Must in Korean | Expressing Obligation (Structures & Examples)

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HOW TO SAY MUST IN KOREAN

Just like in English, ‘must’ in Korean can be used to express two things.

Obligation
Confirmation

In this lesson, we will look into the use of ‘must’ in Korean to express obligation.

EXPRESSING OBLIGATION

When expressing obligation, we use this form: ‘~야(만) 한다’ which is added to the verb subject to ‘must’.

You may also use ~야 한다, or 야만 한다. Either way is acceptable.

For ‘~하다’ verb we remove ‘다, change ‘하’ to ‘해’, and add ‘~야(만) 한다.’

PATTERN

Verb + ~야(만) 한다

‘~하다’ VERB	VERB MEANING	CONJUGATION ‘~야(만) 한다’	MEANING
공부를 하다	To study	공부를 해야(만) 한다.	You must study.
식사를 하다	To have a meal	식사를 해야(만) 한다.	You must have a meal.
운전을 하다	To drive	운전을 해야(만) 한다.	You must drive.

VERBS ENDING IN A VOWEL

For verbs ending with a vowel, the grammar rule is a little bit more complicated, as there is more than one variation of the ending.

PATTERN

Verb + ~야(만) 한다

Let’s take a look at some examples below.

VERBS ENDING WITH‘ㅏ’	MEANING	CONJUGATION	MEANING
자다	To sleep	너는 자야(만) 한다.	You must sleep.
사다	To buy	너는 사야(만) 한다.	You must buy it.
가다	To go	너는 가야(만) 한다.	You must go.

Check out our Creating Adverbs page to learn more useful grammar points.

Verbs ending in ‘ㅜ’

As for verbs ending in ‘ㅜ’, this is the general rule below:

PATTERN

Verb + ~어야(만) 한다

VERBS ENDING WITH ‘ㅜ’	MEANING	CONJUGATION	MEANING
뛰다	To run	너는 뛰어야(만) 한다.	You must run.
주다	To give	너는 그것을 줘야(만) 한다. → ‘주어’ is contracted to ‘줘’	You must give it.
치우다	To arrange	너는 방을 치워야(만) 한다 → ‘치우어’ is contracted to ‘치워’	You must arrange your room.

Verbs ending in ‘ㅗ’

For verbs ending in ‘ㅗ’, this is how to change them:

PATTERN

Verb + ~아야(만) 한다

VERBS ENDING WITH ‘ㅗ’	MEANING	CONJUGATION	MEANING
보다	To see	너는 그것을 봐야(만) 한다 → ‘보아’ is contracted to ‘봐’	You must see it.
오다	To come	너는 와야(만) 한다 → ‘오아’ is contracted to ‘와’	You must come.

Verbs ending in ‘ㅣ’

Let’s see how we change verbs ending in ‘ㅣ’:

PATTERN

Change the verb ‘ㅣ’ to ‘ㅕ’, and add ‘~야(만) 한다.’

VERBS ENDING WITH ‘ㅣ’	MEANING	CONJUGATION	MEANING
달리다	To run	너는 달려야(만) 한다.	You must run.
가리다	To cover	그것은 가려야(만) 한다.	You must cover it.
안기다	To be hugged	그녀는 그에게 안겨야(만) 한다.	She has to be hugged by him.

Verbs ending in ‘ㅡ’

And finally, let’s see what we do with verbs ending in ‘ㅡ’.

PATTERN

Remove ‘ㅡ’ and add ‘~아야(만) 한다.’

VERBS ENDING WITH ‘ㅡ’	MEANING	CONJUGATION	MEANING
모으다	To collect/save	너는 돈을 모아야(만) 한다.	You must save money.
오르다	To climb up	너는 산을 올라야(만) 한다.	You must climb up the mountain

VERBS ENDING WITH A CONSONANT

Like with the vowel endings, consonant endings are also a bit complicated as they vary based on the different consonant endings.

The same rule is applied if the last syllable of the infinitive verb form contains the same vowel, regardless of whether the ending is a vowel or a consonant.

