~고 있는
~go inneun
In Korean, the suffix ~고 있는 (~go inneun) corresponds to the English suffix '-ing' used to indicate a continuous action.
This suffix is used to indicate that an action is currently in progress. It is specifically used when the continuous action is describing a noun that follows it, such as 'the person who is eating'.
Which one should you use?
The form ~고 있는 is the adjectival form used specifically to modify a noun. In contrast, ~고 있다 is the standard verb ending used to complete a sentence (meaning 'am/is/are doing'). To express the past continuous ('was/were doing'), you change the final auxiliary verb to the past tense form ~고 있었다.
How does it change in a sentence?
In polite spoken Korean, the continuous form is often expressed as ~고 있어요 instead of the adjectival ~고 있는.
How do you pronounce it?
~go inneun
Did you know?
- In digital communication, Koreans often append the English letters ing or the phonetic 잉 to a verb stem, such as 열공ing for 'studying hard', to create a playful shorthand for the progressive tense.
- The grammatical core of the continuous form is the verb 있다, which primarily means 'to exist'. This means that in the Korean mind, an ongoing action is viewed as a state that currently exists.
- Koreans sometimes use the progressive ~고 있다 to describe a resulting state that looks like an action, which can lead to misunderstandings if an English speaker interprets it as a process still in motion.
Examples in context
- 놀고 있다I am playing
- 먹는 중이다I am eating
- 듣는 중이다He is listening
- 공부하고 계십니까?Are you studying?
