안녕하세요! I see you’re back for more Korean language adventures, and I couldn’t be happier to guide you through the maze of the Korean past tense. Buckle up, because we’re about to take a linguistic time machine into the past!
Have you ever wished to tell your Korean friends about that one time you ate too much kimchi and couldn’t leave the bathroom? Or the first time you watched a K-drama without subtitles and actually understood some of it? Well, buckle up language adventurers, because today we’re traveling back in time. We’re going to learn how to share our tales of yore, express our nostalgia, and even confess past mistakes (like when you accidentally used the informal speech to your boss, ouch!) – all in Korean!
If you thought the present tense was a rollercoaster, hold onto your 한글 hats, because the past tense is like a Tteokbokki ride – spicy, thrilling, and oh-so-deliciously rewarding!
So grab your time-travel snacks, secure your seatbelts, and let’s jump into our Korean language DeLorean. The world of the Korean past tense awaits us. Let’s go! 고고씽!
Korean past tense
When we talk about something that has happened in the past, we use the past tense. This could be an event that happened earlier today, last week, or even decades ago. In English, we generally add “-ed” to a verb to put it in the past tense, like “walked” or “talked”. In Korean, things work a bit differently.
Past tense is very similar to the present tense (you can check out the post on present tense here), with just a little tweak to the verb ending.
In Korean, the past tense is usually formed by adding an “-ㅆ” plus the appropriate verb ending to the verb stem. The verb ending you’ll use depends on factors such as formality and whether you’re making a statement or asking a question.
To give you a simple idea, let’s use the verb 가다 (to go). The verb stem is 가, and to put it in the past tense we add -ㅆ plus the verb ending. If we’re speaking informally, we might add -아요 or -어요 depending on the last vowel of the verb stem. In this case, 가다 becomes 갔어요, which means “went”.
It’s important to note that Korean language has some irregular verbs that don’t follow these rules exactly, but we’ll get to those later. For now, it’s crucial to get a solid understanding of the basic concept of the Korean past tense.
In the next sections, we’ll dive deeper into the past tense formation rules and the variations you’ll encounter in your Korean studies. Keep reading, because knowing how to correctly use the past tense is a big step towards fluency in Korean!
Conjugation of Korean Past Tense
The endings for past tense in Korean are as per below;
-았어요
-었어요
-였어요
To know which of the above you need to use, follow the rules below;
- If the last vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ, add 았어요.
- If the last vowel is not one of the above, add 었어요.
- Only 하 is followed by 였어요 and becomes 했어요 (always the case).
Every single verb ends with 다. To conjugate them to the past tense i.e.
가다 (To go)
- Remove “다” i.e. 가다 –> 가
- Determine which of the above rules to use (in this case last vowel is ㅏ so we add 았어요 (가 + 았어요 –> 가았어요), which to make it sound more natural becomes just 갔어요. You will notice below but when the last consonant is a vowel, we either get rid of one (if they are the same) or we combine them together.
The below list summarises the rules on past tense conjugation.
- ㅏ+ㅏ=ㅏ (i.e. 자다. 자다 –> 자 + 았어요 –> 자았어요요 –> 잤어요)
- ㅓ+ㅓ=ㅓ (i.e. 서다. 서다 –> 서 + 었어요 –> 서었어요 –> 섰어요)
- ㅗ+ㅏ =ㅘ (i.e. 오다. 오다 –> 오 + 았어요 –> 오았어요 –>왔어요)
- ㅜ+ㅓ=ㅝ (i.e. 주다. 주다 –> 주 + 었어요 –> 주었어요 –> 줬어요)
- ㅕ+ㅓ=ㅕ (i.e. 켜다. 켜다–> 켜 + 었어요 –> 켜었어요 –> 켰어요)
- ㅣ+ㅓ=ㅕ (i.e. 가지다. 가지다 –>가지 + 었어요 –> 가지었어요 –>가졌어요)
- ㅐ+ㅓ=ㅐ (i.e. 내다. 내다 –> 내 + 었어요 –> 내었어요 –> 냈어요)
- ㅔ+ㅓ=ㅔ (i.e. 세다. 세다 –> 세 + 었어요 –> 세었어요 –> 셌어요)
Examples
- 보다 –> 보 –> 보 + 았어요 –> 보았어요 –> 봤어요 = I saw
- 하다 –> 하 –> 하 + 였어요 –> 하였어요 –> 했어요 = I did
- 먹다 –> 먹 –> 먹 + 었어요 –> 먹었어요 = I ate
- 자다 –> 자 –> 자 + 았어요 –> 자았어요 –> 잤어요 I slept
- 오다 –> 오 –> 오 + 았어요 –> 오았어요 –> 왔어요 I came
- 만나다 –> 만나 –> 만나 + 았어요 –> 만나았어요 –> 만났어요 I met
Sample sentences
- 어제 커피를 마셨어요. – I drank coffee yesterday.
