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KOREAN FUTURE TENSE
Here’s another essential grammar lesson for you to learn early: the Korean Future Tense.
If you haven’t already, have a look at these lessons:
- Korean Present Tense
- Korean Past Tense
INTRODUCTION
When you talk about your plans or something that might happen in the future, you should use the future tense. There are several rules according to each case.
The future tense is a bit easier compared to the present and past tense in the sense that the conjugation will depend if the last letter of the verb is a vowel or consonant.
We’ll explain how to conjugate each type of verbs in more details further down below.
- Case 1 || Verbs ending with a vowel (-ㄹ거예요)
- Case 2 || Verbs ending with a consonant (-을 거예요)
Let’s take a look:
CASE 1 || Conjugation Examples
| infinitive | meaning | conjugation |
|---|---|---|
| 가다 | go | 갈 거예요 |
| 오다 | come | 올 거예요 |
| 자다 | sleep | 잘 거예요 |
| 보다 | see/look | 볼 거예요 |
| 만나다 | meet | 만날 거예요 |
| 공부하다 | study | 공부할 거예요 |
| 배우다 | learn | 배울 거예요 |
| 사다 | buy | 살 거예요 |
| 마시다 | drink | 마실 거예요 |
| 설명하다 | explain | 설명할 거예요 |
| 바꾸다 | change | 바꿀 거예요 |
| 기다리다 | wait | 기다릴 거예요 |
| 보내다 | send | 보낼 거예요 |
CASE 2 || Conjugation Examples
| infinitive | meaning | conjugation |
|---|---|---|
| 앉다 | sit | 앉을 거예요 |
| 읽다 | read | 읽을 거예요 |
| 먹다 | eat | 먹을 거예요 |
| 만들다 | make | 만들 거예요 |
| 받다 | get/receive | 받을 거예요 |
| 닫다 | close | 닫을 거예요 |
| 놀다 | play | 놀 거예요 |
| 막다 | stop | 막을 거예요 |
| 잡다 | hold | 잡을 거예요 |
| 울다 | cry | 울 거예요 |
| 열다 | open | 열 거예요 |
| 불다 | blow | 불 거예요 |
| 입다 | wear | 입을 거예요 |
CASE 1 || VERBS ENDING WITH A VOWEL
When the word stem ends in a vowel, we add -ㄹ거예요.
For example, the word stem of 가다 would be 가-.
Then you can combine 가- with -ㄹ거예요, and it would be 갈 거예요.
| INFINITIVE | CONJUGATION |
|---|---|
|
자다
sleep | 잘 거예요 |
|
만나다
meet | 만날 거예요 |
|
노래하다
sing | 노래할 거예요 |
NOTE || Please go to “Introduction” for more examples for case 1!
CASE 2 || VERBS ENDING WITH A CONSONANT
When the word stem ends in a consonant, we add -을 거예요.
For example, the word stem of 닫다 would be 닫-.
Then you can combine 닫- with -을 거예요, and it would be 닫을 거예요.
| INFINITIVE | CONJUGATION |
|---|---|
|
먹다
eat | 먹을 거예요 |
|
읽다
read | 읽을 거예요 |
When the word stem particularly ends in a consonant ‘ㄹ’, we just add ‘-거예요’.
For example, the word stem of 만들다 would be ‘만들-’.
Then you can combine ‘만들-’ with ‘-거예요’, and it would be ‘만들 거예요’.
| INFINITIVE | CONJUGATION |
|---|---|
|
열다
open | 열 거예요 |
|
놀다
play | 놀 거예요 |
NOTE || Please go to “Introduction” for more examples for case 2!
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MORE RESOURCES
Want to learn more? Check out these other free resources:
- Learn more about the future tense in Japanese
- Learn more about the future tense in Vietnamese
FAQs
Is Korean SVO or SOV?
Korean is a SOV language, meaning the basic language structure is:
Subject + Object + Verb
Japanese, Mongolian and Turkish are also SOV languages for example.
English is a SVO language: subject + verb + object
—
Learn more about basic sentence structure in Korean here.
How to conjugate Korean verbs in the future?
The future tense is a bit easier compared to the present and past tense in the sense that the conjugation will depend if the last letter of the verb is a vowel or consonant.
When the word stem ends in a vowel, we add ‘-ㄹ거예요’.
When the word stem ends in a consonant, we add ‘-을 거예요’.
What are examples of the Korean future tense?
Verbs ending with a vowel:
자다 (sleep) → 잘 거예요
만나다 (meet) → 만날 거예요
노래하다 (sing) → 노래할 거예요
Verbs ending with a consonant:
먹다 (eat) → 먹을 거예요
읽다 (read) → 읽을 거예요
열다 (open) → 열 거예요
놀다 (play) → 놀 거예요
What is the infinitive form of a Korean verb?
Korean verbs in their infinitive form end with -다 or -하다.
Some examples:
알다 to know
마시다 to drink
참여하다 to participate
사다 to buy
What are some Korean sentence structure?
Here are the 3 most basic Korean sentence structure:
#1 || Subject + Verb
#2 || Subject + Object + Verb
#3 || Subject + Noun / Adjective
—
Learn more about basic sentence structure in Korean here.
Can I learn Korean with LTL?
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We also offer Korean Courses in Seoul, for both group and individual classes.
Contact us for more details and start your language learning journey.