Grammar

Past Tense: ~았/었어요

+150 XP

~30 min

Master the Korean past tense ~았/었어요. Conjugate verbs and adjectives in the polite past, handle vowel contractions, and tackle irregular stems (ㄷ, ㅂ, ㅡ, 르) for everyday storytelling.

Vocabulary (13)

어제

eoje

yesterday

어제 친구를 만났어요. — I met a friend yesterday.

★★☆☆☆

먹다

meokda

to eat

아침을 안 먹었어요. — I didn't eat breakfast.

★★☆☆☆

가다

gada

to go

주말에 바다에 갔어요. — I went to the beach on the weekend.

★★☆☆☆

공부하다

gongbuhada

to study

밤늦게까지 공부했어요. — I studied until late at night.

★★☆☆☆

보다

boda

to see, to watch

어젯밤에 영화를 봤어요. — I watched a movie last night.

★★☆☆☆

지난주

jinanju

last week

지난주에 부산에 다녀왔어요. — I made a trip to Busan last week.

★★☆☆☆

있다

itda

to exist, to have

약속이 있었어요. — I had an appointment.

★★☆☆☆

마시다

masida

to drink

카페에서 커피를 마셨어요. — I drank coffee at the cafe.

★★★☆☆

바쁘다

bappeuda

to be busy

지난주에 정말 바빴어요. — I was really busy last week.

★★★☆☆

춥다

chupda

to be cold (weather)

어제는 날씨가 추웠어요. — The weather was cold yesterday.

★★★☆☆

예쁘다

yeppeuda

to be pretty

꽃이 정말 예뻤어요. — The flowers were really pretty.

★★★☆☆

듣다

deutda

to listen, to hear

라디오로 음악을 들었어요. — I listened to music on the radio.

★★★★☆

모르다

moreuda

to not know

그 사실을 전혀 몰랐어요. — I had no idea about that fact.

★★★★☆

Grammar Patterns

V/A-stem + 았어요 (ㅏ/ㅗ) Past Tense — Bright Vowel

If the verb or adjective stem's last vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ, attach 았어요 to form the polite past tense. When the stem ends in ㅏ or ㅗ as an open syllable, the vowels contract (가다 → 갔어요, 오다 → 왔어요).

가다 → 갔어요 — to go → went

gada → gasseoyo

오다 → 왔어요 — to come → came

oda → wasseoyo

좋다 → 좋았어요 — to be good → was good

jota → joasseoyo

V/A-stem + 었어요 (other vowels) Past Tense — Dark Vowel

If the last stem vowel is anything other than ㅏ or ㅗ, attach 었어요. Open-syllable stems contract with the ending: 마시다 → 마셨어요, 주다 → 줬어요, 보다 → 봤어요 (ㅗ stem but contracts to 봤).

먹다 → 먹었어요 — to eat → ate

meokda → meogeosseoyo

마시다 → 마셨어요 — to drink → drank

masida → masyeosseoyo

주다 → 줬어요 — to give → gave

juda → jwosseoyo

N + 하다 → N + 했어요 Past Tense — 하다 Verbs

All 하다 verbs and adjectives form the past as 했어요 (하 + 였어요 contracts to 했). This covers thousands of Sino-Korean and loanword verbs like 공부하다, 사랑하다, 운동하다.

공부하다 → 공부했어요 — to study → studied

gongbuhada → gongbuhaesseoyo

사랑하다 → 사랑했어요 — to love → loved

saranghada → saranghaesseoyo

운동하다 → 운동했어요 — to exercise → exercised

undonghada → undonghaesseoyo

ㄷ·ㅂ irregular + 았/었어요 Past Tense — ㄷ / ㅂ Irregulars

ㄷ-irregular verbs change stem ㄷ to ㄹ before a vowel (듣다 → 들었어요, 걷다 → 걸었어요). ㅂ-irregular stems change ㅂ to 우 and then contract (춥다 → 추웠어요, 덥다 → 더웠어요). Not all ㄷ/ㅂ stems are irregular (받다 → 받았어요 is regular).

듣다 → 들었어요 — to listen → listened

deutda → deureosseoyo

걷다 → 걸었어요 — to walk → walked

geotda → georeosseoyo

춥다 → 추웠어요 — to be cold → was cold

chupda → chuwosseoyo

ㅡ·르 irregular + 았/었어요 Past Tense — ㅡ / 르 Irregulars

ㅡ-irregular: drop the final ㅡ and add 았/었어요 based on the preceding vowel (바쁘다 → 바빴어요, 예쁘다 → 예뻤어요, 쓰다 → 썼어요). 르-irregular: ㅡ drops and an extra ㄹ is added (모르다 → 몰랐어요, 부르다 → 불렀어요).

바쁘다 → 바빴어요 — to be busy → was busy

bappeuda → bappasseoyo

쓰다 → 썼어요 — to write → wrote

sseuda → sseosseoyo

모르다 → 몰랐어요 — to not know → didn't know

moreuda → mollasseoyo

Quiz (6 questions)

Question 1 of 6

What is the polite past tense of 가다 (to go)?

가다의 과거형(해요체)은?

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