How To Use This Book

This book is designed to help you understand how “100 of the most com-
monly used Korean verbs” are conjugated and used. If you are just starting
to learn Korean, going through all the verbs in the books one by one can be a
good idea, but if you already know some Korean and want to enhance your
grammar skills related to specific verbs, feel free to just look up those words
and practice using them. In addition to the conjugation tables, you will see
many sample sentences and quizzes to help you become more comfortable in
using the verbs, so be sure to keep practicing and reviewing!

You can download the audio recordings for the words and sample sentences
used in this book for free at TalkToMeInKorean.com/verbsguideaudio.

Using the “하다” column as a guide, you can easily translate all of the sen-
tences in this chart. Simply switch the verb you are studying with 하다 in the
example sentences. Spaces that do not have any conjugations in them mean
that specific conjugation is impossible.

하다
ha-da

Future Present
Present Past
/ Guessing Progressive

해요 했어요 할 거예요 하고 있어요

I do. I did. I will do. I’m doing.
© 2013 TalkToMeInKorean 3
 Imperative

하세요 해요 해 해라
Please do. Please do. Do. Do.

Modifier

한 하는 할 하던 했던
(someone) who (someone) who (someone) who (someone) who (someone) who
did/has done does/is doing will do/is going used to do did/used to do
(something) (something) one to do (something) one (something) one
someone did does/is doing (something) one used to do did/used to do
will do/is going
to do

Want Can

하고 싶어요 할 수 있어요
I want to do. I can do.

Don’t (Imperative) Whether or not

하지 마세요 하는지 했는지 할지

(Please) don’t do. Whether one does/is Whether one did Whether one will do
doing or not or not or not
When/Where/Who/ When/Where/Who/ When/Where/Who/
What/Why/How + What/Why/How + What/Why/How +
one does/will do one did one will do

(tell someone) that (tell someone) to

한다고 하라고
(tell someone)/(heard) (tell someone) to do
that one is doing

© 2013 TalkToMeInKorean 4
General Rules of Verb CoNJUGATIOn
in Korean

Action verbs In English, words are like “pretty,” “big,” and “important” are
and categorized as adjectives, whereas words like “to add,” “to
Descriptive jump,” “to study” are categorized as verbs. However, most
verbs Korean equivalents of English adjectives are originally in the
infinitive form and are treated like verbs, therefore they must
be conjugated to be used in the “modifier” format, which
works similarly to English adjectives.

For example, “비싸다” is a descriptive verb (adjective in the in-

finitive form) that would translate to “to be expensive.” To use
it as an adjective, you need to conjugate it to the adjective
form, 비싼 (present tense), 비쌀 (future tense), or 비쌌던
(past tense). In English, this kind of difference is expressed
through
tense change of the “be” verb, but in Korean, the conjugation
of the verb itself can contain the role of the “be” verb.

Examples
크다 = to be big (descriptive verb)
큰 = big (base adjective form)

크다 = to grow (action verb)

큰 = that which has grown; grew (past tense adjective form)

Formality In Korean, there are several levels of formality. Formality lev-

Levels els on the more “formal” side are generally called
존댓말,andthe rest are called 반말. 존대 means “to treat with
respect,”
© 2013 TalkToMeInKorean 5
 while 반 means “half.” Although you cannot “half” speak to
someone, 반말 is used with someone who you are certain
is younger than you or is the same age. 존댓말 is used with
everyone else. It is not appropriate to use 반말 without the
other person’s consent; therefore, if you are not sure which
formality level to use, it is best to start off using 존댓말.

There are two main (among many) types of 존댓말 endings:

-(아/어/여)요 and -(스)ㅂ니다 (e.g. 가요, 갑니다). The -
(아/어/여) 요 form is the more commonly used ending for
존댓말, where- as -(스)ㅂ니다 is generally used in more formal
settings. If you put -아, -어, or -여 at the end of a verb stem
(without
-요), it becomes 반말.

If a verb’s dictionary form (infinitive) is 먹다, the 반말 form is

먹어, and the 존댓말 forms are 먹어요, 먹습니다, etc.

Dictionary Every verb in Korean ends with -다. In most cases, before you
Form conjugate the verb into different tenses and voices, you drop
(Infinitive) the -다 from the end of the verb and you are left with the verb
stem. With the verb stem, you then conjugate the verb. When
you apply a conjugation rule to a verb, be sure to remove the
-다. For example, if the verb is 잡다 in the infinitive, remove
the -다, and the remaining verb stem is 잡. From there, you
can add various endings.

