안녕하세요 (Annyeonghaseyo)! If you’re delving into the Korean language, one of the essential grammatical skills you’ll need is the ability to conjugate adjectives. Unlike in English, where adjectives remain constant regardless of tense, Korean adjectives change form to indicate present, past, and future tenses. This aspect of Korean grammar is crucial for describing states, feelings, or characteristics accurately in different time frames.
Understanding how to conjugate adjectives into various tenses is key to expressing yourself more precisely and vividly in Korean. Whether you’re talking about the weather today, the beauty of yesterday’s sunset, or your plans for an upcoming event, the way you conjugate adjectives can paint a clear picture of your experiences and thoughts.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the intricacies of conjugating Korean adjectives into present, past, and future tenses. We’ll break down the conjugation rules, provide examples, and offer tips to help you navigate this important aspect of Korean grammar. By mastering these conjugation techniques, you’ll be able to add depth and clarity to your Korean conversations and writings, enhancing your overall language proficiency.
Basics of Korean Adjective Conjugation
Just like verbs, adjectives (also known as descriptive verbs) end with 다 in the standard dictionary. The part before “다” is called the stem, and it’s this stem that gets conjugated according to the tense and formality. Therefore, we will need to conjugate them accordingly to be able to use them in sentences.
- Take an adjective i.e. 좋다
- Drop 다 i.e. 좋
- Pick the appropriate ending based on the below rules.
- If the last vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ, add 아요
- If the last vowel is not one of the above, add 어요
- If it ends with a consonant “ㅂ”, drop “ㅂ” and add 워요
Apart from these rules there are some irregularities but we will get into those later. Study the below list of words and make a note on how they change. Can you see which ones are irregular?
Korean Adjectives in Present Tense
| Korean | Conjugation | English |
| 좋다 | 좋아요 | Good |
| 나쁘다 | 나빠요 | Bad |
| 크다 | 커요 | Big |
| 작다 | 작아요 | Small |
| 많다 | 많아요 | Much/a lot |
| 적다 | 적어요 | Little |
| 멀다 | 멀어요 | Far |
| 가깝다 | 가까워요 | Close |
| 싸다 | 싸요 | Cheap |
| 비싸다 | 비싸요 | Expensive |
| 길다 | 길어요 | Long |
| 짧다 | 짧아요 | Short |
| 높다 | 높아요 | High |
| 낮다 | 낮아요 | Low |
| 빠르다 | 빨라요 | Fast |
| 느리다 | 느려요 | Slow |
| 가볍다 | 가벼워요 | Light |
| 무겁다 | 무거워요 | Heavy |
| 쉽다 | 쉬워요 | Easy |
| 어렵다 | 어려워요 | Difficult |
| 덥다 | 더워요 | Hot (weather) |
| 춥다 | 추워요 | Cold (weather) |
| 뜨겁다 | 뜨거워요 | Hot (To touch or eat) |
| 차갑다 | 차가워요 | Cold( (To touch or eat) |
| 따뜻하다 | 따뜻해요 | Warm |
| 시원하다 | 시원해요 | Cool |
| 강하다 | 강해요 | Strong |
| 약하다 | 약해요 | Weak |
| 두껍다 | 두꺼워요 | Thick |
| 얇다 | 얇아요 | Thin |
| 맑다 | 맑아요 | Clear (weather) |
| 흐리다 | 흐려요 | Cloudy |
| 깨끗하다 | 깨긋해요 | Clean |
| 더럽다 | 더러워요 | Dirty |
| 넓다 | 넓어요 | Spacious |
| 좁다 | 좁아요 | Narrow |
| 밝다 | 밝아요 | Bright |
| 어둡다 | 어두워요 | Dark |
| 바쁘다 | 바빠요 | Busy |
| 시끄럽다 | 시끄러워요 | Loud |
| 조용하다 | 조용해요 | Quiet |
| 맛있다 | 맛있어요 | Delicious |
| 맛없다 | 맛없어요 | Not delicious |
| 귀엽다 | 귀여워요 | Cute |
| 예쁘다 | 예뻐요 | Pretty |
| 아름답다 | 아릅다워요 | Beautiful |
| 똑똑하다 | 똑똑해요 | Smart |
| 착하다 | 착해요 | Kind |
| 행복하다 | 행복해요 | Happy |
Korean Adjectives in Past Tense
In order to put these in to past tense, we need to add suffixes 았/었/였어요, similar to the verb conjugation. But the above rules still apply.
- Take an adjective i.e. 좋다
- Drop 다 i.e. 좋
- Pick the appropriate ending based on the below rules.
