oneureun himi eobsseupnida.

I have no strength today.

Breakdown of oneureun himi eobsseupnida.

• 오늘: today
• 없다: to not have
• 힘: strength; energy

Questions & Answers about oneureun himi eobsseupnida.

Why is 오늘 followed by 는?

는 marks 오늘 as the topic: as for today / today, ...

So 오늘은 힘이 없습니다 has the feeling of:

• As for today, I have no energy
• Today, I’m out of energy

Using 는 can also create a slight contrast, even if it is subtle:

• Today I don’t have energy
  (maybe on other days I do)

Without 는, 오늘 힘이 없습니다 is possible in casual spoken Korean, but 오늘은 sounds more natural and complete in careful speech.

Why is 힘 followed by 이 instead of 를?

In 힘이 없습니다, 힘 is the thing that does not exist / is absent, so Korean uses the subject marker 이/가, not the object marker 을/를.

The pattern is:

• Noun + 이/가 있다 = there is / have
• Noun + 이/가 없다 = there is not / do not have

So:

• 힘이 있다 = to have strength/energy
• 힘이 없다 = to have no strength/energy

Even though English says I don’t have energy, Korean often expresses this more like energy does not exist.

What does 힘 mean here exactly?