Korean has no verb "to have." "I have a car" is not built like English at all — it is literally "as-for-me, a car exists": 저는 차가 있어요. Possession is just existence with an owner set as the topic, so the thing you own becomes the grammatical subject with 이/가 — never an object with 을/를. This page is the reference table for how to say "have / not have," why the case marking works this way, and the allomorphy that decides 이 versus 가.
The frame
[owner] 은/는 [possessed thing] 이/가 있다 / 없다
The owner is set up as the topic (은/는) — "as for me…"; the possessed thing takes 이/가 and is what "exists" (있다) or "doesn't exist" (없다). English fuses owner and verb ("I have"); Korean splits them: the owner is just the backdrop, and the real subject of the sentence is the possession.
저는 차가 있어요.
jeoneun chaga isseoyo
I have a car. (lit. 'as-for-me, a car exists')
지금은 시간이 없어요.
jigeumeun sigani eopseoyo
I don't have time right now.
Once you hear 차가 있어요 as "a car exists (with me)," the particle stops being a puzzle: 차 is the thing that exists, so it is the subject. There is nothing being acted on, so there is no object and no 을/를.
The reference table
The verb is constant (있다 / 없다); only the particle on the possessed noun changes with its final sound — 이 after a consonant, 가 after a vowel. Rows below are sample possessions chosen to show that allomorphy.
| Possessed noun | Affirmative (있어요) | Negative (없어요) | Past | Honorific |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 돈 (money, consonant → 이) | 돈이 있어요 doni isseoyo | 돈이 없어요 doni eopseoyo | 돈이 있었어요 doni isseosseoyo | 돈이 있으세요 doni isseuseyo |
| 시간 (time, consonant → 이) | 시간이 있어요 sigani isseoyo | 시간이 없어요 sigani eopseoyo | 시간이 없었어요 sigani eopseosseoyo | 시간이 있으세요 sigani isseuseyo |
| 차 (car, vowel → 가) | 차가 있어요 chaga isseoyo | 차가 없어요 chaga eopseoyo | 차가 있었어요 chaga isseosseoyo | 차가 있으세요 chaga isseuseyo |
| 형 (older brother, ㅇ-batchim → 이) | 형이 있어요 hyeong-i isseoyo | 형이 없어요 hyeong-i eopseoyo | 형이 있었어요 hyeong-i isseosseoyo | 부모님이 계세요 bumonimi gyeseyo |
The honorific column is where relationship-nouns behave specially — see below.
Relationship "possession": family with 있다 and 계시다
Korean uses this same "exists" frame to state family relationships: 형이 있어요 is literally "an older brother exists (for me)" = "I have an older brother." For honored relatives, though, the possession-honorific 있으세요 gives way to the person-honorific 계시다, because a parent or grandparent is a person present in your life, not a mere possession.
저는 형이 한 명 있어요.
jeoneun hyeong-i han myeong isseoyo
I have one older brother.
부모님이 시골에 계세요.
bumonimi sigore gyeseyo
My parents live (are) in the countryside.
That contrast — 형이 있어요 for a sibling but 부모님이 계세요 for parents — is the everyday reflex of the 계시다 vs 있으시다 split. Honor the person, and the whole "have" sentence switches to 계시다.
More possession in the wild
혹시 볼펜 있어요?
hoksi bolpen isseoyo
Do you happen to have a pen?
저는 여자친구가 없어요.
jeoneun yeojachinguga eopseoyo
I don't have a girlfriend.
주말에 특별한 계획이 있어요?
jumare teukbyeolhan gyehoegi isseoyo
Do you have any special plans this weekend?
예전에는 돈이 없었지만 지금은 있어요.
yejeoneneun doni eopseotjiman jigeumeun isseoyo
I didn't have money before, but now I do.
In casual speech the 이/가 on the possession is often dropped (볼펜 있어요? above shows this), but the neutral, correct form marks it. When you learn the pattern, mark the particle; drop it later once it's automatic — dropping the wrong particle is worse than dropping none.
Common Mistakes
1. Marking the possession with 을/를. The thing you own is the subject (이/가), because 있다/없다 mean "exist."
❌ 저는 차를 있어요.
Wrong — 있다 takes an 이/가 subject: 차가 있어요.
✅ 저는 차가 있어요.
jeoneun chaga isseoyo
I have a car.
2. The same error in the negative. 없다 is also "exist" (negatively), so the thing takes 이/가.
❌ 저는 시간을 없어요.
Wrong — 시간이 없어요; the thing lacked is the subject.
✅ 저는 시간이 없어요.
jeoneun sigani eopseoyo
I don't have time.
3. Wrong 이/가 allomorph. 이 after a consonant, 가 after a vowel.
❌ 저는 차이 있어요.
Wrong — 차 ends in a vowel, so it's 차가.
✅ 저는 차가 있어요.
jeoneun chaga isseoyo
I have a car.
4. Using 있으세요 for honored family instead of 계세요. A parent is a person, honored with 계시다.
❌ 저는 부모님이 있으세요.
Wrong — honor the people with 계시다: 부모님이 계세요.
✅ 저는 부모님이 계세요.
jeoneun bumonimi gyeseyo
I have (esteemed) parents.
Key Takeaways
- Korean has no verb "to have" — possession is existence: [owner]은/는 [thing]이/가 있다/없다.
- The possessed thing is the grammatical subject, marked 이/가 (이 after a consonant, 가 after a vowel), never 을/를.
- Family relationships use the same frame: 형이 있어요 ("I have a brother"); for honored relatives it becomes 계세요 (부모님이 계세요).
- The full conjugations live on the 있다 and 없다 paradigm pages.
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- 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.
- 없다 (to not exist / to not have): ParadigmTOPIK 1 — The full look-up paradigm of 없다, the suppletive negative of 있다 — Korean has no productive 'not-있다,' you switch to the separate word 없다 — across all four speech levels, with the verbal -는 attributive (없는, never ×없은) and the key warning that ×안 있어요 is not how you say 'there isn't.'
- 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.
- Possession as Existence (나는 N이/가 있다)TOPIK 2 — Korean has no verb 'to have' — possession is existence predicated of a topic possessor: 저는 시간이 있어요 ('as for me, time exists' = 'I have time'). The thing owned is the grammatical subject, marked 이/가, never an object.
- The Subject Particle 이/가TOPIK 1 — 이/가 marks the grammatical subject — the doer or experiencer — and presents it as new, noticed, or specifically selected, which is exactly why it is not interchangeable with the topic particle 은/는.