A2
고 있다 — in progress
How Korean marks an ongoing action with 고 있다, why the plain present often does the same job, and the resulting-state form 아/어 있다.
고 있다 says an action is under way right now.
지금 밥을 먹고 있어요.
Jigeum babeul meokgo isseoyo.
I’m eating right now.
뭐 하고 있어요?
Mwo hago isseoyo?
What are you doing?
The plain present often does the same job
Unlike English, Korean does not require the progressive. 먹어요 already covers I eat and I am eating, and 고 있다 is used when the ongoingness is the point.
지금 뭐 해요?
Jigeum mwo haeyo?
What are you doing now?
Both this and 뭐 하고 있어요 are correct and both are common. Overusing 고 있다 is a mark of translating from English rather than an error.
The honorific is 계시다
고 있다 contains 있다, so raising it uses the honorific verb — see (으)시.
선생님이 기다리고 계세요.
Seonsaengnimi gidarigo gyeseyo.
The teacher is waiting.
아/어 있다 is a different thing
With 고 it is an action in progress. With 아/어 it is a state left behind by a completed change, and it works only with verbs that have no object.
문이 열려 있어요.
Muni yeollyeo isseoyo.
The door is open.
앉고 있어요.
앉아 있어요.
앉고 있어요 is the act of lowering yourself into a chair, which takes a moment and is rarely what anyone means. 앉아 있어요 — sitting, and still sitting — is the ordinary sentence.
The same pair applies to 서다, 눕다 and 살다: the posture verbs almost always take 아/어 있다.