Ending with ‘ㅏ’ + consonant

Let’s see how that generally works for verbs that have a ‘ㅏ’ vowel in the last syllable and end with a consonant.

PATTERN

Verb + ~아야(만) 한다

VERBS ENDING WITH ‘ㅏ’	MEANING	CONJUGATION	MEANING
팔다	To sell	사과를 팔아야(만) 한다.	We must sell the apples.
살다	To live	인생을 잘 살아야(만) 한다.	We must live our lives well.
닫다	To close	가게 문을 닫아야(만) 한다.	We must close the store.

Ending with ‘ㅜ’ + consonant

Moving onto verbs ending with ‘ㅜ’ in the last syllable and with a consonant.

PATTERN

Verb + ~어야만 한다

VERBS ENDING WITH ‘’	MEANING	CONJUGATION	MEANING
묻다	To ask	모르는 것은 물어야(만) 한다.	If you don’t know something, you must ask a question.
풀다	To solve	숙제를 끝내기 위해 문제를 풀어야(만) 한다.	You must solve the problem to finish the homework.
울다	To cry	슬플때는 때때로 잊기위해 울어야(만) 한다.	When we are sad, sometimes we must cry to let things go.

The structure can get a bit confusing. Check out our sentence structure page for a quick refresher!

Ending with ‘ㅗ’ + consonant

As for verbs that end with ‘ㅗ’ in the last syllable and end with a consonant, here is what we do:

PATTERN

Verb + ~아야(만) 한다

VERBS ENDING WITH ‘ㅗ’	MEANING	CONJUGATION	MEANING
몰다	To herd/drive	양치기는 양떼를 몰아야(만) 한다.	A shepherd must herd sheep.
뽑다	To select/elect	우리는 다가올 선거를 위해 적합한 후보자를 뽑아야(만) 한다.	We must select the right candidate for the upcoming election.

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Ending with ‘ㅣ’ + consonant

Verbs that end with ‘ㅣ’ in the last syllable and end with a consonant are generally conjugated like this:

PATTERN

Verb + ~어야(만) 한다

VERBS ENDING WITH ‘’	MEANING	CONJUGATION	MEANING
입다	To wear	저녁에는 외투를 입어야(만) 한다.	In the evening, you must wear a jacket.
씹다	To chew	밥을 먹을 때는 음식을 꼭꼭 씹어야(만) 한다.	When eating, you must chew the food thoroughly.

Ending with ‘ㅡ‘ + consonant

And finally, the that verbs that end with ‘ㅡ’ in the last syllable and end with a consonant.

PATTERN

Verb + ~어야(만) 한다

VERBS ENDING WITH ‘ㅡ’	MEANING	CONJUGATION	MEANING
만들다	To make	일을 시작하기 전에 계획서를 만들어야(만) 한다.	You must plan before starting the work.
읊다	To recite	이 북클럽에서는 책에서 얻은 가장 좋아하는 구절을 읊어야(만) 한다.	In this book club, you must recite your favourite phrase from a book.

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MORE RESOURCES

Want to learn more? Check out these other free resources:

Learn how to say must in Mandarin
Learn how to say must in Japanese
Learn how to say must in Vietnamese

FAQs

What is must used for in Korean?

Just like in English, ‘must’ in Korean can be used to express 1) obligation and 2) confirmation.

What do we use when expressing obligation?

When expressing obligation in Korean, we use this form: ‘~야(만) 한다’ which is added to the verb subject to ‘must’.

What to add for verbs ending in ‘ㅡ’ vowels?

We remove the ‘ㅡ’ and add ‘~아야(만) 한다.’

What to add to verbs ending in ‘ㅜ’ vowels?

We add ‘~어야만 한다’ to the verb.

What to add to verbs ending in consonants?

We use the same rule as for vowel endings: If the last syllable of the infinitive verb form contains the same vowel, the same rule is applied regardless of whether the ending is a vowel or a consonant.

Where can I find more free Korean resources?

Our Korean Grammar Bank has some fantastic free resources for you to check out.