- If the last vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ, add 았어요
- If the last vowel is not one of the above, add 었어요
- If it ends with a consonant “ㅂ”, drop “ㅂ” and add 웠어요
| Korean | Conjugation | English |
| 좋다 | 좋았어요 | Was Good |
| 나쁘다 | 나빴어요 | Was Bad |
| 크다 | 컸어요 | Was Big |
| 작다 | 작았어요 | Was Small |
| 많다 | 많았어요 | Was Much/a lot |
| 적다 | 적었어요 | Was Little |
| 멀다 | 멀었어요 | Was Far |
| 가깝다 | 가까웠어요 | Was Close |
| 싸다 | 쌌어요 | Was Cheap |
| 비싸다 | 비쌌어요 | Was Expensive |
| 길다 | 길었어요 | Was Long |
| 짧다 | 짧았어요 | Was Short |
| 높다 | 높았요 | Was High |
| 낮다 | 낮았어요 | Was Low |
| 빠르다 | 빨랐어요 | Was Fast |
| 느리다 | 느렸어요 | Was Slow |
| 가볍다 | 가벼웠어요 | Was Light |
| 무겁다 | 무거웠어요 | Was Heavy |
| 쉽다 | 쉬웠어요 | Was Easy |
| 어렵다 | 어려웠어요 | Was Difficult |
| 덥다 | 더웠어요 | Was Hot (weather) |
| 춥다 | 추웠어요 | Was Cold (weather) |
| 뜨겁다 | 뜨거웠어요 | Was Hot (To touch or eat) |
| 차갑다 | 차가웠어요 | Was Cold( (To touch or eat) |
| 따뜻하다 | 따뜻했어요 | Was Warm |
| 시원하다 | 시원했어요 | Was Cool |
| 강하다 | 강했어요 | Was Strong |
| 약하다 | 약했어요 | Was Weak |
| 두껍다 | 두꺼웠어요 | Was Thick |
| 얇다 | 얇았어요 | Was Thin |
| 맑다 | 맑았어요 | Was Clear (weather) |
| 흐리다 | 흐렸어요 | Was Cloudy |
| 깨끗하다 | 깨긋했어요 | Was Clean |
| 더럽다 | 더러웠어요 | Was Dirty |
| 넓다 | 넓었어요 | Was Spacious |
| 좁다 | 좁았어요 | Was Narrow |
| 밝다 | 밝았어요 | Was Bright |
| 어둡다 | 어두웠어요 | Was Dark |
| 바쁘다 | 바빴어요 | Was Busy |
| 시끄럽다 | 시끄러웠어요 | Was Loud |
| 조용하다 | 조용했어요 | Was Quiet |
| 맛있다 | 맛있있어요 | Was Delicious |
| 맛없다 | 맛없었어요 | Was Not delicious |
| 귀엽다 | 귀여웠어요 | Was Cute |
| 예쁘다 | 예뻤어요 | Was Pretty |
| 아름답다 | 아릅다웠어요 | Was Beautiful |
| 똑똑하다 | 똑똑했어요 | Was Smart |
| 착하다 | 착했어요 | Was Kind |
| 행복하다 | 행복했어요 | Was Happy |
Future tense
Future tense also follows the normal rules which are
- If the word ends in a vowel, add “ㄹ 거예요”.
- If the word ends in a consonant, add “을 거예요”.
- If the word ends in a consonant “ㅂ, drop “ㅂ” and add 울 거예요.
