요즘 | these days, lately |
다니다 | to attend, to go to (regularly) |
운전하다 | to drive |
비가 내리다 | to rain |
V+ 고 있다 This indicates that an action is in progress without completion, explaining what you are doing right now or currently/repeatedly. (be + V-ing)
요즘 헬스장에 다니고 있어요.
These days I'm going to the gym.
지금 운전 하고 있어요.
I'm driving right now.
지금 비가 내리고 있어서 많이 추워요.
It's raining right now, so it’s cold a lot.
- For honorific, -고 계시다 is used.
지금 엄마가 책을 읽고 계세요.
Mom is reading a book right now.
- To express an ongoing action, you can also use the expression ‘V + 는 중이다’. The word 중 means ‘middle’, so you can think of it as ‘in the middle of ~’. 밥 먹는 중이에요.
I'm eating (right now).
학교에 가는 중이에요.
I'm going to school (right now).
박 사장님은 지금 휴가 중이에요.
CEO Park is currently on vacation.
→ It is also commonly used after nouns.
Certain verbs require special attention when used with ‘~고 있다’.
- 입다wear clothes, 신다wear shoes, 쓰다wear hat/glasses, 타다to ride, 들다to hold, 잡다to grab...
These verbs can indicate both the action in progress and its resulting state. For example, ‘입다’ can mean both ‘put on’ and ‘wear’, and ‘타다’ can mean both ‘to get into a car’ and ‘to be in a car’. As a result, when -고 있다 is added to these verbs, the expression can be interpreted in two ways.
신발을 신고 있어요.
→ I'm wearing shoes. (To clarify this specific meaning, you can say; 신발을 신었어요.)
→ I'm putting on my shoes. (To clarify this specific meaning, you can say; 신발을 신는 중이에요.)
- 좋아하다to like, 사랑하다to love, 가지다to have, 알다to know, 좋아하다to like, 믿다to believe, 기억하다to remember… Unlike English, where cognitive verbs typically do not take the progressive form(We don’t say, “I’m knowing.”), Korean allows ~고 있다 with these kinds of verbs. In this case, it expresses the continuation of a cognitive state, and its meaning is essentially the same as the basic ~요 form.
태형 씨를 좋아하고 있어요. = 태형 씨를 좋아해요.
I like Taehyung.
그 사실을 알고 있어요. = 그 사실을 알아요.
I know that fact.
Root+고 있다 | ex. 가고 있다, 먹고 있다 |
