All about Korean Verbs

하다

ha-da

Present / Past / Future Guessing / Present Progressive

해요 했어요 할 거예요I 하고 있어요

I do. I did. I will do. I’m doing.

Someone: Imperative:

하세요 해요 해 해라

Please do. Please do. Do. Do.

Modifier:

한: (someone) who did/has done (something) someone did.

하는: () who does/is doing (something) one does/is doing.

할: (someone) who will do/is going to do (something) one will do/is going to do.

하던: (someone) who used to do (something) one used to do.

했던: (someone) who did/used to do (something) one did/used to do.

Want: 하고 싶어요 (I want to do)

Can: 할 수 있어요 (I can do)

Don’t (Imperative)/ Whether or not

하지 마세요:(Please) don’t do

하는지:Whether one does/is doing or not What/Why/How + one does/will do.

했는지:Whether one did or not When/Where/Who/ What/Why/How + one did 할지:Whether one will do or not When/Where/Who/What/Why/How + one does/will do

(Tell someone): That (tell someone): To

한다고 하라고

(tell someone)/(heard) that one is doing. (tell someone) to do.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________ Action verbs and Descriptive verbs

Most Korean equivalents of English adjectives are originally in the infinitive form and are treated like verbs, therefore they must be conjugated to be used in the “modifier” format, which works similarly to English adjectives.

----------------------------------------------------------

For example, “비싸다” is a descriptive verb (adjective in the inf initive form) that would translate to “to be expensive.” To use it as an adjective, you need to conjugate it to the adjective form, 비싼 (present tense), 비쌀 (future tense), or 비쌌던 (past tense). In English, this kind of difference is expressed through tense change of the “be” verb, but in Korean, the conjugation of the verb itself can contain the role of the “be” verb.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Examples:

크다 = to be big (descriptive verb)

큰 = big (base adjective form)

크다 = to grow (action verb)

큰 = that which has grown; grew (past tense adjective form)

Formality Levels:

존댓말 --> formal (elders, strangers, anyone)

반말 --> Causal (someone younger than you or the same age as you)

Examples of causal and formal endings:

존댓말: -(아/어/여)요 and -(스)ㅂ니다 (its used in more formal settings)

반말: -아, -어, or -여 without 요

Dictionary Form (Infinitive):

In most cases, before you conjugate the verb into different tenses and voices, you drop the -다 from the end of the verb and you are left with the verb stem. With the verb stem, you then conjugate the verb.

-아, -어, or -여--> If the sentence is in 반말, the verb will end there to make a present tense statement. If the sentence is in 존댓말, you need to add -요 at the end in addition to 아, -어, or -여.

look at the last syllable of the verb stem: if it ends with the vowel ㅗ or ㅏ, you add -아; if it ends with any other vowel, you add -어; and when verb stem’s last syllable is 하, you add -여. When -하 and -여 are combined, it becomes 해. You will see these suffixes often in many conjugations, and these suffixes can also be followed by other sentence endings.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Present Tense = -아/어/여요

A sentence in the present tense in Korean, e.g. “가요,” can be translated to “I go,” “I’m going,” “I’m going to go,” or even “I will go.”

To construct a present tense sentence in Korean, add -아요, -어요, or -여요 after the verb stem. You can simply drop -요 at the end to change this to 반말.

Examples:

예쁘다 = to be pretty

예뻐요 = It is pretty. (존댓말)

예뻐 = It is pretty. (반말)

일하다 = to work

일해요 = I work.; I am working.; I am going to work. (존댓말)

일해 = I work.; Get to work. (반말)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Past Tense = -았/었/였어요

Add -았어요, -었어요, or -였어요 after the verb stem to form a past tense statement. In most cases, it suffices to use -았어요, -었어요, or -였어요, but in some cases, there is an extra -었 added between -았/었/였 and -어요 to form -았었어요, -었었어요, or -였었어요. This refers to an event that happened long ago or earlier than another past event.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Future Tense = -(으)ㄹ 거예요

-(으)ㄹ in itself has a meaning related to the future, and by saying “-(으)ㄹ 거예요,” you are literally saying “It’s that I will....” If the verb stem ends with a consonant at the end of the last syllable, you add -을 거예요. If the verb stem ends with a vowel, add -ㄹ 거예요.

This is different from the future tense, -(으)ㄹ게요, in the sense that when you say -(으)ㄹ게요, you are expecting a response (approval or reaction) from the other person, whereas when you say -(으)ㄹ 거예요, you are simply stating what your plans are.

