chissori eobseumyeon chiyakman isseodo yangchireul mos hae.

If you don’t have a toothbrush, you can’t brush your teeth even if you have toothpaste.

Breakdown of chissori eobseumyeon chiyakman isseodo yangchireul mos hae.

• 하다: to do
• ~이: subject particle
• ~를: object particle
• 있다: to have

Questions & Answers about chissori eobseumyeon chiyakman isseodo yangchireul mos hae.

Why is it 칫솔이 없으면 and not 칫솔을 없으면?

Because 없다 does not take a direct object the way a verb like 먹다 does.

• 칫솔이 없다 = there is no toothbrush / a toothbrush is absent
• So the noun before 없다 is usually marked with 이/가, not 을/를

That is why 칫솔이 없으면 means if there is no toothbrush.

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What does -으면 mean in 없으면?

-으면 / -면 means if.

So:

• 없다 = to not exist / to not have
• 없으면 = if there isn’t / if you don’t have

In this sentence, 칫솔이 없으면 means if there is no toothbrush.

A quick pattern:

• 있다 → 있으면 = if there is / if you have
• 없다 → 없으면 = if there isn’t / if you don’t have
• 가다 → 가면 = if someone goes

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Why does the sentence say 치약만 있어도 instead of just 치약이 있으면?