Breakdown of chingudeuri hakgyoe isseoyo.
~이~i
subject particle
친구chingu
friend
학교hakgyo
school
있다issda
to be
Questions & Answers about chingudeuri hakgyoe isseoyo.
Why is 친구 followed by -들 in 친구들?
The suffix -들 makes 친구 (“friend”) plural, so 친구들 means “friends.” In Korean, you often use -들 to clarify that you’re talking about more than one person or thing, though in some contexts Korean leaves plurals implicit.
Why do we add the particle -이 after 친구들 (making 친구들이)?
The particle -이 is the subject marker for nouns ending in a consonant. It tells us that 친구들 (“friends”) is the subject of the sentence. If the noun ends in a vowel, you’d use -가 instead.
What does the particle -에 do in 학교에 있어요?
The particle -에 marks a static location when used with verbs of existence like 있다. Here, 학교에 means “at school” or “to school” in contexts of location. Combined with 있어요 (“exist”/“be located”), 학교에 있어요 means “(they) are at school.”
What exactly does 있어요 mean in this sentence?
있어요 is the polite present form of 있다, which here means “to exist” or “to be located.” So 친구들이 학교에 있어요 literally means “Friends exist at school,” i.e. “My/Their friends are at school.”
Can 있다 also mean “to have”?