-(으)ㄹ 거예요 can be also used to express your assumption about something. Depending on the context, -(으)ㄹ 거예요 can be translated as either “it will/I will/they are going to” or “I think/I assume.”

Examples:

있다 = to exist, to have

시간이 있다 = to have time

시간이 있을 거예요 = There will be time.; I think they have time.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Present Progressive = -고 있어요

있어요 means “to be” whereas -고 있어요 refers to a certain state that the subject is in or an action that the subject is doing. By adding -고 있어요 to the verb stem, you can express the meaning of “to be doing something.”

-고 있어요 is sometimes used to emphasize the fact that you are doing something “right at this moment.” If you want to use this ending in 반말, you can simply drop -요 from the end.

Examples:

자다 = to sleep

자요 = She sleeps.; She is sleeping.

자고 있어요 = She is sleeping.; She is in the middle of sleeping.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Present Status = -아/어/여 있어요

-아/어/여 있어요 can be considered simliar to -고 있어요, but the usage is very different. When you use a verb stem and add -아/어/여 있어요 after, it means the subject is in a state where they are still doing that action.

This cannot be used with just any verb, but rather with verbs that can describe a static state related to the verb. Common examples are 서다 (to stand), 앉다 (to sit), and 눕다 (to lie down). You can conjugate these to “서 있어요” to mean “they are standing,” “앉아 있어요” to mean “they are sitting,” and “누워 있다” to mean “they are lying (on the bed or floor).”

-아/어/여 있어요 can be used with verbs in passive voice to describe how an action has been done “to” something and how that “something” remains in a static state.

An example is “깨져 있다,” which is 깨지다 + -아/어/여 있다, and has the meaning of “to be in a broken state” as opposed to “to get broken.”

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Imperative (1) = -(으)세요

In order to tell or ask someone to do something in a polite manner in 존댓말, use -(으)세요 after the verb stem. -(으)세요 comes from -(으) + -시 + -어요, where the suffix -시 is used to make the speech more honorific. In some contexts, if you add a question mark at the end or say the same thing as a question, it can be a question asking whether or not the person "does" something.

Examples:

팔다 = to sell

파세요 = Please sell it.

파세요? = Do you sell it?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Imperative (2) = -아/어/여요

If you’d still like to speak in 존댓말 without using -시, but want to be a little more casual when you tell someone to do something, you can add -아/어/여요 at the end of a verb stem.

When you use this sentence ending, it is in the same form as a present tense statement or a “let’s” sentence, therefore you need to figure out based on the context whether it is a statement or an imperative sentence.

Examples:

팔다 = to sell

팔아요 = They sell. / Please sell. / Let’s sell.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Imperative (3) = -아/어/여

If you are familiar with the form -아/어/여요 used in an imperative sentence, changing this 존댓말 sentence into a 반말 sentence is very simple. When you want to speak in 반말, you can simply drop the -요 at the end of the imperative form.

Examples:

팔다 = to sell

팔아요 = They sell. / Please sell it.

팔아 = They sell. / Sell it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Imperative (4)= -아/어/여라

a younger person or a group of younger people. It is usually said in a leading or commanding manner. Since this form has the nuance of talking “down” to someone, you cannot use this to someone who is older than you, someone you met for the first time, or someone you know only through business.

Is often used this in situations where one person is lightly warning another person, or when one person is calling a group of people together to have them do something. This form rarely has a positive or affectionate feeling associated with it.

Examples:

조심하다 = to be careful

조심하세요 = Please be careful.

조심해 = Be careful!; Watch out!

조심해라 = You’d better be careful, or else…

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Modifier (1) = -(으)ㄴ

Used after the verb stem of an action verb, this suffix changes a verb into an modifying adjective (in the past tense) to be used in front of a noun.

Example:

찾다 = to find

찾은 = which I/he/she/they found, which they found

어제 찾은 책 = the book I found yesterday

Used after the verb stem of an action verb, this suffix changes a verb into an modifying adjective (in the past tense) to be used in front of a noun.

Example:

예쁘다 = to be pretty

예쁜 = which/that is pretty

예쁜 옷 = pretty clothes

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Modifier (2) = -는

Used after a verb stem, this suffix changes a verb into an modifying adjective in the present tense to be used in front of a noun. In Korean, it is only used after action verbs. For descriptive verbs, -(으)ㄴ is used to mark the present tense.

