Korean Grammar Bank

KOREAN PAST TENSE

In this lesson we will teach you about the Korean Past Tense, and how to master this dreaded conjugation!

Make sure to also check these lessons:

INTRODUCTION

To make a sentence in the past tense, you can make a small change on predicates of the present tense verbs. The logic is almost the same as the present tense conjugation.

We’ll explain how to conjugate each type of verbs in more details further down below.

Let’s dive into the examples. 

CASE 1 || CONJUGATION EXAMPLES

INFINITIVEMEANINGCONJUGATION
앉다sit 앉았어요
오다come 왔어요
자다sleep 잤어요
가다go 갔어요
만나다meet 만났어요
보다see/look 봤어요
받다get/receive 받았어요
사다buy 샀어요
닫다close 닫았어요
놀다play 놀았어요
막다stop 막았어요
잡다hold 잡았어요
알다know 알았어요

CASE 2 || CONJUGATION EXAMPLES

InfinitivemeaningConjugation
열다open 열었어요
읽다read 읽었어요
먹다eat 먹었어요
만들다make 만들었어요
배우다learn 배웠어요
서다stand 섰어요
멈추다stop 멈췄어요
바꾸다change 바꿨어요
지다lose 졌어요
보내다send 보냈어요
움직이다move 움직였어요
기다리다wait 기다렸어요
마시다drink 마셨어요

CASE 3 || CONJUGATION EXAMPLES

InfinitivemeaningConjugation
공부하다study 공부했어요
말하다talk/speak 말했어요
청소하다clean 청소했어요
노래하다sing 노래했어요
설명하다explain 설명했어요
운동하다exercise 운동했어요
일하다work 일했어요
요리하다cook 요리했어요
운전하다drive 운전했어요
생각하다think 생각했어요
전화하다call 전화했어요
기록하다record 기록했어요
참여하다participate 참여했어요

CASE 1 || VERBS ENDING WITH -았어요

When a vowel of the word stem ends in ‘ㅏ’ or ‘ㅗ’, we add ‘-았어요’. 

When the word stem has a final consonant

For example, the word stem of 앉다 would be ‘앉-’.

Then you can combine ‘앉-’ with ‘-았어요’, and it would be ‘앉았어요’.

INFINITIVECONJUGATION
닫다
to close
 닫았어요
받다
to receive
받았어요

When the word stem doesn’t have a final consonant and ends with ‘ㅏ’

For example, the word stem of 자다 would be ‘자-’

Then you can combine ‘자-’ with ‘-았어요,’ and it would be ‘자았어요’.

However, ‘자았-’ changes to ‘잤-’, so it should be ‘잤어요’.

INFINITIVECONJUGATION
가다
to go
가았어요 갔어요
사다
to buy
사았어요 샀어요

When the word stem doesn’t have a final consonant and ends with ‘ㅗ’:

For example, the word stem of 오다 would be ‘오-’. 

In this case, you can combine ‘오-’ with ‘-ㅏㅆ어요’  without the consonant ‘ㅇ’ of ‘-았어요’.

So, it would be ‘왔어요’.

INFINITIVECONJUGATION
보다
to see/look
 봤어요

NOTE || Please go to “Introduction” for more examples for case 1!

CASE 2 || VERBS ENDING WITH -었어요

When a final vowel of the word stem ends in something else rather than  ‘ㅏ’ or ‘ㅗ’, we add ‘-었어요’. 

When the word stem has a final consonant

For example, the word stem of 열다 would be ‘열-’.

Then you can combine ‘열-’ with ‘-었어요’, and it would be ‘열었어요’.

INFINITIVECONJUGATION
읽다
to read
 읽었어요
먹다
to eat
먹었어요

When the word stem especially ends in the vowel ‘ㅜ’

For example, the word stem of 배우다 would be ‘배우-’.

In this case, you can combine ‘배우-’ with ‘-ㅓㅆ요’  without the consonant ‘ㅇ’ of ‘-었어요’.

 So, it would be ‘배웠어요’.

INFINITIVECONJUGATION
바꾸다
to change
바꿨어요
멈추다
to stop
멈췄어요

When the word stem especially ends in the vowel ‘ㅣ’

For example, the word stem of 기다리다 would be ‘기다리-’.

When ‘-었어요’ is combined with the word stem ends with ‘ㅣ’, it changes to ‘-였어요’.

Then ‘-리였-’ would be ‘-렸-’. Therefore, it becomes ‘기다렸어요’.

INFINITIVECONJUGATION
마시다
to drink
마시였어요 마셨어요
지다
to lose
지였어요 졌어요

When the word stem ends in the vowel ‘ㅐ’, ‘ㅓ’, or ‘ㅕ’

For example, the word stem of 보내다 would be ‘보내-’.

Then you can combine ‘보내-’ with ‘-었어요,’ and it would be ‘보내었어요’.

However, you can change ‘-내었-’ to ‘-냈-’, so it should be ‘보냈어요’.

INFINITIVECONJUGATION
캐다
to dig
캐었어요 캤어요
서다
to stand
서었어요 섰어요
펴다
to spread
펴었어요 폈어요

NOTE || Please go to “Introduction” for more examples for case 2!

CASE 3 || VERBS ENDING WITH -헀어요 

When the vowel ends in -하다, simply replace it with ‘-했어요’.

For example, 공부하다 ends in ‘-하다.’ You can remove ‘-하다’ and put ‘-했어요’ to ‘공부-’.

It would be ‘공부했어요’.

INFINITIVECONJUGATION
말하다
to talk/speak
 말했어요
청소하다
to clean
청소했어요

NOTE || Please go to “Introduction” for more examples for case 3!


Learn Korean with FlexiClasses

Book online classes with the best teachers in the industry.


MORE RESOURCES

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


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 structures in Korean here.

How to conjugate verbs in the past tense?

Before you conjugate the verbs, drop the ‘-다’ from the infinitive verb.

For example:

앉다 would be ‘앉-’

읽다 would be ‘읽-’

Then, add the corresponding conjugation form according to the type of Korean.

There are three types of Korean verbs, and all are conjugated differently:

Case 1 || Verbs ending with 았어요

Case 2 || Verbs ending with 었어요

Case 3 || Verbs ending with -헀어요

Make sure to read our lesson for more detailed explanations.

What are the different types of Korean verbs?

The three types of Korean verbs are:

Case 1 || Verbs ending with -아요

Case 2 || Verbs ending with -어요

Case 3 || Verbs ending with -해요

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 structures in Korean here.

Can I learn Korean with LTL?

We teach Korean online on our Flexi Classes platform.

And even have a 7 Day Free Trial!

We also offer Korean Courses in Seoul, for both group and individual classes.

Contact us for more details and start your language learning journey.

MORE FREE LESSONS

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.

Learn More