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⇾ 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 -이에요/-예요

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by gomgyu

by gomgyu

I'm just gonna insert this somewhere before UNIT 2 because i forgot to talk about this. This is very important, especially in having a conversation with people you just met or people who have high ranks or older than you.

-이에요/-예요
[-ieyo / -yeyo]

- both have similar role corresponding to the English verb "to be." The primary difference, however, is their use in a certain sentence structure.

English sentence structure:

A₍ₛ₎ + [be] + B₍ₙ₎.
** B₍ₙ₎ here, is a noun.

examples:

Kyungsoo is a student.
I am a teacher.
You are my friend.

Korean sentence structure:

A₍ₛ₎ + B₍ₙ₎ + [be]

examples:

이거 연필이에요. [igeo yeonpil-ieyo]
⤷ This is a pencil.

이거 의자예요. [igeo euija-yeyo]
⤷ This is a chair.

Unlike English, wherein, the verb "to be" is changed to "is" "are" or "am" depending on the subject of the sentence, in Korean, you decide whether to use "-이에요" [-ieyo] or "-예요" [-yeyo] depending on whether the last letter in the previous word ended with a consonant or a vowel. They actually sound pretty similar when spoken so it's not a really big problem if you mix them up, but it is better to know the correct forms.

REMEMBER:
■ FINAL CONSONANT + -이에요 [-ieyo]
■ FINAL VOWEL + - 예요 [-yeyo]

examples:

• 책이에요. [chaek-ieyo]
(It's) a book.

• 사과예요. [sagwa-yeyo]
(It's) an apple.

• 생선이에요. [saengson-ieyo]
(It's) a fish.

• 학교예요. [hakgyo-yeyo]
(It's) a school.

• 저예요. [jeo-yeyo]
(It's) me.

As you've noticed in the examples above, in Korean, there's no need to use "a/an/the" as in English. You can just add -이에요/-예요 [-ieyo/-yeyo] after a noun and it would mean "It is XXX." "That is YYY." "I am ZZZ."

Also, this can be used in making a question; just raise your tone at the end of the sentence.

examples:
• 책이에요. [chaek-iyeyo]
"It's a book."
⤷ 책이에요? [chaek-ieyo?]
"Is that a book?/Is this a book?"

• 집이에요. [jib-ieyo]
"It's a house"
⤷ 집이에요? [jib-ieyo?]
"Is it a house?" / "Are you at home (now)?"

• 뭐 [mwo] = "what"
⤷ 뭐예요? [mwoyeyo?]
"What is it?/ What is that?"

-🐻