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안녕하세요! 🤗 Today, I'll teach you one important grammar! It is about the progressive tense. You learned that the informal present tense can be used to express both simple present tense and progressive present tense before. That time, you had to guess the meaning by the context. However, if you use this progressive ending, you can easily express the "continuing" meaning. Let's dive in and learn about it! Don't forget to download the free worksheet!
<Table of Contents>
1. The meaning of V고 있다
Korean progressive tense is expressed by the ending "V고 있다". It is an ending that can express a motion or action is continuing. So, it can be only attached to verb stems, not adjective stems just like "be Ving" in English.
Also, the "progress" meaning is expanded to indicate something is repeatedly happening. In this case, this ending can be used to explain what you are doing these days to carry out a plan. 요즘 means "these days," so you can talk about the things you are doing these days with this word!
저는 책을 읽고 있어요. I'm reading a book.
저는 요즘 한국어를 공부하고 있어요. I'm studying Korean these days.
2. Conjugation information
The expression "-고 있다" consists of two parts. Let's see the conjugating information. I'll show you each one to help your understanding.
A. -고 part
The vowel or final consonant is not important! No matter what, you will simply attach 고 to the stem. There are no exceptional irregular rules in this part! How easy is that?
먹다 to eat → 먹고
마시다 to drink → 마시고
하다 to do → 하고
놀다 to play → 놀고
듣다 to listen → 듣고
돕다 to help → 돕고
짓다 to build → 짓고
B. 있다 part
있다 part can show the tense of a sentence. Depending on the politeness, tone, and tense, this 있다 can be changed in many versions. I'll write some representative endings here. There are more, of course, but if you are a beginner, try to focus on the informal tense ones for now!
First, let's look at the informal versions of 있다. They are polite yet friendly. So, they are usually used in daily conversation.
Present | 고 있어요. am/are/is Ving | 먹고 있어요 I'm eating |
Past | 고 있었어요. was/were Ving | 먹고 있었어요. I was eating. |
Second, I'll show you the formal version of 있다. This version is used in public and official situations. You can hear this version in the news, presentation, or public speech! You'll learn details in the related lesson.
Present | 고 있습니다 am/are/is Ving | 먹고 있습니다. I'm eating. |
Past | 고 있었습니다 was/were Ving | 먹고 있었습니다. I was eating. |
3. Sentence Information
Here are more pieces of information that are related to "고 있다" grammar. The A section is very important so please check it out! If you are a beginner, lightly read the B and C section. You can always come back to this post and study further as your Korean skills improve!
A. Related words
The adverb "지금" means "now." It is often used together with "고 있다" to emphasize the 'progressive' meaning. For example, you can say 책을 읽고 있어요 to mean "I'm reading a book." But adding 지금 to it and say 지금 책을 읽고 있어요. That will mean "I'm reading a book now."
The noun 요즈음 or 요즘 also can be often used. It means "these days" or "nowadays". As you can guess, 요즘 is a shortened version of 요즈음. And 요즘 is more often used in daily conversation. How can we say "I'm reading this book these days." in Korean? You'll say, "요즘 이 책을 읽고 있어요."
B. Honorific version
In Korean, some words or expressions have more polite versions. Those are called honorific versions. You'd better use the honorific version when you talk about someone way older than you or who has a higher social status. I'll show you the present and past tense here.
The present progressive tense: V고 계세요. am/are/is Ving
The past progressive tense: V고 계셨어요. was/were Ving
할머니가 책을 읽고 계세요. My grandmother is reading a book now.
할아버지가 티비를 보고 계셨어요. My grandpa was watching the TV.
C. The negative sentences
There are many ways to make this "고 있다" into a negative sentence. First, you can use the expression "V고 있지 않다" or "V고 않고 있다". You can also add the negative adverb "안" and say 안 V고 있다. The adverb one is usually used in a spoken language because it is shorter.
V고 있지 않다
Present: V고 있지 않아요.
Past: V고 있지 않았어요.
V지 않고 있다
Present: V지 않고 있어요.
Past: V지 않고 있었어요.
안 V고 있다
Present: 안 V고 있어요
Past: 안 V고 있었어요
Here are some examples using 눈이 오다 (to be snowy). They'll all mean "It's not snowing now." They are just different ways to say in Korean.
지금 눈이 오고 있지 않아요.
지금 눈이 오지 않고 있어요.
지금 눈이 안 오고 있어요.
4. Examples
We can use "뭐" to ask what a listener is doing. 뭐 means "what" in Korean. It was originally 무엇 but people use this shortened version 뭐 more often in daily life. Here are some examples using 뭐 and the target grammar of the day, "고 있어요".
1
Q: 지금 뭐 해요? What are you doing now?
A: 밥을 먹어요. I'm eating a meal.
It is not required to use V고 있다 in order to indicate the progressive form in Korean. You can use the present tense form and deliver "progressive" meaning with the context. This context is often revealed with the word "지금(now)."
2
Q: 지금 뭐 해요? What are you doing now?
A: 밥을 먹고 있어요. I'm eating a meal.
By using today's expression "고 있다" you can definitely mean a "progressive" sentence! So, the first and second examples are the same. They are just different ways to say it in Korean! Interesting, aren't they?
3
Q: 지금 뭐 하고 있어요? What are you doing now?
A: 요리하고 있어요. I'm cooking.
요리하다 is a verb, meaning "to cook" in Korean. It is a combination word. 요리 is a noun and 하다 is a verb changing this noun into a verb! Anyway, the stem of this verb is "요리하." So, you add 고 after it and make 요리하고.
4
Q: 수지 씨, 뭐 하고 있어요? Suji, what are you doing?
A: 친구를 기다리고 있어요. I'm waiting for my friends.
기다리다 means "to wait". The stem of the verb is "기다리". You can simply attach "고" to the stem to make the progressive tense! Well, and don't forget 있어요 as well!
5
A: 뭐 하고 있었어요? What were you doing? / What have you been doing?
B: 음악을 듣고 있었어요. I was listening to music. / I've been listening to music.
"고 있었어요" is the past progressive tense. In Korean, there is no perfect present or perfect past tense. But, if you use this past progressive "고 있었어요," you can deliver a similar meaning of perfect tense!
6
조심하세요. 지금 바람이 많이 불고 있어요. Watch out. It is very windy now.
바람 is a wind. When it is windy right now, you can use the progressive tense! So, you can talk about non-living things as a subject with this ending, just like English!
5. Wrap-up: Korean progressive tense ending
"V고 있다." is an expression that shows the progressive tense.
The present progressive tense: V고 있어요. means "am/are/is Ving."
The past progressive tense: V고 있었어요. means "was/were Ving."
What are you doing now? 지금 뭐 하고 있어요? Can you say or write your answer using the expression you've learned today? Don't forget to download the free PDF worksheet! Print them and please practice the "고 있어요" grammar! It has an answer sheet as well. So, check your writing on your own! Thanks for reading my post and I hope to see you in other posts!
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