Korean Grammar Bank

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:

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.

  • Case 1 || Verbs ending with -아요
  • Case 2 || Verbs ending with -어요
  • Case 3 || Verbs ending with -해요

Let’s take a look at how they work.

CASE 1 CONJUGATION

InfinitivemeaningConjugation
앉다to sit 앉아요
오다come 와요
자다sleep 자요
가다go 가요
만나다meet 만나요
보다see/look 봐요
받다get/recieve 받아요
사다buy 사요
닫다close 닫아요
놀다play 놀아요
막다stop 막아요
잡다hold 잡아요
알다know 알아요

CASE 2 CONJUGATION

infinitivemeaningconjugation
열다open 열어요
읽다read 읽어요
먹다eat 먹어요
만들다make 만들어요
배우다learn 배워요
서다stand 서요
멈추다stop 멈춰요
바꾸다change 바꿔요
지다lose 져요
보내다send 보내요
움직이다move 움직여요
기다리다wait 기다려요
마시다drink 마셔요

CASE 3 CONJUGATION

koreanenglishconjugation
공부하다study 공부해요
말하다talk/speak 말해요
청소하다clean 청소해요
노래하다sing 노래해요
설명하다explain 설명해요
운동하다exercise 운동해요
일하다work 일해요
요리하다cook 요리해요
운전하다drive 운전해요
생각하다think 생각해요
전화하다call 전화해요
기록하다record 기록해요
참여하다participate 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.

INFINITIVECONJUGATION
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.

INFINITIVECONJUGATION
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’.

INFINITIVECONJUGATION
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.

INFINITIVECONJUGATION
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.

INFINITIVECONJUGATION
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.

INFINITIVECONJUGATION
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.

INFINITIVECONJUGATION
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’.

INFINITIVECONJUGATION
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 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.

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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.

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