-아, -어, or -여 For many Korean verb conjugations, the verb stem is followed
by -아, -어, or -여. If the sentence is in 반말, the verb will end
there to make a present tense statement. If the sentence is
in 존댓말, you need to add -요 at the end in addition to 아, -어,
or -여. To determine which of these endings to use with a verb

© 2013 TalkToMeInKorean 6
 stem, simply look at the last syllable of the verb stem: if it
ends with the vowel ㅗ or ㅏ, you add -아; if it ends with any
other vowel, you add -어; and when verb stem’s last syllable
is 하, you add -여. When -하 and -여 are combined, it becomes
해. You will see these suffixes often in many conjugations, and
these suffixes can also be followed by other sentence endings.

Present Tense The present tense in Korean covers a wider range of tenses

= -아/어/여요 than in English. Therefore, a sentence in the present tense in

Korean, e.g. “가요,” can be translated to “I go,” “I’m going,”
“I’m going to go,” or even “I will go.”

To construct a present tense sentence in Korean, add -아요,

-어요, or -여요 after the verb stem. You can simply drop -요
at the end to change this to 반말.

Examples
예쁘다 = to be pretty
예뻐요 = It is pretty. (존댓말)
예뻐 = It is pretty. (반말)

일하다 = to work
Past Tense 일해요 = I work.; I am working.; I am going to work. (존댓말)

= -았/었/였어요 일해 = I work.; Get to work. (반말)

Add -았어요, -었어요, or -였어요 after the verb stem to form a

past tense statement. In most cases, it suffices to use -았어
요, -었어요, or -였어요, but in some cases, there is an extra -었
added between -았/었/였 and -어요 to form -았었어요, -
었었어 요, or -였었어요. This refers to an event that
happened long ago or earlier than another past event. There
are many vari-
© 2013 TalkToMeInKorean 7
 ations of the past tense, but just remember that the suffixes
-았/었/였 are almost always used to end a sentence in the past
tense.

Future Tense -(으)ㄹ in itself has a meaning related to the future, and by

= -(으)ㄹ 거예요 saying “-(으)ㄹ 거예요,” you are literally saying “It’s that I
will. . ” If the verb stem ends with a consonant at the end of
the last syllable, you add -을 거예요. If the verb stem ends
with a vowel, add -ㄹ 거예요. This is different from the future
tense, -(으)ㄹ게요, in the sense that when you say -
(으)ㄹ게요, you are expecting a response (approval or
reaction) from the other person, whereas when you say -
(으)ㄹ 거예요, you are simply stating what your plans are.

Although -(으)ㄹ 거예요 is a future tense sentence ending,

you can also use this to express your assumption about
something. Depending on the context, -(으)ㄹ 거예요 can
be translated as either “it will/I will/they are going to” or “I
think/I assume.”

Examples
있다 = to exist, to have
Present
시간이 있다 = to have time
Progressive
시간이 있을 거예요 = There will be time.; I think they have
= -고 있어요 time.

있어요 means “to be” whereas -고 있어요 refers to a certain

state that the subject is in or an action that the subject is do-
ing. By adding -고 있어요 to the verb stem, you can express
the meaning of “to be doing something.” Even though the
present tense covers a wider range of tenses in Korean, -고
있어요
© 2013 TalkToMeInKorean 8
 is sometimes used to emphasize the fact that you are doing
something “right at this moment.” If you want to use this end-
ing in 반말, you can simply drop -요 from the end.

Examples
자다 = to sleep
자요 = She sleeps.; She is sleeping.
자고 있어요 = She is sleeping.; She is in the middle of sleeping.

Present Status -아/어/여 있어요 can be considered simliar to -고 있어요, but

= -아/어/여 있
the usage is very different. When you use a verb stem and add
-아/어/여 있어요 after, it means the subject is in a state
어요
where they are still doing that action. This can not be used
with just any verb, but rather with verbs that can describe a
static state related to the verb. Common examples are 서다
(to stand), 앉 다 (to sit), and 눕다 (to lie down). You can
conjugate these to “서 있어요” to mean “they are standing,”
“앉아 있어요” to mean “they are sitting,” and “누워 있다”
to mean “they are lying (on the bed or floor).” In addition, -
아/어/여 있어요 can be used with verbs in passive voice to
describe how an action has been done “to” something and
how that “something” re- mains in a static state. An example
is “깨져 있다,” which is 깨지 다 + -아/어/여 있다, and has the
Imperative (1) meaning of “to be in a broken state” as opposed to “to get
= -(으)세요 broken.”

