KOREAN PRESENT TENSE
Welcome to the first lesson of our TENSE series! We will teach you all about the Korean Present Tense.
Check out our lessons on:
- Korean Past Tense
- Korean Future Tense
INTRODUCTION
Let’s start our first lesson on Korean tenses, with the Korean present tense.
One important thing you should remember is that we need to conjugate predicates in correct forms.
Don’t worry! We’ll explain each case in more details further down below.
Let’s take a look at how they work.
CASE 1 CONJUGATION
Infinitive | meaning | Conjugation |
---|---|---|
앉다 | to sit | 앉아요 |
오다 | come | 와요 |
자다 | sleep | 자요 |
가다 | go | 가요 |
만나다 | meet | 만나요 |
보다 | see/look | 봐요 |
받다 | get/recieve | 받아요 |
사다 | buy | 사요 |
닫다 | close | 닫아요 |
놀다 | play | 놀아요 |
막다 | stop | 막아요 |
잡다 | hold | 잡아요 |
알다 | know | 알아요 |
CASE 2 CONJUGATION
infinitive | meaning | conjugation |
---|---|---|
열다 | open | 열어요 |
읽다 | read | 읽어요 |
먹다 | eat | 먹어요 |
만들다 | make | 만들어요 |
배우다 | learn | 배워요 |
서다 | stand | 서요 |
멈추다 | stop | 멈춰요 |
바꾸다 | change | 바꿔요 |
지다 | lose | 져요 |
보내다 | send | 보내요 |
움직이다 | move | 움직여요 |
기다리다 | wait | 기다려요 |
마시다 | drink | 마셔요 |
CASE 3 CONJUGATION
korean | english | conjugation |
---|---|---|
공부하다 | study | 공부해요 |
말하다 | talk/speak | 말해요 |
청소하다 | clean | 청소해요 |
노래하다 | sing | 노래해요 |
설명하다 | explain | 설명해요 |
운동하다 | exercise | 운동해요 |
일하다 | work | 일해요 |
요리하다 | cook | 요리해요 |
운전하다 | drive | 운전해요 |
생각하다 | think | 생각해요 |
전화하다 | call | 전화해요 |
기록하다 | record | 기록해요 |
참여하다 | participate | 참여해요 |
NOTE
Before you conjugate the verbs, drop the -다 from the infinitive verb.
For example:
- 앉다 would be 앉-
- 읽다 would be 읽-
When a verb ends with -하다, make sure you drop -하다 not just -다.
So:
- 공부하다 would be 공부-
- 말하다 would be 말-
IMPORTANT || When the verb is without -다 or -하다, we call it a ‘word stem’.
CASE 1 || VERBS ENDING WITH -아요
First things first: when a word stem ends with the vowels ‘ㅏ’ or ‘ㅗ’, we add -아요.
When the word stem has a final consonant
For example, the word stem of 앉다 would be 앉-.
Then you can combine 앉- with -아요, and it would be 앉아요.
INFINITIVE | CONJUGATION |
---|---|
닫다
to close | 닫아요 |
받다
to receive | 받아요 |
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 -아요, and it would be 자아요.
However, you need to remove 아 in the middle, so it should be 자요.
INFINITIVE | CONJUGATION | |
---|---|---|
가다
to go | 가아요 | 가요 |
사다
to buy | 사아요 | 사요 |
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 -ㅏ요 without the consonant ‘ㅇ’ of -아요.
So, it would be ‘와요’.
INFINITIVE | CONJUGATION |
---|---|
보다
to see / look | 봐요 |
NOTE || Please go to “Introduction” for more examples for case 1!
CASE 2 || VERBS ENDING WITH -어요
When a final vowel of the word stem ends in something else rather than ‘ㅏ’ or ‘ㅗ’, we add -어요.
When the word stem has a final consonant
For example, the word stem of 열다 would be 열-.
Then you can combine 열- with -어요, and it would be 열어요.
INFINITIVE | CONJUGATION |
---|---|
읽다
to read | 읽어요 |
먹다
to eat | 먹어요 |
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 -ㅓ요 without the consonant ‘ㅇ’ of -어요.
So, it would be 배워요.
INFINITIVE | CONJUGATION |
---|---|
바꾸다
to change | 바꿔요 |
멈추다
to stop | 멈춰요 |
When the word stem especially ends in the vowel ‘ㅣ’
For example, the word stem of 기다리다 would be 기다리-.
When -어요 is combined with the word stem ending with ‘l’, it changes to ㅕ요.
Therefore, it becomes 기다려요.
INFINITIVE | CONJUGATION |
---|---|
마시다
to drink | 마셔요 |
지다
to lose | 져요 |
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 -어요, and it would be 보내어요.
However, you need to remove 어 in the middle, so it should be 보내요.
INFINITIVE | CONJUGATION | |
---|---|---|
매다
to tie | 매어요 | 매요 |
캐다
to dig | 캐어요 | 캐요 |
서다
to stand | 서어요 | 서요 |
펴다
to spread | 펴어요 | 펴요 |
NOTE || Please go to “Introduction” for more examples for case 2!
CASE 3 || VERBS ENDING WITH -해요
When the vowel ends in -하다, simply replace it with -해요.
For example, 공부하다 ends in -하다.
You can remove -하다 and put -해요 after 공부.
It would be ‘공부해요’.
INFINITIVE | CONJUGATION |
---|---|
말하다
to talk / speak | 말해요 |
청소하다
to clean | 청소해요 |
NOTE || Please go to “Introduction” for more examples for case 3!
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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 Korean verbs in the present?
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 -아요
Case 2 || Verbs ending with -어요
Case 3 || Verbs ending with -해요
Make sure to read our lesson for more detailed explanations.
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.
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