Lesson 39: Korean irregular verbs “ㅂ” (ㅂ 불규칙)

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Alright, 여러분! Strap on your language learning helmets, because today we’re diving deep into the mysterious world of… drum roll… the ㅂ irregular verbs! 🥁 Yes, you heard me right. Those sneaky ㅂ verbs that like to play hide and seek in your sentences. Ever wondered why ‘덥다’ (hot) suddenly feels too cool and turns into ‘더워요’? Or why ‘쉽다’ (to be easy) shakes things up and becomes ‘쉬워요’? Well, by the end of today’s wild ride, you’ll be taming those tricky ㅂ verbs like a pro! So, grab your verb-wrangling gear (or just a pen, that works too) and let’s jump right into this linguistic rodeo! 🤠📝

Conjugation

  1. Take a verb i.e. 덥다
  2. Drop 다 i.e. 다
  3. Drop “ㅂ” i.e. 더
  4. Add 우 + 어요 –> 워요 –> 더워요
  • 무섭다 –> 무서 + 워요 –> 무서워요
  • 고맙다 –> 고마 + 워요 –> 고마워요
  • 춥다 –> 추 + 워요 –> 추워요
  • 가깝다 –> 가까 + 워요 –> 가까워요
  • 귀엽다 –> 귀여 + 워요 –> 귀여워요

See? Even the irregulars are not as bad. At first, I was scared of looking at the irregulars. I mean, I have just learned how to conjugate verbs in the normal way and now you tell me there are irregulars?

Luckily, the irregulars to have rules they follow and so it isn’t as difficult as you might have thought.

However, there are few exceptions to this rule.

  • 돕다 (To help) –> 도 + 와요 –> 도와요
  • 곱다 (To be pretty) –> 고 + 와요 –> 고와요
  • 좁다 (To be narrow) –> 좁 + 아요 –> 좁아요
  • 입다 (To dress) –> 입 + 어요 –> 입어요
  • 잡다 (To catch) –> 잡 + 아요 –> 잡아요

One more thing to note is that this irregular conjugation only applies if the second part that we want to attach to the verb stem starts with a vowel.

Let’s take “고맙다” as an example.

When we want to conjugate it in the 아/어/여요 format it becomes 고마워요 because the second part starts with a vowel.

However, when we want to conjugate it in the highest form of politeness we add -습니다 which does not start with a vowel and therefore becomes “고맙습니다

Common ㅂ Irregular Verbs

KoreanEnglishHighest honorificPresent tensePast tenseFuture tense
가깝다Near가깝습니다가까워요가까웠어요가까울 거예요
가볍다Light가볍습니다가벼워요가벼웠어요가벼울 거예요
가엽다Pitiful가엽습니다가여워요가여웠어요가여울 거예요
갑작스럽다Sudden갑작스럽습니다갑작스러워요갑작스러웠어요갑작스러울 거예요
고맙다To be thankful고맙습니다고마워요고마웠어요고마울 거예요
고집스럽다Stubborn고집스럽습니다고집스러워요고집스러웠어요고집스러울 거예요
귀엽다Cute귀엽습니다귀여워요귀여웠어요귀여울 거예요
더럽다Dirty더럽습니다더러워요더러웠어요더러울 거예요
덥다Hot덥습니다더워요더웠어요더울 거예요
두렵다Afraid두렵습니다두려워요두려웠어요두려울 거예요
뜨겁다Hot뜨겁습니다뜨거워요뜨거웠어요뜨거울 거예요
맵다Spicy맵습니다매워요매웠어요매울 거예요
무겁다Heavy무겁습니다무거워요무거웠어요무거울 거예요
무섭다Scary무섭습니다무서워요무서웠어요무서울 거예요
밉다Detest밉습니다미워요미웠어요미울 거예요
반갑다Glad to meet반갑습니다반가워요반가웠어요반가울 거예요
부끄럽다Embarrassed부끄럽습니다부끄러워요부끄러웠어요부끄러울 거예요
부드럽다Soft부드럽습니다부드러워요부드러웠어요부드러울 거예요
부럽다Jealous부럽습니다부러워요부러웠어요부러울 거예요
사랑스럽다Lovely사랑스럽습니다사랑스러워요사랑스러웠어요사랑스러울 거예요
새롭다New새롭습니다새로워요새로웠어요새로울 거예요
서럽다Sad서럽습니다서러워요서러웠어요서러울 거예요
쉽다Easy쉽습니다쉬워요쉬웠어요쉬울 거예요
시끄럽다Noisy시끄럽습니다시끄러워요시끄러웠어요시끄러울 거예요
아릅답다Beautiful아릅답습니다아릅다워요아릅다웠어요아름다울 거예요
어둡다Dark어둡습니다어두워요어두웠어요어두울 거예요
어렵다 Difficult어렵습니다어려워요어려웠어요어려울 거예요
어지럽다Dizzy어지럽습니다어지러워요어지러웠어요어지러울 거예요
외롭다Lonely외롭습니다외로워요외로웠어요외로울 거예요
자연스럽다Natural자연스럽습니다자연스러워요자연스러웠어요자연스러울 거예요
자유럽다Free자유럽습니다자유러워요자유러웠어요자유러울 거예요
조심스럽다Careful조심스럽습니다조심스러워요조심스러웠어요조심스러울 거예요
즐겁다Enjoying즐겁습니다즐거워요즐거웠어요즐거울 거예요
지겹다Tired지겹습니다지겨워요지겨웠어요지겨울 거예요
징그럽다Gross징그럽습니다징그러워요징그러웠어요징그러울 거예요
촌스럽다Old fashioned촌스럽습니다촌스러워요촌스러웠어요촌스러울 거예요
춥다Cold춥습니다추워요추웠어요추울 거예요
평화롭다Peaceful평화롭습니다평화로워요평화로웠어요평화로울 거예요
향기럽다Fragrant향기럽습니다향기러워요향기러웠어요향기러울 거예요
흥미럽다Interesting흥미럽습니다흥미러워요흥미러웠어요힝미러울 거예요

If you haven’t noticed already, these are all descriptive verbs or adjectives in Korean, they are not action verbs.