In order to tell or ask someone to do something in a polite

manner in 존댓말, use -(으)세요 after the verb stem. -(으)세요
comes from -(으) + -시 + -어요, where the suffix -시 is used to
make the speech more honorific. In some contexts, if you add
a question mark at the end or say the same thing as a ques-
tion, it can be a question asking whether or not the person
© 2013 TalkToMeInKorean 9
 “does” something.

Examples
팔다 = to sell
파세요 = Please sell it.
파세요? = Do you sell it?

Imperative (2) If you’d still like to speak in 존댓말 without using -시, but

= -아/어/여요
want to be a little more casual when you tell someone to do
something, you can add -아/어/여요 at the end of a verb stem.
When you use this sentence ending, it is in the same form as
a present tense statement or a “let’s” sentence, therefore you
need to figure out based on the context whether it is a state-
ment or an imperative sentence.

Examples
팔다 = to sell
팔아요 = They sell. / Please sell. / Let’s sell.
Imperative (3)
= -아/어/여
If you are familiar with the form -아/어/여요 used in an im-
perative sentence, changing this 존댓말 sentence into a 반말
sentence is very simple. When you want to speak in 반말, you
can simply drop the -요 at the end of the imperative form.

Examples
팔다 = to sell
Imperative (4) 팔아요 = They sell. / Please sell it.
팔아 = They sell. / Sell it.

Use this form of imperative speech when you are talking to

© 2013 TalkToMeInKorean 10
 a younger person or a group of younger people. It is usually
= -아/어/여라
said in a leading or commanding manner. Since this form has
the nuance of talking “down” to someone, you cannot use
this to someone who is older than you, someone you met for
the first time, or someone you know only through business.
You will often hear this in situations where one person is
lightly warning another person, or when one person is calling
a group of people together to have them do something. This
form rarely has a positive or affectionate feeling associated
with it, so be careful when you use it!

Examples
조심하다 = to be careful
조심하세요 = Please be careful.
조심해 = Be careful!; Watch
Modifier (1) out!
= -(으)ㄴ 조심해라 = You’d better be careful, or else…

Used after the verb stem of an action verb, this suffix changes
a verb into an modifying adjective (in the past tense) to
be used in front of a noun. This is similar to the role of the
English clause “which I found” or “which I bought yesterday,”
which is used after a noun.

Examples
찾다 = to find
찾은 = which I/he/she/they found, which they found
어제 찾은 책 = the book I found yesterday

When you add -(으)ㄴ after a descriptive verb, it has the

same effect, except that the adjective will be in the present
tense instead of the past tense.

© 2013 TalkToMeInKorean 11
 Examples
예쁘다 = to be pretty
예쁜 = which/that is pretty
예쁜 옷 = pretty clothes

Modifier (2) Used after a verb stem, this suffix changes a verb into an
= -는 modifying adjective in the present tense to be used in front of
a noun. This is similar to the role of a clause in English, such
as “which I like” or “that I use everyday,” which is used after
a noun; however, in Korean, it is only used after action verbs.
For descriptive verbs, -(으)ㄴ is used to mark the present
tense.

Examples
가다 = to go
가는 = that I go to
Modifier (3) 매일 가는 곳 = a place that I go to every day

= -(으)ㄹ

This suffix changes the verb to a modifying adjective in the

future tense. This is similar to the role of an English clause
“which will start tomorrow” or “that you will see there,” but
used after a noun. This can be applied in the same way to
both action verbs and descriptive verbs, although it is more
common to be used with action verbs.

Examples
바꾸다 = to change, to switch, to exchange
바꿀 = which I will change
바꿀 부분 = parts that I will change

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Modifier (4) This suffix has a similar role to that of -(으)ㄴ, but -던 marks
= -던 the discontinuation of an action or a past habit or tendency.
-던 can be used to refer to something that you used to do, or
were doing until something caused you to stop doing it. There-
fore, if you hear -던 as opposed to -(으)ㄴ, you can assume
that the action was not finished or continued, where as -(으)ㄴ
would indicate that the action was completed.