| Korean | Conjugation | English |
| 좋다 | 좋을 거예요 | Will be Good |
| 나쁘다 | 나쁠 거예요 | Will be Bad |
| 크다 | 클 거예요 | Will be Big |
| 작다 | 작을 거예요 | Will be Small |
| 많다 | 많을 거예요 | Will be Much/a lot |
| 적다 | 적을 거예요 | Will be Little |
| 멀다 | 멀 거예요 | Will be Far |
| 가깝다 | 가까울 거예요 | Will be Close |
| 싸다 | 쌀 거예요 | Will be Cheap |
| 비싸다 | 비쌀 거예요 | Will be Expensive |
| 길다 | 길을 거예요 | Will be Long |
| 짧다 | 짧을 거예요 | Will be Short |
| 높다 | 높을 거예요 | Will be High |
| 낮다 | 낮을 거예요 | Will be Low |
| 빠르다 | 빠를 거예요 | Will be Fast |
| 느리다 | 느릴 거예요 | Will be Slow |
| 가볍다 | 가벼울 거예요 | Will be Light |
| 무겁다 | 무거울 거예요 | Will be Heavy |
| 쉽다 | 쉬울 거예요 | Will be Easy |
| 어렵다 | 어려울 거예요 | Will be Difficult |
| 덥다 | 더울 거예요 | Will be Hot (weather) |
| 춥다 | 추울 거예요 | Will be Cold (weather) |
| 뜨겁다 | 뜨거울 거예요 | Will be Hot (To touch or eat) |
| 차갑다 | 차가울 거예요 | Will be Cold( (To touch or eat) |
| 따뜻하다 | 따뜻할 거예요 | Will be Warm |
| 시원하다 | 시원할 거예요 | Will be Cool |
| 강하다 | 강할 거예요 | Will be Strong |
| 약하다 | 약할 거예요 | Will be Weak |
| 두껍다 | 두꺼울 거예요 | Will be Thick |
| 얇다 | 얇을 거예요 | Will be Thin |
| 맑다 | 맑을 거예요 | Will be Clear (weather) |
| 흐리다 | 흐릴 거예요 | Will be Cloudy |
| 깨끗하다 | 깨긋할 거예요 | Will be Clean |
| 더럽다 | 더러울 거예요 | Will be Dirty |
| 넓다 | 넓을 거예요 | Will be Spacious |
| 좁다 | 좁을 거예요 | Will be Narrow |
| 밝다 | 밝을 거예요 | Will be Bright |
| 어둡다 | 어두울 거예요 | Will be Dark |
| 바쁘다 | 바쁠 거예요 | Will be Busy |
| 시끄럽다 | 시끄러울 거예요 | Will be Loud |
| 조용하다 | 조용할 거예요 | Will be Quiet |
| 맛있다 | 맛있을 거예요 | Will be Delicious |
| 맛없다 | 맛없을 거예요 | Will be Not delicious |
| 귀엽다 | 귀여울 거예요 | Will be Cute |
| 예쁘다 | 예쁠 거예요 | Will be Pretty |
| 아름답다 | 아릅다울 거예요 | Will be Beautiful |
| 똑똑하다 | 똑똑할 거예요 | Will be Smart |
| 착하다 | 착할 거예요 | Will be Kind |
| 행복하다 | 행복할 거예요 | Will be Happy |
Activity 1
Fill in the blanks.
- 내일 날씨가 많이 __________. – The weather will be very cold tomorrow.
- Emma 너무 ________. – Emma is very pretty.
- 이 음식이 진짜 _________. – This food is really delicious.
- 한국은 너무 _________. – Korea is too far.
- 이 차 ________. This tea is warm.
- 시험 너무 ________. – The exam was very easy.
- 우리가 _______. – We will be happy.
- 이 차가 너무 ________. – This car is very fast.
Activity 1 Answers
- 내일 날씨가 많이 추울 거예요. – The weather will be very cold tomorrow.
- Emma 너무 예뻐요. – Emma is very pretty.
- 이 음식이 진짜 맛있어요. – This food is really delicious.
- 한국은 너무 멀어요. – Korea is too far.
- 이 차 따뜻해요. This tea is warm.
- 시험 너무 쉬웠어요. – The exam was very easy.
- 우리가 행복할 거예요. – We will be happy.
- 이 차가 너무 빨라요. – This car is very fast.
Wrap up
Mastering the conjugation of Korean adjectives into present, past, and future tenses is a crucial aspect of becoming proficient in Korean. This skill not only enhances your grammatical accuracy but also enriches your ability to vividly describe experiences, feelings, and situations. Whether you’re sharing a story, describing a scene, or talking about your plans, the correct use of adjective tenses can bring depth and clarity to your conversations.
Remember, language learning is a journey filled with continuous practice and discovery. Don’t be discouraged by the complexities of conjugation; instead, embrace them as stepping stones to greater fluency. The more you practice and immerse yourself in the language, the more natural these conjugations will become.
We hope this guide has provided you with a clear understanding of how to conjugate Korean adjectives across different tenses and that the exercises have helped reinforce your learning.
We’d Love to Hear from You:
- How do you practice conjugating Korean adjectives in different tenses?
- Are there any specific adjectives or tenses you find challenging or particularly interesting?
- Do you have any tips or experiences to share that could help fellow learners?
Your insights and experiences are invaluable, not just to us but to the entire community of Korean language learners. Please share your thoughts, questions, or any interesting anecdotes you have in the comments below. Let’s continue to learn, share, and grow together in our journey of mastering the Korean language.
감사합니다 (Gamsahamnida) for joining us in this exploration of Korean adjective conjugation, and as always, 화이팅 (Hwaiting) on your language learning journey!