Language/Korean/Grammar/Past-Tense

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Korean Grammar → Verb Tenses → Past Tense

As a Korean language teacher for 20 years, I have seen how difficult it is for beginners to understand the Korean language. However, with proper guidance, anyone can learn this beautiful and complex language. In this lesson, we will be focusing on the past tense in Korean. We will explore how to form past tense verbs and use them in sentences to describe past events. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to construct and understand basic past tense sentences.


Once you've mastered this lesson, take a look at these related pages: Question Words & Describing People.

Forming the Past Tense[edit | edit source]

In the present tense, Korean verbs always end in 다 (da). However, in the past tense, the verb base changes and a new suffix is added. The suffix for past tense verbs is -았/었 (at/eot). The suffix you should use will depend on the verb’s stem type. There are the following stem types in Korean:

  • ㄷ irregular verbs
  • ㄹ irregular verbs
  • ㅂ irregular verbs
  • ㅅ irregular verbs
  • 러 irregular verbs
  • 르 irregular verbs
  • 여 irregular verbs
  • 우 irregular verbs
  • 으 irregular verbs
  • Regular verbs

For the sake of space, we will only provide examples for regular verbs. In regular verbs, you need to remove the 다 (da) ending from the verb, and then attach -았/었 (at/eot). If the verb stem ends with a vowel, attach -었 (eot). Otherwise, attach -았 (at).

Here's a table to illustrate how to form the past tense:

Korean Pronunciation English
먹다 meokda to eat
Verb stem (먹) + -았/었 meok + at/eot ate
먹었어요 meogeosseoyo I ate (polite)

As you can see, it's not too difficult to form the past tense of a verb.

Using the Past Tense[edit | edit source]

To make a past tense sentence in Korean, first, you need to determine the tense of the verb you want to use. After that, you put the subject, then the object, and finally, the verb.

Here's an example:

  • I ate an apple.

저는 사과를 먹었어요. (Jeoneun sagwareul meogeosseoyo.)

In this sentence, the subject is "I" and the object is "an apple." The verb is "ate," which is in the past tense form "먹었어요 (meogeosseoyo)." Note that the subject is marked by the particle "는 (neun)" and the object is marked by the particle "를 (reul)."

Another example:

  • I studied Korean yesterday.

저는 어제 한국어를 공부했어요. (Jeoneun eoje hangukeoreul gongbuhaesseoyo.)

In this sentence, the subject is "I" and the object is "Korean." The verb is "studied," which is in the past tense form "공부했어요 (gongbuhaesseoyo)." Here, the subject is marked by the particle "는 (neun)," and the object is marked by the particle "를 (reul)"

You can also use time expressions to specify when the past event happened. Here are some examples:

  • Yesterday: 어제 (eoje)
  • Last month: 지난 달 (jinan dal)
  • Last year: 작년 (jagyeon)

Here is an example sentence that includes a time expression:

  • I ate lunch yesterday.

저는 어제 점심을 먹었어요. (Jeoneun eoje jeomsimeul meogeosseoyo.)

Note in this sentence, the time expression 어제 (eoje), meaning yesterday, is added to specify when the past event, 'ate lunch', happened in relation to the present.

Summary[edit | edit source]

In this lesson, we learned how to form and use the past tense in Korean. We saw that the suffix for past tense verbs is -았/었 (at/eot) depending on the stem type, and that to make a past tense sentence in Korean, we need to determine the tense of the verb, followed by the subject, object, and the verb. We also saw examples of time expressions that can be used to specify when a past event happened. Keep practicing so that you can easily form and use past tense verbs in Korean!

Sources[edit | edit source]

Videos[edit | edit source]

Korean Grammar: Past Perfect Tense : -았/었었어요 - YouTube[edit | edit source]

The Easiest Korean Grammar - Verbs in Past Tense - YouTube[edit | edit source]

How to make Korean PAST TENSE sentences (For beginners ...[edit | edit source]

How to Make Korean Verbs PAST TENSE - YouTube[edit | edit source]

Other Lessons[edit | edit source]


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