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Past Tense: ~았/었어요

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~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.

Үгсийн сан (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

Шалгалт (6 questions)

Question 1 of 6

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

가다의 과거형(해요체)은?

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