Learn the key pattern to ask if a store has something in stock
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| Let's take a closer look at the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Sasha Morris says, |
| "Excuse me, do you have any salt?" |
| 저기요, 소금 있어요? (Jeo-gi-yo, so-geum iss-eo-yo?) |
| This starts with 저기요 (Jeo-gi-yo), "Excuse me." 저기요 (Jeo-gi-yo). |
| 저기 (jeo-gi), literally, "over there." It refers to a place that is a bit away from the speaker. It can also be used to call a person, as in the dialogue. 저기. 저기. |
| Next is 요 (yo), a polite, informal sentence ending. 요 요. |
| Note, adding 요 (yo) at the end of a sentence makes it more polite. |
| All together 저기요 (Jeo-gi-yo), literally means "over there", but it translates as "excuse me." |
| 저기요. |
| Next is 소금 (so-geum), "salt." 소금. 소금. |
| Note: the subject-marking particle 이(i), in this case, which would mark 소금 (so-geum), "salt," as the subject of the sentence, is omitted. In spoken Korean, speakers tend to omit particles when it's clear which particle would be used. |
| After this is 있어요? (iss-eo-yo?), which translates as "do you have" in this context. 있어요. 있어요. |
| Translation note: 있어요 could also translate as "Is there," as in "Is there any salt?" |
| 있어요 is the informal-polite form of 있다 (it-da), meaning "to exist, to be, or to have." 있다. |
| Together, it's 소금 있어요? (So-geum iss-eo-yo?) This literally means "Salt [you] have?" but it translates as "[Do you] have [any] salt?" 소금 있어요? |
| Note the rising intonation that indicates this is a question. Listen again. |
| 저기요, 소금 있어요? (Jeo-gi-yo, so-geum iss-eo-yo?) |
| Let's take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how the clerk says, |
| "Yes, it's here." |
| 네, 여기 있어요. (Ne, yeo-gi iss-eo-yo.) |
| First is 네 (ne), "yes." 네. 네. |
| The shop clerk responds with 네, "yes," to answer Sasha's question. |
| After this the clerk says, 여기 있어요 (yeo-gi iss-eo-yo), translating as, "It's here." 여기 있어요 (yeo-gi iss-eo-yo). |
| Note, the clerk is pointing while saying this. |
| First is 여기 (yeo-gi), meaning "here." 여기. 여기. |
| Next is 있어요 (iss-eo-yo), translating as, "It's," in this context. 있어요. |
| Recall, 있어요 is the informal-polite form of 있다 (it-da), meaning "to exist, to be, or to have," in this context. 있다. |
| Note the intonation. Without the rising intonation, the statement is declarative. |
| All together, it's 네, 여기 있어요. (Ne, yeo-gi iss-eo-yo.) This literally means, "Yes, here [it] is." but translates as "Yes, it's here." |
| 네, 여기 있어요. |
| The pattern is |
| {ITEM} 있어요? (iss-eo-yo?) |
| Do you have {ITEM}? |
| {ITEM} 있어요? (iss-eo-yo?) |
| To use this pattern, simply replace the {ITEM} placeholder with the thing you're looking for. |
| Imagine you're looking for milk. |
| 우유 (u-yu). 우유. 우유. |
| Say |
| "Do you have milk?" |
| Ready? |
| 우유 있어요? (U-yu iss-eo-yo?) |
| "Do you have milk?" |
| 우유 있어요? (U-yu iss-eo-yo?) |
| In most cases, Korean doesn't make a distinction between singular and plural nouns. You'll use the same pattern when you're looking for salt, or an apple, or a dozen apples. |
| For example, 사과 있어요? (Sa-gwa iss-eo-yo?) can translate as "Are there any apples?" Or "Is there an apple?" depending on the number of apples. |
| The English translation may alternate between singular and plural, but the Korean pattern remains the same. |
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