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Korean grammar

Korean past tense: 았어요 / 었어요

The Korean past tense uses the same vowel rule as the polite present, with a longer ending. Drop 다, then add 았어요 if the stem's last vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ and 었어요 otherwise: 먹다 becomes 먹었어요 (ate). The vowel merges that give 가요 and 와요 happen here too (갔어요, 왔어요), and because adjectives are verbs in Korean, they take the same ending.

Examples are written in Hangul. New to it? Start with the hangul chart.

In short

  • Drop 다, then add 았어요 after a stem whose last vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ and 었어요 after any other vowel: 작다 → 작았어요, 먹다 → 먹었어요.
  • Vowels merge as in the present: 가다 → 갔어요 (went), 오다 → 왔어요 (came), 보다 → 봤어요 (saw), 마시다 → 마셨어요 (drank).
  • 하다 → 했어요, so every noun + 하다 verb follows: 공부했어요 (studied).
  • Adjectives take the same ending: 좋았어요 (was good), 맛있었어요 (was delicious).
  • The copula 이에요/예요 becomes 이었어요 after a consonant and 였어요 after a vowel: 학생이었어요, 친구였어요.

았어요 / 었어요 — same vowel rule

The past works just like the present, but the ending is longer. ㅏ/ㅗ stems take 았어요: 작다 → 작았어요. Other stems take 었어요: 먹다 → 먹었어요, 마시다 → 마셨어요. Think of it as the 해요 form with 았/었 worked into the middle.

  • 먹었어요

    meogeosseoyo

    ate (polite past)

  • 마셨어요

    masyeosseoyo

    drank (polite past)

  • 어제 밥을 먹었어요

    Yesterday I ate rice.

  • 밥을 먹었어요

    I ate rice

Blended past forms

Just like 가요/와요/해요 blended in the present, the past blends too: 가다 → 갔어요 (went), 오다 → 왔어요 (came), 보다 → 봤어요 (saw), 하다 → 했어요 (did). 공부하다 → 공부했어요 (studied). Learn them as whole words.

  • 갔어요

    gasseoyo

    went (polite past)

  • 왔어요

    wasseoyo

    came (polite past)

  • 봤어요

    bwasseoyo

    saw / watched (polite past)

  • 했어요

    haesseoyo

    did (polite past)

  • 어제 영화를 봤어요

    Yesterday I watched a movie.

  • 학교에 갔어요

    I went to school

  • 공부했어요

    I studied

Adjectives have a past tense

Because Korean adjectives are verbs, they take the same past ending. 좋다 → 좋았어요 ('was good' — ㅗ stem → 았). 맛있다 → 맛있었어요 ('was delicious'). 영화가 좋았어요 = 'the movie was good'.

  • 좋았어요

    joasseoyo

    was good

  • 맛있었어요

    masisseosseoyo

    was delicious

  • 밥이 맛있었어요

    The rice was delicious.

  • 영화가 좋았어요

    The movie was good

The 'was' copula

The past of the copula 이에요/예요 is 였어요 (after a vowel) / 이었어요 (after a consonant). 친구였어요 = 'was a friend' (친구 ends in a vowel). 학생이었어요 = 'was a student' (학생 ends in a consonant). Just like the present split, only the vowel/consonant of the noun matters.

  • 친구였어요

    chinguyeosseoyo

    was a friend

  • 학생이었어요

    haksaengieosseoyo

    was a student

  • 저는 학생이었어요

    I was a student.

Telling what happened

Lead with the time, then the action: 어제 친구하고 영화를 봤어요 = 'Yesterday I watched a movie with a friend'. 오늘 밥을 먹었어요 = 'Today I ate'. Stack the grammar you already know on top of the past tense.

  • 어제 친구하고 영화를 봤어요

    Yesterday I watched a movie with a friend

Check yourself

Questions from the course. Pick an answer to check it; nothing is saved.

  1. 1.Put 먹다 in the past ('I ate'):

  2. 2.'I drank coffee.' Pick the Korean.

  3. 3.Put 가다 in the past ('I went'):

  4. 4.'I studied.' Pick the Korean.

  5. 5.'The movie was good.' Pick the Korean.

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