Korean past tense practice questions

As a Korean learner, you are most likely to learn how to conjugate words into the past tense in the earlier stages of your studies. While this type of conjugation is quite straight forward practice always makes perfect as well as this is a good time to learn some more vocabulary.

If you need to recap the past tense, check out this post here.

Activity 1

Conjugate the below verbs into a past tense.

1. 춤추다 – to dance
2. 타다 – to ride
3. 여행하다 – to travel
4. 싸우다 – to fight
5. 지다 – to loose
6. 도와주다 – to help
7. 빌리다 – to borrow
8. 끝나다 – to finish
9. 넣다 – to put (something in)
10. 먹다 – to eat

Activity 2

Fill the blanks with the correctly conjugated word.

1. 주말에 어디 _______________? (주말 – weekend, 에 – on/at/in, 어디 – where) Where did you go on the weekend?
2. 좋은 아침! 잘 ________________? (좋은 – good, 아침 – morning, 잘 – well) Good morning! Did you sleep well?
3. 친구들이랑 같이 저녁 ____________. (친구들 – friends, 이랑 – with, 같이 – together, 저녁 – dinner) I ate dinner with my friends.
4. 벌써 다 _____________? (벌써 – already, 다 – all/everything) Did you already write it all?
5. 엄마한테 선물 _________? (엄마 – mom, 한테 – to, 선물 – present) Did you give the present to mom?
6. 어제 하루종일 _____________. (어제 – yesterday, 하루종일 – all day) I worked all day yesterday.
7. 주말에 ____________. (주말 – weekend, 에 – on/at/in) I studied on the weekend.
8. 지난달에 친구가 ________________. (지난 – past/last, 달 – month, 에 – on/in/at, 친구 – friend, 가 – subject marking particle) Last month my friend got married.
9. 그 책 이미 다 ____________. (그 – that, 책 – book, 이미 – already, 다 – all/everything) I already read all of the book.
10. 오늘 비 많이 ______________. (오늘 – today, 비 – rain, 많이 – a lot) It rained a lot today.
11. 그 영화 언제 ____________? (그 – that, 영화 – movie, 언제 – when) When did you see that movie?
12. 그거 ____________. (그거 – that) I didn’t know that.
13. 누구한테 ____________? (누구 – who, 한테 – to) Who did you tell it to?
14. 어제 하루종일 너무 _____________. (어제 – yesterday, 하루종일 – all day, 너무 – a lot) I was bored all day yesterday.
15. 선생님 저를 잘 ____________. (선생님 – teacher, 저 – me, 를 – object marking particle, 잘 – well) My teacher taught me well.
16. 저는 이미 _____________. (저 – I, 는 – topic marking particle, 이미 – already) I already made up my mind.
17. 아 ____________! (아 – Ah) Ah I remembered!
18. 미안해요. _____________. (미안해요 – I am sorry) I am sorry. I lied.
19. 피터 너무 ______________. (피터 – Peter, 너무 – a lot/very) Peter was very worried.
20. 현우가 버스를 _____________. (현우 – Hyeonwoo, 가 – subject marking particle, 버스 – bus, 를 – object marking particle) Heyonwoo waited for the bus.

Choose from the following verbs; 보다, 가르치다, 말하다, 읽다, 가다, 거짓말하다, 심심하다, 쓰다, 걱정하다, 주다, 결심하다, 먹다, 일하다, 결혼하다, 모르다, 공부하다, 자다, 기다리다, 기억하다, 오다.

Activity 3

Listen to the below recording and write down the words in the past tense form (each word will be repeated twice) and translate to English/your own language.

Activity 4

Listen to the below recording and write down the full sentence and translate to English/your own language (each sentence will be repeated twice).

Activity 5

Identify which words are conjugated correctly and which ones are not. Correct the words that are not conjugated correctly.