Examples
먹다 = to eat
먹은 = which you ate
먹던 = which you were eating (but didn’t finish)
먹은 음식 = food that you ate
Modifier (5)
먹던 음식 = leftover food
= -았/었/였던

This suffix is almost the same as -던, but because there is

one more layer of past tense (pluperfect), due to -았/었/였
it stresses that fact that something happened in the past or
emphasizes the discontinuation of the action or state. In many
contexts, however, when used with action verbs, -았/었/였던 is
considered to be redundant since -던 is a clear enough mean-
ing on its own.

Examples
모르다 = to not know
모르던 = which I didn’t know
몰랐던 = which I didn’t know

With descriptive verbs, adding -았/었/였던 is the most com-

mon way to say “which was …,” but often times, if the entire
sentence is in the past tense, smaller parts do not always have
to be conjugated to past tense.
© 2013 TalkToMeInKorean 13
 Examples
비싸다 = to be expensive
비쌌던 = which was expensive
비싼 옷을 샀어요 = She bought expensive clothes. (비싼 is
in
the present tense form, but the whole sentence is in the past
tense.)

Want By adding -고 싶다 to the end of a verb stem, you are adding

= -고 싶다 the meaning “I want to.” The word 싶다 cannot be used as a

stand-alone verb to mean “to want,” therefore it must always
be used with other verbs. Since 싶다 is also a verb, you can
conjugate it accordingly to change it to other tenses.

Examples
배우다 = to learn
배우고 싶다 = to want to learn
배우고 싶어요 = I want to learn.
Can = -(으)ㄹ
수 있다
수 is a noun that means “possibility,” “idea,” or “method (for
doing something),” and 있다 means “to exist” or “to have.”
By saying that the 수 exists (있다), you mean that you “can
(do something).” Since 수 is a noun, you need to change the
verb
into a modifying form: if the verb stem ends with a consonant,
add -을 수 있다, and if the verb stem ends with a vowel, add
-ㄹ 수 있다 to the end. To say that you cannot do something,
you can change the verb 있어요 to 없다, which means “to not
have” or “to not exist.” You can also use the word 못 in front
of the verb instead of -(으)ㄹ 수 없다.

Examples
뛰다 = to run

© 2013 TalkToMeInKorean 14
 뛸 수 있다 = to be able to run
뛸 수 있어요 = I can run.
뛸 수 없어요 = I can’t
run. 못 뛰어요 = I can’t
run.

Don’t -지 is a suffix which is used to make negative sentences. “-지

않아요” means “it is not,” “-지 못 해요” means “I can’t,” and
(Imperative)
“-지 마세요” means “Don’t do it.” -지 마세요 generally does not
= -지 마세요 work with descriptive verbs, such as 예쁘다 (to be pretty) or 빠
르다 (to be fast); however, there are some descriptive verbs
that do work with -지 마세요, such as 늦다 (to be late) and 아프
다 (to be sick/hurt). “늦지 마세요” means “don’t be late” and
“아프지 마세요” means “don’t get sick” or “feel better soon.”

Since the ending -지 마세요 originally comes from the verb 말

다, which means “to not do (something),” it can also be com-
bined with other types of verb endings, such as -지 말고,
-지 말라고, etc.

Whether or
not (1) Although -지 is used in negative sentences, -은지, -는지, or
= -(으/느)ㄴ지 -ㄴ지 is different from -지. These suffixes are used to mean
“whether or not” and are commonly used with verbs such as
묻다 (= to ask), 모르다 (= to not know), and 알다 (= to know).
With action verbs, you add -는지 after the verb stem. With
descriptive verbs, if the verb stem ends with a consonant, you
need to add -은지, and if the verb stem ends with a vowel, you
need to add -ㄴ지. To make the meaning of “whether or not”
stronger, the opposite version is also added after it as well.
(e.g. 큰지 안 큰지 or 가는지 안 가는지) You can -(으/느)ㄴ지
is often used with 얼마나 to mean “to ask/not know/know
how big/large/much/etc something is.”

© 2013 TalkToMeInKorean 15
 Examples
크다 = to be big
큰지 = whether it is big or not
큰지 안 큰지 = whether it is big or not
얼마나 큰지 = how big it is
얼마나 큰지 알아요? = Do you know how big it is?
큰지 안 큰지 알아요? = Do you know whether it is big or not?

