Lesson 39: 위치 표현

In this lesson, you will learn how to use Korean location words to state the location where something exists or doesn’t exist or the location where something happened. In English, these ‘location words’ are called ‘prepositions of place’ and are words such as ‘in, on, under, in front of, behind, next to, between‘, etc. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to say things like “The phone is on the desk.“, “Let’s meet in front of the coffee shop.“, etc. For a full list of these ‘location words’ check out our post on prepositions of place in Korean.

Lesson 39: 위치 표현

When using these location words in Korean, the location word always follows the noun. Here are some examples:

의자 위 = on the chair
의자 밑/아래 = under the chair
의자 앞 = front of the chair
의자 뒤 = behind the chair
책상 왼쪽 = left of the desk
책상 오른쪽 = right of the desk
의자하고 책상 사이 = between the chair and the desk
책상 가운데 = middle of the desk
집 옆 = next to the house
집 안 = inside the house
집 밖 = outside the house

Location Words + 있어요/없어요

When these location words are used together with 있어요 (exist) and 없어요 (not exist), you can express the location where something is or isn’t. In this case, you must use the location marking particle 에 after the location word to indicate the location where the thing exists or doesn’t exist. To help you understand what we mean, let’s look at some examples.

책이 가방 안에 있어요. = There is a book in the bag.
편의점이 집 근처에 없어요. = There is no convenience store near my house.
사람이 길 가운데에 있어요. = There is a person in the middle of the road.
고양이가 소파 위에 없어요. = The cat isn’t on the sofa.

Location Words + Action Verbs

When these location words are used together with action verbs, you can express the location where an action happens. In this case, the particle 에서 is placed after the location word to indicate the location where the action takes place. Let’s look at some examples.

커피숍 앞에서 친구를 만날 거예요. = I will meet my friend in front of the coffee shop.
버스 안에서 음악을 들어요. = I listen to music on the bus. (Lit. ‘in the bus’, but in English, the preposition ‘on’ is used).
강아지가 집 밖에서 놀고 있어요. = A puppy is playing outside the house.

Example Sentences

제 핸드폰이 어디에 있어요? = Where is my cell phone?
책상 위에 있어요. = It’s on the desk.

편의점이 집 근처에 있어요? = Is there a convenience store near your house?
아니요. 시장이 집 근처에 있어요. = No. There is a market near my house.

어디에서 만날까요?  = Where shall we meet?
커피숍 앞에서 만나요!  = Let’s meet in front of the coffee shop.