1. 대답핬어요
2. 도와줬어요
3. 됬어요
4. 모랐어요
5. 만졌어요
6. 미루었어요
7. 하았어요

Activity 1 Answers

1. 춤추다 – 춤췄어요
2. 타다 – 탔어요
3. 여행하다 – 여행했어요
4. 싸우다 – 싸웠어요
5. 지다 – 졌어요
6. 도와주다 – 도와줬어요
7. 빌리다 – 빌렸어요
8. 끝나다 – 끝났어요
9. 넣다 – 넣었어요
10. 먹다 – 먹었어요

Activity 2 Answers

1. 주말에 어디 갔어요? (주말 – weekend, 에 – on/at/in, 어디 – where) Where did you go on the weekend?
2. 좋은 아침! 잘 잤어요? (좋은 – good, 아침 – morning, 잘 – well) Good morning! Did you sleep well?
3. 친구들이랑 같이 저녁 먹었어요. (친구들 – friends, 이랑 – with, 같이 – together, 저녁 – dinner) I ate dinner with my friends.
4. 벌써 다 썼어요? (벌써 – already, 다 – all/everything) Did you already write it all?
5. 엄마한테 선물 줬어요? (엄마 – mom, 한테 – to, 선물 – present) Did you give the present to mom?
6. 어제 하루종일 일했어요. (어제 – yesterday, 하루종일 – all day) I worked all day yesterday.
7. 주말에 공부했어요. (주말 – weekend, 에 – on/at/in) I studied on the weekend.
8. 지난달에 친구가 결혼했어요. (지난 – past/last, 달 – month, 에 – on/in/at, 친구 – friend, 가 – subject marking particle) Last month my friend got married.
9. 그 책 이미 다 읽었어요. (그 – that, 책 – book, 이미 – already, 다 – all/everything) I already read all of the book.
10. 오늘 비 많이 왔어요. (오늘 – today, 비 – rain, 많이 – a lot) It rained a lot today.
11. 그 영화 언제 봤어요? (그 – that, 영화 – movie, 언제 – when) When did you see that movie?
12. 그거 몰랐어요. (그거 – that) I didn’t know that.
13. 누구한테 말했어요? (누구 – who, 한테 – to) Who did you tell it to?
14. 어제 하루종일 너무 심심했어요. (어제 – yesterday, 하루종일 – all day, 너무 – a lot) I was bored all day yesterday.
15. 선생님 저를 잘 가르쳤어요. (선생님 – teacher, 저 – me, 를 – object marking particle, 잘 – well) My teacher taught me well.
16. 저는 이미 결심했어요. (저 – I, 는 – topic marking particle, 이미 – already) I already made up my mind.
17. 아 기억했어요! (아 – Ah) Ah I remembered!
18. 미안해요. 거짓말했어요. (미안해요 – I am sorry) I am sorry. I lied.
19. 피터 너무 걱정했어요. (피터 – Peter, 너무 – a lot/very) Peter was very worried.
20. 현우가 버스를 기다렸어요. (현우 – Hyeonwoo, 가 – subject marking particle, 버스 – bus, 를 – object marking particle) Heyonwoo waited for the bus.

Activity 3 Answers

1. 보다 –> 봤어요 (Saw)
2. 말하다 – –> 말했어요 (Said)
3. 없다 –> 없었어요 (Didn’t have)
4. 배우다 –> 배웠어요 (Learned)
5. 받다 –> 받았어요 (Received)
6. 그리다 –> 그렸어요 (Draw)
7. 기다리다 –> 기다렸어요 (Waited)
8. 하다 –> 했어요 (Did)
9. 살다 –> 살았어요 (Lived)
10. 사다 –> 샀어요 (Bought)

Activity 4 Answers

1. 어제 많이 잤어요 – I slept a lot yesterday.
2. 친구랑 같이 공부했어요 – I studied with my friend.
3. 그 영화 지난달에 봤어요 – I saw that movie last month.
4. 아침에 밥 먹었어요 – I ate rice in the morning/I ate food in the morning (밥 can mean both, rice or just food in general since rice is a staple food in Korean culture)
5. 한국까지 갔어요 – I went all the way to Korea.

Activity 5 Answers

1. 대답핬어요 – 대답했어요 (Answered)
2. 도와줬어요 – Correct (Helped)
3. 됬어요 – 됐어요 (Became)
4. 모랐어요 – 몰랐어요 (Didn’t know) – this is an irregular verb
5. 만졌어요 – Correct (Touched)
6. 미루었어요 – 미뤘어요 (Postponed)
7. 하았어요 – 했어요 (Did)