Whether or -았/었/였는지 is almost the same as -(으/느)ㄴ지 except it’s

used to express the past tense. Instead of adding -(으/느)ㄴ지
not (2)
after a verb stem, you add -았, -었, or -였 and then add -는지.
= -았/었/였는지 The usages are almost identical to -(으/느)ㄴ지.

Examples
끝나다 = to be finished
끝났는지 = whether it was finished or not
끝났는지 안 끝났는지 = whether it was finished or not
언제 끝났는지 = when it was finished
언제 끝났는지 알아요? = Do you know when it was finished?
끝났는지 안 끝났는지 알아요? = Do you know whether it was
finished or not?
Whether or
not (3)
= -(으)ㄹ지 This suffix is also used to mean “whether or not,” but refers
to a future action or state. You can use this structure along
with verbs related to speaking, hearing, deciding, notifying,
etc. You can also add interrogative words such 언제 (when),
뭐 (what), 누구 (who), 어디 (where), etc. before the verb.

Examples
가다 = to go
갈지 = whether we will go

© 2013 TalkToMeInKorean 16
 어디에 갈지 = where we will go
언제 갈지 = when we will go

(tell someone) -(ㄴ/는)다고 is used to cite someone or oneself in the present

that = -(ㄴ/는) tense. It can be used when you want to tell someone what a

다고 third person or what you, yourself, said. With action verbs, if

the verb stem ends with a consonant, add -는다고, and if the
verb stem ends with a vowel, add -ㄴ다고. With descriptive
verbs, simply add -다고.

Even when you are talking about something that someone

said in the past, if that person said it in the present tense at
the time, you can use -(ㄴ/는)다고.

Examples
운동하다 = to exercise
운동한다고 말하다 = to say that they exercise
운동한다고 말했어요 = They said that they were exercising.
(tell someone)
운동한다고 말해 주세요 = Tell them that I am exercising.
that (past tense)
= -았/었/였다고
This suffix is basically the same as -(ㄴ/는)다고, but is used for
past tense. If the last vowel of the verb stem is ㅗ or ㅏ, add
-았다고, and if the last vowel of the verb stem is not ㅗ or ㅏ,
add -었다고. However, there is one exception with the verb 하
다: add -였다고 and shorten it to 했다고. This structure is used
in conjunction with verbs related to speaking and hearing.

Examples
늦다 = to be late
늦었어요 = was late
늦었다고 했어요. = They said it was late.

© 2013 TalkToMeInKorean 17
 이미 늦었다고 들었어요. = I heard that it was already (too) late.

(tell someone) -(으)라고 is used when you are citing what someone told

to = -(으)라고 another person to do. It is usually used with verbs related to

speaking, demanding, begging, etc. For example, if you want
to say, “they told me to wait,” you can use the verb
기다리다 (to wait) together with -(으)라고 to form
“기다리라고 했어요.” Other words you can use after -
(으)라고 are 시키다 (to make someone do something),
지시하다 (to command), etc. When you use -(으)라고 with
verbs related to begging or asking for a favor, it is nearly
always necessary to change “verb stem +
-(으)라고” to “verb stem + -아/어/여 달 + -라고.” For
example, “도와달라고 부탁했어요” means “I asked them to
help me,” whereas “들어달라고 부탁했어요” means “I asked
them to listen to me.”
(tell someone)
that (future If the verb stem ends with a consonant, add -으라고, and if the
verb stem ends with a vowel, add -라고.
tense) = -(으)
ㄹ 거라고
-(으)ㄹ 거라고 is used when you are citing what someone else
said about something he/she will do in the future. -(으)ㄹ 거
라고 is rarely used on its own and is almost always followed by
verbs related to speaking, writing, or other types of actions
related to delivering messages. In order to say, “to say that
someone did something,” you can use the verb 말하다, or 하다,
and say “-(으)ㄹ 거라고 말하다” or “-(으)ㄹ 거라고 하다.”

Examples
만나다 = to meet
만날 거라고 = that she will meet
만날 거라고 했어요 = She said that she would meet.

© 2013 TalkToMeInKorean 18
 친구들을 만날 거라고 했어요.
= She said that she would meet friends.
친구들을 만날 거라고 하세요.
= Tell them that she will meet friends.

If the verb stem ends with a consonant, you add -을 거라고

and if the verb stem ends with a vowel, you add -ㄹ 거라고.

© 2013 TalkToMeInKorean 19