-아/어 있다 vs -아/어 놓다, -아/어 두다

Intermediate · TOPIK II

Both describe a resulting state that remains. -아/어 있다 goes with intransitive/passive verbs and simply describes the state; -아/어 놓다 (or -아/어 두다) goes with transitive verbs and stresses that someone did it in advance and left it that way, usually on purpose.

-아/어 있다An expression used to indicate that the state mentioned in the preceding statement is continued.-아/어 놓다, -아/어 두다An expression used to indicate that a certain act mentioned in the preceding statement is completed and its result remains.

Rules of thumb

Describing a state (without saying who did it): intransitive/passive + -아/어 있다 (문이 열려 있어요 'The door is open').
Saying someone did it and left it: transitive + -아/어 놓다 (제가 문을 열어 놓았어요 'I left the door open').
Preparing something in advance for later: -아/어 놓다/두다 (손님이 오기 전에 음식을 만들어 놓았어요).
Common pairs: 열어 놓다 ↔ 열려 있다, 켜 놓다 ↔ 켜져 있다, 걸어 놓다 ↔ 걸려 있다.
-아/어 놓다 takes an object with 을/를; -아/어 있다 takes a subject with 이/가.

Example sentences

-아/어 있다
The classroom window is open.
-아/어 놓다, -아/어 두다
I left the window open to air the room.
-아/어 놓다, -아/어 두다
I made the food before the guests arrived.
-아/어 있다
A family photo is hanging on the wall.
창문이 열어 놓았어요.
Incorrect
The window has been opened. [Wrong: -a/eo nota needs an object (someone opened the window); to describe the state, use the passive verb + -a/eo itda]

Often confused with

-고 있다 vs -아/어 있다

← All confused pairs