However, the following action verb does follow this structure.

눕다 (To lie down) –> 노 + 워요 –> 누워요

Negative sentences

VERB STEM + 지 않다

  1. Take a verb i.e. 덥다
  2. Drop 다 i.e. 다
  3. Add -지 않다
  • 무섭다 –> 무섭 + 지 않다 –> 무섭지 않다
  • 고맙다 –> 고맙 + 지 않다 –> 고맙지 않다
  • 춥다 –> 춥 + 지 않다 –> 춥지 않다
  • 가깝다 –> 가깝 + 지 않다 –> 가깝지 않다
  • 귀엽다 –> 귀엽 + 지 않다 –> 귀엽지 않다

Example sentences

  • 오늘은 덥지 않아요. – It’s not hot today.
  • 이 영화는 무섭지 않아요. – This movie is not scary.
  • 그 친구 부럽지 않아요. – I am not jealous of that friend.
  • 한국어가 쉽지 않아요. – Korean is not easy.

안

Another way how to make negative sentences is using the “안” before the verb.

안 + CONJUGATED VERB

  1. Take a verb i.e. 무섭다
  2. Conjugate it i.e. 무서워요
  3. Add 안 before the verb i.e. 안 무서워요
  • 춥다 –> 추워요 –> 안 추워요
  • 가깝다 –> 가까워요 –> 안 가까워요
  • 귀엽다 –> 귀여워요 –> 안 궈여워요

Both of these are natural to use and you can pick and choose which one you want to use.

Activity 1

Given the base form of the verb, conjugate it in the present tense.

  1. 돕다: _______
  2. 덥다: _______
  3. 눕다: _______
  4. 곱다: _______
  5. 잡다: _______

Activity 2

Choose the correct conjugation of the verb from the options provided to complete the sentence.

  1. 올해 여름은 너무 _______. (덥다)
  2. 아기는 바닥에 _______. (눕다)
  3. 저는 그녀에게 손을 _______. (잡다)
  4. 이 책이 정말로 _______. (흥미럽다)
  5. 이 방은 너무 __________. (좁다)

Activity 3

Change the sentence from affirmative to negative using -지 않다.

  1. 이 방을 더러워요.
  2. 요즘엔 많이 외로워요.
  3. 날씨가 추워요.
  4. 이 옷을 귀여워요.
  5. 한국은 가까워요.

Activity 1 Answers

  1. 돕다: 도와요
  2. 덥다: 더워요
  3. 눕다: 누워요
  4. 곱다: 고와요
  5. 잡다: 잡아요

Activity 2 Answers

  1. 올해 여름은 너무 더워요. – It’s very hot this summer.
  2. 아기는 바닥에 누워요. – The baby lies on the floor.
  3. 저는 그녀에게 손을 잡아요. – I grab her hand.
  4. 이 책이 정말로 흥미러워요. – This book is really interesting.
  5. 이 방은 너무 좁아요. – This room is very narrow.

Activity 3 Answers

  1. 이 방을 더러워요. – 이 방을 더럽지 않아요. – This room is not dirty.
  2. 요즘엔 많이 외로워요. – 요즘엔 많이 외롭지 않아요. – I am not that lonely these days.
  3. 날씨가 추워요. – 날씨가 춥지 않아요. – The weather is not cold.
  4. 이 옷을 귀여워요. – 이 옷을 귀엽지 않아요. – These clothes are not cute.
  5. 한국은 가까워요. – 한국은 가깝지 않아요. – Korea is not close.

Wrap up

Congratulations on completing this deep dive into the world of ㅂ irregular verbs in Korean! Tackling these verbs is a significant step in mastering the subtleties of Korean grammar. By now, you should have a clearer understanding of how these verbs behave in different conjugations, the common verbs that fall under this category, and how to identify and use them correctly in various contexts.

Remember, the key to mastering these irregularities lies in practice and exposure. Regularly practicing conjugation, using these verbs in sentences, and listening to how they are used in natural Korean speech will solidify your understanding and usage. Don’t be discouraged by initial challenges; every step in learning these irregularities brings you closer to fluency and confidence in your Korean language skills.

We hope this lesson has been informative and helpful in your journey of learning Korean. Your feedback and experiences are incredibly valuable and can provide insights and inspiration to fellow learners.

We’d Love to Hear from You:

  • How has your experience been with learning ㅂ irregular verbs in Korean?
  • Are there particular verbs or conjugation patterns you find challenging or interesting?
  • Do you have any tips or strategies that helped you grasp these irregularities?

Please share your thoughts, questions, or any tips you have in the comments below. Let’s continue to learn, grow, and support each other in our journey to mastering Korean. 감사합니다 (Gamsahamnida) and 화이팅 (Hwaiting)!

Korean Irregulars
Korean Irregular Verbs “ㅂ”
Korean Irregular Verbs “ㅡ”
Korean Irregular Verbs “르”
Korean Irregular Verbs “ㄷ”
Korean Irregular Verbs “ㄹ”
Korean Irregular Verbs “ㅅ”
Korean Irregular Verbs “ㅎ”
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