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This is Part 3 of a multi-part series based on my master’s thesis in linguistics. Let’s go.

In this video, we’re looking at how Korean expresses existence.

In English, existential constructions use there plus a form of be, followed by the entity and a place: There is an apple on a table.

In Korean, it’s typically: a place, a subject with its case marker, and the verb 있다.

“탁자에 사과가 있어요” — literally, “On the table, an apple exists.”

Depending on the situation, this can mean either:

• There is an apple on the table.
• There is an apple on a table.

That’s because Korean doesn’t mark definiteness the way English does.

It can also be understood as “The table has an apple on it.”

But here’s the difference — Korean generally doesn’t allow inanimate subjects to do things.

And if the place is obvious? We just drop it.

English must mark definiteness with a or the.

Korean doesn’t. Instead, definiteness is inferred from context — often from a shared physical or temporal frame, or something already mentioned.

This connects to a cultural pattern: in Korean, addresses and dates go from the largest unit to the smallest — country first, then city, then street, and so on.

It’s a way of thinking that starts with the broadest frame… then moves into details.

And that’s exactly how definiteness works in Korean grammar.

From a linguistic perspective, existential constructions almost always introduce new information.

Picture this: a mother is trying to get her daughter to sleep. The daughter asks for a story, and the mother begins… “Once upon a time, there was a really brave girl in a city.”

In Korean, she might say: 옛날ㄹ에 한 도시에 정말 용감한 여자애가 있었어.

옛날에 한 도시에 정말 용감한 여자애 있었어. Nope. Not natural.

정말 용감한 여자애가 옛날에 한 도시에 있었어. This is not impossible, but it’s not a typical existential construction in Korean.

Why? Because existential constructions work best for bringing new information into the conversation.

However, you won’t hear existential constructions that often in daily life.

In the next video, we’ll look at another side of the verb “있다.”