Breakdown of hyudaepone bimilbeonhoga seoljeongdwae isseoyo.
~가~ga
subject particle
있다issda
to be
~에~e
location particle
비밀번호bimilbeonho
password
Questions & Answers about hyudaepone bimilbeonhoga seoljeongdwae isseoyo.
What does the particle 에 in 휴대폰에 do here? Is it “on” or “in”?
It marks the location where a state exists. With 있다, 에 often translates as on/at/in depending on context. So 휴대폰에 … 있어요 means the state exists on the phone. Use 에, not 에서, because this is a state, not an action in progress.
Why is 비밀번호 marked with 가 instead of 을/를 or 은/는?
- 가 marks the grammatical subject: 비밀번호가 (subject) 설정돼 있어요 (is set).
- 을/를 would be for the object of an active verb (e.g., 비밀번호를 설정했어요 I set a password).
- 은/는 topicalizes: 비밀번호는 설정돼 있어요 = As for the password, it’s set (contrastive).
What exactly does the pattern -어/아 있다 mean in 설정돼 있어요?
It expresses a resulting state from a completed action. Compare:
- 설정됐어요 = It was set (event/completion).
- 설정돼 있어요 = It is set (resulting state continues). Don’t use -고 있어요 here; 설정하고 있어요 would mean someone is in the middle of setting it.
Why passive 설정되다 instead of active 설정하다?
Because the sentence describes the phone’s state, not who did the action. 비밀번호가 설정돼 있어요 = The password is set. If you want to say who set it, use the active: 제가 비밀번호를 설정했어요 (I set the password).