- 우리는 피자를 만들었어요. We made pizza.
- 유미는 매일 저녁에 책을 읽었어요. Yumi read a book every evening.
- 저는 주말에 공부했어요. – I studied on the weekend.
- 저는 거기 늦게 갔어요. – I went there late.
Activity 1
Conjugate the below to past tense
- 만들다 – to make
- 찾다 – to find
- 사다 – to buy
- 팔다 – to sell
- 생각하다 – to think
- 있다 – to be
- 없다 – to not be
- 놀다 – to play
- 물어보다 – to ask
Activity 2
Fill the blanks with the correctly conjugated word
- 아침 __________________ (아침 – breakfast) I ate breakfast
- 거기 ___________________(거기 – there) I wasn’t there
- 학교 ___________________(학교 – school) I went to school
- 선생님 __________________(선생님 – teacher) I met teacher
- 어제 ____________________(어제 – yesterday) I slept yesterday
Choose from the following – 자다, 가다, 만나다, 없다, 먹다
Activity 1 Answers
- 만들다 –> 만들 –> 만들 + 었어요 –> 만들었어요
- 찾다 –> 찾 –> 찾 + 았어요 –> 찾았어요
- 사다 –> 사 –> 사 + 았어요 –> 사았어요 –> 샀어요
- 팔다 –> 팔 –> 팔 + 았어요 –> 팔았어요
- 생각하다 –> 생각하 –> 생각하 + 였어요 –> 생각하였어요 –> 생각했어요
- 있다 –> 있 –> 있 + 었어요 –> 있었어요
- 없다 –> 없 –> 없 + 었어요 –> 없었어요
- 놀다 –> 놀 –> 놀 + 았어요 –> 놀았어요
- 물어보다 –> 물어보 –> 물어보 + 았어요 –> 물오보았어요 –> 물어봤어요
Activity 2 Answers
- 아침 먹었어요. – I ate breakfast.
- 거기 없었어요. – It wasn’t there.
- 학교 갔어요. – I went to school.
- 선생님 만났어요. – I met my teacher.
- 어제 잤어요. – I slept yesterday.
Wrap up
And there you have it, my time-travelling language learners! We’ve ventured into the world of the Korean past tense, and have come out victorious on the other side. No longer will your Korean adventures be limited to the present. You can now regale your friends with tales of past soju mishaps, K-drama bingeing marathons, and that one time you mixed up ‘밥’ (rice) and ‘빵’ (bread) at the bakery!
I know, Korean past tense feels like trying to eat Ramyeon without slurping or trying to sing a K-pop song without dancing, but don’t be discouraged. Remember, every K-pop idol had to start somewhere, and so does every language learner.
Keep practicing your past tense until it feels as comfortable as your favorite pair of pajamas. I promise, it’ll be worth it! And hey, if you can handle kimchi, you can handle anything, right?
Now, let’s see what you’ve got! Leave a comment below with a sentence in Korean past tense. Make it a good one, a funny one, or even a bit embarrassing one – we’re all friends here in the time-travelling Korean language club.
Thank you for joining us on this journey to the past. I hope you had as much fun as I did! Remember, language learning is a marathon, not a sprint. So, keep your 한글 hats on tight and let’s keep moving forward… or should I say, backward?
고맙습니다! (Thank you!) Keep smiling, keep learning, and I’ll see you next time when we delve into the exciting world of Korean future tense. Are you ready? Because the future, quite literally, awaits!