있다 없다

Should it be '없는' or '없은'? 없은 seems more right because 없다 is a descriptive verb and so should go with 'ㄴ/은' but 없는 (pronounced '엄는') sounds more correct. I encountered such dilemma several times during test which was, of course, not very helpful ㅠㅠ.

I thought I understand '있다' because it looks simple enough. However, when I was asked to explain why '있다' appears in '~고 있다' and '아/어 있다', I was tongue-tight. Apparently, there are more to simple verbs '있다 없다' than meet the eyes. I think I may have found the answer to my queries now.


Meanings of 있다

- As an action verb, '있다' means 'to stay or remain' in a fixed place.

1. 가만히 있어라 (Stay still!/Don't move!)
2. 그는 집에 있는다고 말했다 (He said he stays at home)

- As a descriptive verb, '있다' means either 'in existence' or 'in possession'

3. 집에 피아노가 있다 (In the house, there is a piano)
4. 나는 돈이 많이 있다 (I have a lot of money)

Note: '있다' in sentence 3 has the meaning of existence while 4 has the meaning of possession.


'있다/없다' absolutely loathes '은'

Basic grammar teaches that when an action verb becomes a noun modifier, it goes with '는' whilst descriptive verb goes with 'ㄴ/은'. However, this rule does not apply to '있다/없다'. As noun modifier, '있다/없다' behaves like an action verb, i.e. they go with '는' only even though they may be descriptive verb.

- 있다 as action verb

5. 가만히 있는 빌리 (Billy who stays motionless...)
6. 집에 있는 민정 (Minjeong who stays at home...)

- 있다 as descriptive verb

7. 집에 있는 피아노 (The piano which is in the house...)
8. 돈이 있는 나 (I who has money...)

- 없다 as descriptive verb

9. 우리나라 없는 음식 (The food which is not found in my country...)

Note: All the above examples are in present tense. To change to past tense, just replace '는' with '던'. Example,

10. 집에 있던 민정 (Minjeong who stayed at home...)