Examples:

가다 = to go

가는 = that I go to

매일 가는 곳 = a place that I go to every day

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Modifier (3) = -(으)ㄹ

This suffix changes the verb to a modifying adjective in the future tense, which is used after a noun. This can be applied in the same way to both action verbs and descriptive verbs, although it is more common to be used with action verbs.

Examples:

바꾸다 = to change, to switch, to exchange

바꿀 = which I will change

바꿀 부분 = parts that I will change

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Modifier (4) = -던

This suffix has a similar role to that of -(으)ㄴ, but -던 marks the discontinuation of an action or a past habit or tendency. -던 can be used to refer to something that you used to do, or were doing until something caused you to stop doing it.

Therefore, if you hear -던 as opposed to -(으)ㄴ, you can assume that the action was not finished or continued, where as -(으)ㄴ would indicate that the action was completed.

Examples:

먹다 = to eat

먹은 = which you ate

먹던 = which you were eating (but didn’t finish)

먹은 음식 = food that you ate

먹던 음식 = leftover food

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Modifier (5) = -았/었/였던

This suffix is almost the same as -던, but because there is one more layer of past tense (pluperfect), due to -았/었/였 it stresses that fact that something happened in the past or emphasizes the discontinuation of the action or state.

In many contexts, however, when used with action verbs, -았/었/였던 is considered to be redundant since -던 is a clear enough meaning on its own.

Examples:

모르다 = to not know

모르던 = which I didn’t know

몰랐던 = which I didn’t know

With descriptive verbs, adding -았/었/였던 is the most common way to say “which was …,” but often times, if the entire sentence is in the past tense, smaller parts do not always have to be conjugated to past tense.

Examples:

비싸다 = to be expensive

비쌌던 = which was expensive

비싼 옷을 샀어요 = She bought expensive clothes. (비싼 is in the present tense form, but the whole sentence is in the past tense.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Want = -고 싶다

Adding -고 싶다 to the end of a verb stem, you are adding the meaning “I want to.” The word 싶다 cannot be used as a stand-alone verb to mean “to want,” therefore it must always be used with other verbs. Since 싶다 is also a verb, you can conjugate it accordingly to change it to other tenses.

Examples:

배우다 = to learn

배우고 싶다 = to want to learn

배우고 싶어요 = I want to learn.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can = -(으)ㄹ 수 있다

수 is a noun that means “possibility,” “idea,” or “method (for doing something),” and 있다 means “to exist” or “to have.” By saying that the 수 exists (있다), you mean that you “can (do something).”

Since 수 is a noun, you need to change the verb into a modifying form: if the verb stem ends with a consonant, add -을 수 있다, and if the verb stem ends with a vowel, add -ㄹ 수 있다 to the end. To say that you cannot do something, you can change the verb 있어요 to 없다, which means “to not have” or “to not exist.” You can also use the word 못 in front of the verb instead of -(으)ㄹ 수 없다.

Examples:

뛰다 = to run

뛸 수 있다 = to be able to run

뛸 수 있어요 = I can run.

뛸 수 없어요 = I can’t run.

못 뛰어요 = I can’t run.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don’t (Imperative) = -지 마세요

-지 is a suffix which is used to make negative sentences. “-지 않아요” means “it is not,” “-지 못 해요” means “I can’t,” and “-지 마세요” means “Don’t do it.”

-지 마세요 generally does not work with descriptive verbs, such as 예쁘다 (to be pretty) or 빠르다 (to be fast); however, there are some descriptive verbs that do work with -지 마세요, such as 늦다 (to be late) and 아프다 (to be sick/hurt). “늦지 마세요” means “don’t be late” and “아프지 마세요” means “don’t get sick” or “feel better soon.” Since the ending -지 마세요 originally comes from the verb 말다, which means “to not do (something),” it can also be combined with other types of verb endings, such as -지 말고, -지 말라고, etc.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whether or not (1) = -(으/느)ㄴ지

Although -지 is used in negative sentences, -은지, -는지, or -ㄴ지 is different from -지. These suffixes are used to mean “whether or not” and are commonly used with verbs such as 묻다 (= to ask), 모르다 (= to not know), and 알다 (= to know). With action verbs, you add -는지 after the verb stem.

With descriptive verbs, if the verb stem ends with a consonant, you need to add -은지, and if the verb stem ends with a vowel, you need to add -ㄴ지. To make the meaning of “whether or not” stronger, the opposite version is also added after it as well. (e.g. 큰지 안 큰지 or 가는지 안 가는지) You can -(으/느)ㄴ지 is often used with 얼마나 to mean “to ask/not know/know how big/large/much/etc something is.”

