes, and the end of the noun picks one.

Saying "is"

  • After a consonant: 이에요.학생 → 학생이에요책 → 책이에요
  • After a vowel: 예요.의사 → 의사예요친구 → 친구예요

A consonant at the bottom of a syllable block is called a batchim. The last syllable of 학생 has one, ㅇ. The last syllable of 의사 has none, so that word ends in a vowel.

A noun with a batchim takes the longer form, and the consonant rolls straight into it. After a vowel, 이에요 squeezes down to 예요. Many particles come in pairs picked the same way, so this rule pays off again in the next two lessons.

  1. 학생이에요.

    (I) am student.

  2. 의사예요.

    (She) is doctor.

  3. 책이에요.

    (It) is book.

  4. 친구예요?

    (He) is friend?

  5. 한국 사람이에요.

    (I) am Korean person.

The form stays the same for I, you, she and it, so context tells you who's meant. Example 4 is a question: same words, rising voice.

Pick a noun below and look at how it ends.

person, last syllable 람 breaks into:

ㄹㅏㅁ

ends in a consonant, so it HAS a batchim

"is": 이에요/예요사람이에요

Saying who you mean

When the listener needs to know who or what you're talking about, name it first. The verb still goes last.

  1. 저는 학생이에요.

    I am student.

  2. 민수는 의사예요.

    Minsu is doctor.

  3. 제 이름은 민지예요.

    My name is Minji.

  4. 이름이 뭐예요?

    Name is what?

※ The 은/는 and 이 after those first nouns are particles, covered in lesson 3. Take them as chunks for now. 저 means "I", and 제 means "my".

아니다: saying what something isn't

아니다 is a separate word, so it takes a space. The noun in front of it gets 이 or 가, picked by the same batchim rule. 아니에요 itself is the same after any noun.

Saying "is not"

  • After a consonant: 이 아니에요.학생 → 학생이 아니에요
  • After a vowel: 가 아니에요.의사 → 의사가 아니에요

  1. 저는 학생이 아니에요.

    I am not student.

  2. 민수는 의사가 아니에요.

    Minsu is not doctor.

  3. 제 가방이 아니에요.

    (It) is not my bag.

※ In speech the 이/가 often drops: 학생 아니에요. You'll also hear 아니에요 alone as a polite reply to thanks, close to "not at all".

Pick the form that fits each gap.

  1. 저는 학생___.

    I'm a student.

  2. 제 친구___.

    This is my friend.

  3. 저는 의사___ 아니에요.

    I'm not a doctor.

  4. 제 가방___ 아니에요.

    It's not my bag.

Listen and type

1 / 3

Play it as often as you like.

입니다 and 이야

이에요 is the everyday polite form, and it's the one I'd use with anyone you've just met. You'll hear two others. 입니다 is formal, for the news, presentations and introducing yourself to a room. 이야 is casual, for close friends and younger people you know well.

Three levels of "is"

  • Formal: 입니다 after anything. The negative is 아닙니다.학생입니다의사입니다
  • Polite: 이에요 or 예요. The negative is 아니에요.학생이에요의사예요
  • Casual: 이야 after a consonant, 야 after a vowel. The negative is 아니야.학생이야의사야

  1. 저는 민수입니다.

    I am Minsu. (formal)

  2. 저는 의사가 아닙니다.

    I am not doctor. (formal)

  3. 내 친구야.

    (He) is my friend. (casual)

  4. 학생이 아니야.

    (I) am not student. (casual)

내 is the casual word for "my". Stick to 이에요 and 예요 until lesson 8, which explains who gets which level.

This one, that one, that one over there

English has "this" and "that". Korean has three words, and they go before a noun. 이 is near me, 그 is near you or something we've already mentioned, and 저 is over there, away from us both.

Add 것, "thing", and you have a word that stands alone: 이것, "this thing". In speech 것 usually softens to 거, giving 이거, 그거 and 저거. They're for things, so use 이 사람 for a person.

이, 그, 저

  • Near me: 이이 책, 이것, 이거
  • Near you, or already mentioned: 그그 책, 그것, 그거
  • Over there: 저저 책, 저것, 저거

  1. 이거 뭐예요?

    This is what?

  2. 그거 제 가방이에요.

    That is my bag.

  3. 저거 민수 책이에요.

    That over there is Minsu's book.

  4. 이것은 책이에요.

    This thing is book.

  5. 저 사람은 제 친구예요.

    That person over there is my friend.

※ 저 has a second job. It's the humble word for "I" that you saw in 저는 학생이에요. The two only look alike, and what follows tells them apart: 저 사람 is that person, 저는 is me.

A

이거 뭐예요?

This is what?

B

그거 제 가방이에요.

That is my bag.

A

저 사람은 친구예요?

That person over there is friend?

B

아니요, 친구가 아니에요. 선생님이에요.

No, friend is not. Is teacher.

Common mistakes

  1. 저는 의사이에요.

    저는 의사예요.

    의사 ends in a vowel, so it takes 예요.

  2. 안 학생이에요.

    학생이 아니에요.

    안 and 못 go in front of verbs, never nouns. A noun takes 아니에요.

  3. 친구이 아니에요.

    친구가 아니에요.

    친구 ends in a vowel, so it takes 가.

Check yourself

Quick check

1 / 6

저는 ___ (학생) I'm a student.

학생 ends in a consonant.

Summary

이다 and 아니다

  • Is: 이에요 after a consonant, 예요 after a vowel. No space.학생이에요, 의사예요
  • Is not: 이 or 가, a space, then 아니에요.학생이 아니에요, 의사가 아니에요
  • Formal: 입니다, 아닙니다. Casual: 이야 or 야, 아니야.
  • This, that, over there: 이, 그, 저. Add 것 or 거 for a thing.이거, 그거, 저거

Now you can say

  1. 제 이름은 민지예요.

    My name is Minji.

  2. 저는 의사가 아니에요.

    I am not doctor.

  3. 이거 뭐예요?

    This is what?

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