English "is sitting" hides an ambiguity we never notice: it can mean is in the act of lowering into a chair or is already seated and staying that way. Same words, two situations. Korean refuses to blur them. -고 있다 describes an action in progress — the event is unfolding right now. -아/어 있다 describes a resultant state — a change has finished and its result persists. This page draws the boundary with a table, shows which verbs select which construction, and drills the one error that dominates: reaching for -고 있다 when you mean a state that simply continues.
The decisive minimal contrast
Put the two constructions on the same verb and the split is unmistakable:
- 앉고 있어요 (an-go isseoyo) = is in the act of sitting down — the body is still lowering.
- 앉아 있어요 (anja isseoyo) = is seated and staying there — the sitting is done, the posture holds.
Both come out as English "is sitting," which is exactly why English speakers can't hear the difference until they're forced to pick a Korean form. For a static posture — seated, standing, lying down — you almost always want -아/어 있다. (For the act of sitting down itself, natives more often say 앉는 중이에요 "in the middle of sitting.")
The two constructions
| Construction | Meaning | Selects | Example | Honorific | Past |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -고 있다 | action in progress ("is -ing") | action verbs, incl. transitive | 먹고 있어요 meokgo isseoyo | 먹고 계세요 meokgo gyeseyo | 먹고 있었어요 meokgo isseosseoyo |
| -아/어 있다 | resultant state ("remains -ed") | intransitive change-of-state verbs | 앉아 있어요 anja isseoyo | 앉아 계세요 anja gyeseyo | 앉아 있었어요 anja isseosseoyo |
The honorific of both is not ×있으세요 but 계시다 (계세요), because you are honoring a person who is in the action or state — see 계시다. The past just puts 있다 into the past: 있었어요.
-고 있다: the action is happening now
-고 있다 attaches to the plain stem and reports that the action is underway. It is the default "-ing," and it happily takes a direct object, because most things in progress are actions you're doing to something.
지금 밥 먹고 있어요.
jigeum bap meokgo isseoyo
I'm eating right now.
버스 기다리고 있어요. 조금만 기다려 주세요.
beoseu gidarigo isseoyo. jogeumman gidaryeo juseyo
I'm waiting for the bus. Please hold on a sec.
지금 뭐 하고 있어요?
jigeum mwo hago isseoyo?
What are you doing right now?
할머니께서 신문을 읽고 계세요.
halmeonikkeseo sinmuneul ilgo gyeseyo
Grandmother is reading the newspaper. (honorific 계시다)
-아/어 있다: a state that persists after the change
-아/어 있다 attaches with the same ㅏ/어 harmony and contractions as 해요체, then adds 있다. It says a change already happened and its result is still in place — so it selects intransitive change-of-state verbs: verbs of posture (sit, stand, lie), arrival (go, come), and remaining/opening.
| Verb | Meaning | -아/어 있다 form | Reading | Resultant state |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 앉다 | sit down | 앉아 있다 | anja itda | is seated |
| 서다 | stand up | 서 있다 | seo itda | is standing |
| 눕다 | lie down (ㅂ-irreg) | 누워 있다 | nuwo itda | is lying down |
| 남다 | remain | 남아 있다 | nama itda | is left over |
| 가다 | go | 가 있다 | ga itda | has gone (and is there) |
| 오다 | come | 와 있다 | wa itda | has come (and is here) |
| 열리다 | be opened | 열려 있다 | yeollyeo itda | is open |
| 떨어지다 | fall / drop | 떨어져 있다 | tteoreojeo itda | has fallen, lies dropped |
아이가 소파에 앉아 있어요.
aiga sopa-e anja isseoyo
The child is sitting on the sofa. (seated, not in the act of sitting)
문이 열려 있어요. 누가 안 닫았나 봐요.
muni yeollyeo isseoyo. nuga an dadanna bwayo
The door is open. Looks like someone didn't shut it.
냉장고에 우유가 조금 남아 있어요.
naengjanggo-e uyuga jogeum nama isseoyo
There's a little milk left in the fridge.