Examples:

크다 = to be big

큰지 = whether it is big or not

큰지 안 큰지 = whether it is big or not

얼마나 큰지 = how big it is

얼마나 큰지 알아요? = Do you know how big it is?

큰지 안 큰지 알아요? = Do you know whether it is big or not?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whether or not (2) = -았/었/였는지

-았/었/였는지 is almost the same as -(으/느)ㄴ지 except it’s used to express the past tense.

Instead of adding -(으/느)ㄴ지 after a verb stem, you add -았, -었, or -였 and then add -는지. The usages are almost identical to -(으/느)ㄴ지.

Examples:

끝나다 = to be finished

끝났는지 = whether it was finished or not

끝났는지 안 끝났는지 = whether it was finished or not

언제 끝났는지 = when it was finished

언제 끝났는지 알아요? = Do you know when it was finished?

끝났는지 안 끝났는지 알아요? = Do you know whether it was finished or not?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whether or not (3) = -(으)ㄹ지

This suffix is also used to mean “whether or not,” but refers to a future action or state. You can use this structure along with verbs related to speaking, hearing, deciding, notifying, etc. You can also add interrogative words such 언제 (when), 뭐 (what), 누구 (who), 어디 (where), etc. before the verb.

Examples:

가다 = to go

갈지 = whether we will go

어디에 갈지 = where we will go

언제 갈지 = when we will go

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(tell someone) that = -(ㄴ/는)다고

-(ㄴ/는)다고 is used to cite someone or oneself in the present tense. It can be used when you want to tell someone what a third person or what you, yourself, said. With action verbs, if the verb stem ends with a consonant, add -는다고, and if the verb stem ends with a vowel, add -ㄴ다고. With descriptive verbs, simply add -다고.

Even when you are talking about something that someone said in the past, if that person said it in the present tense at the time, you can use -(ㄴ/는)다고.

Examples:

운동하다 = to exercise

운동한다고 말하다 = to say that they exercise

운동한다고 말했어요 = They said that they were exercising.

운동한다고 말해 주세요 = Tell them that I am exercising.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(tell someone) that (past tense) = -았/었/였다고

This suffix is basically the same as -(ㄴ/는)다고, but is used for past tense. If the last vowel of the verb stem is ㅗ or ㅏ, add -았다고, and if the last vowel of the verb stem is not ㅗ or ㅏ, add -었다고. However, there is one exception with the verb 하다: add -였다고 and shorten it to 했다고. This structure is used in conjunction with verbs related to speaking and hearing.

Examples:

늦다 = to be late

늦었어요 = was late

늦었다고 했어요. = They said it was late.

이미 늦었다고 들었어요. = I heard that it was already (too) late.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(tell someone) to = -(으)라고

-(으)라고 is used when you are citing what someone told another person to do. It is usually used with verbs related to speaking, demanding, begging, etc. For example, if you want to say, “they told me to wait,” you can use the verb 기다리다 (to wait) together with -(으)라고 to form “기다리라고 했어요.” Other words you can use after -(으)라고 are 시키다 (to make someone do something), 지시하다 (to command), etc.

When you use -(으)라고 with verbs related to begging or asking for a favor, it is nearly always necessary to change “verb stem + -(으)라고” to “verb stem + -아/어/여 달 + -라고.” For example, “도와달라고 부탁했어요” means “I asked them to help me,” whereas “들어달라고 부탁했어요” means “I asked them to listen to me.” If the verb stem ends with a consonant, add -으라고, and if the verb stem ends with a vowel, add -라고.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(tell someone) that (future tense) = -(으)ㄹ 거라고

-(으)ㄹ 거라고 is used when you are citing what someone else said about something he/she will do in the future. -(으)ㄹ 거라고 is rarely used on its own and is almost always followed by verbs related to speaking, writing, or other types of actions related to delivering messages. In order to say, “to say that someone did something,” you can use the verb 말하다, or 하다, and say “-(으)ㄹ 거라고 말하다” or “-(으)ㄹ 거라고 하다.”

Examples:

만나다 = to meet

만날 거라고 = that she will meet

만날 거라고 했어요 = She said that she would meet.

친구들을 만날 거라고 했어요. = She said that she would meet friends.

친구들을 만날 거라고 하세요. = Tell them that she will meet friends.

If the verb stem ends with a consonant, you add -을 거라고 and if the verb stem ends with a vowel, you add -ㄹ 거라고.