아까부터 여기 이렇게 서 있었어요.
akkabuteo yeogi ireoke seo isseosseoyo
I've been standing here like this for a while now. (past resultant state)
Common Mistakes
1. Using -고 있다 for a static posture. For "is seated / standing / lying," the state form -아/어 있다 is required.
❌ 아이가 소파에 앉고 있어요.
Wrong for 'is seated' — 앉고 있어요 means 'is in the act of sitting down'; the held posture is 앉아 있어요.
✅ 아이가 소파에 앉아 있어요.
aiga sopa-e anja isseoyo
The child is sitting on the sofa.
2. Using an active transitive verb for a resultant state. "The door is open" is the result of opening — use the intransitive 열리다 + 어 있다, not 열다 + 고 있다.
❌ 문을 열고 있어요.
For 'the door is open,' this is wrong — 문을 열고 있어요 means 'someone is opening the door' (action). The open state is 문이 열려 있어요.
✅ 문이 열려 있어요.
muni yeollyeo isseoyo
The door is open.
3. Putting a transitive action into -아/어 있다. An action you're performing on an object takes -고 있다.
❌ 지금 책을 읽어 있어요.
Wrong — reading a book is an action underway, not a resultant state: 책을 읽고 있어요.
✅ 지금 책을 읽고 있어요.
jigeum chaegeul ilgo isseoyo
I'm reading a book right now.
4. Forgetting the honorific 계시다. When the subject is honored, both constructions swap 있다 → 계시다.
❌ 사장님이 지금 회의하고 있어요.
Missing honorific — for an honored subject use 계시다: 회의하고 계세요.
✅ 사장님이 지금 회의하고 계세요.
sajangnimi jigeum hoe-uihago gyeseyo
The boss is in a meeting right now.
Key Takeaways
- -고 있다 = an action in progress ("is -ing"); attaches to the plain stem, takes objects (먹고 있어요, 읽고 있어요).
- -아/어 있다 = a resultant state that persists after a change ("remains -ed"); takes intransitive change-of-state verbs (앉아 있어요, 서 있어요, 열려 있어요).
- The decisive pair: 앉고 있어요 (in the act of sitting) vs 앉아 있어요 (seated and staying) — English "is sitting" collapses both.
- -아/어 있다 uses the same ㅏ/어 harmony and contractions as 해요체.
- The honorific of both is 계시다 (먹고 계세요, 앉아 계세요), not ×있으세요.
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Start learning Korean→Related Topics
- Present-Tense Formation TableTOPIK 1 — The present (non-past) across all four speech levels and both predicate classes — 합니다체 / 해요체 / 반말 / 한다체 — with the key split that verbs take -ㄴ다/는다 in 한다체 but adjectives stay bare -다 (간다 vs 좋다).
- 있다 (to exist / to have): Full ParadigmTOPIK 1 — The complete look-up paradigm of 있다 — Korean's one verb for both 'there is / is at' and 'I have' — across all four speech levels, with the crucial detail that it takes the verbal -는 attributive (있는, never ×있은), which is exactly why it's 재미있는, not ×재미있은.
- -고 있다 vs -아 있다: Progressive vs ResultantTOPIK 3 — Both translate as 'be …-ing', but -고 있다 marks an action unfolding in real time while -아/어 있다 marks the standing result of a finished action — and only the second one refuses transitive verbs.
- 계시다 vs 있으시다: Honorific Existence TableTOPIK 3 — The two honorific counterparts of 있다 that English collapses into one 'be': 계시다 honors a PERSON who is present, while 있으시다 honors an OWNER whose possession exists — so a question or an amount of time can be 있으시다 but can never 계시다.
- -고 있다 vs -아/어 있다: Progressive vs Resultant StateTOPIK 2 — Two Korean patterns English collapses into one 'be -ing': -고 있다 for an ongoing action, and -아/어 있다 for the state that persists after a change-of-state verb finishes — with the decisive 가고 있다 vs 가 있다 test.