In this lesson, we’ll cover everything you need to know about Korean conjugation.

We’ll explain what Korean conjugation is, how to use it, and when to use it.

Let’s go over some common Korean conjugations – and rules related to them – so that you can get kickstarted on creating your own, conjugated sentences!

What is Korean conjugation?

Korean conjugations in Korean grammar determine the meaning, tense, tone, and mood of sentences. It’s important to learn conjugation as you progress in learning Korean.

For example, let’s say you’re going to use the verb “go” in a sentence. The base form is in Korean is:

Base Form: 가다 (gada) – to go

However, you need to change it to the present tense.

Conjugated verb: 저는 가요 (I go)

We’ve added 저는 (“I”) as the subject, and then conjugated 가다 (to go).

However, unlike in any other language, Korean grammar takes conjugation to another level. Korean conjugation isn’t limited to verbs. Other parts of speech such as adjectives can be conjugated.

Are Korean conjugation rules different for verbs and adjectives?

Most of the conjugation rules for Korean verbs also apply to adjectives. Once you learn the Korean verb conjugation rules, it’ll be easy to conjugate adjectives.

How many conjugations are there in Korean?

There are 40 basic verb endings but there are over 400 verb endings when all are combined. They are made up of the different Korean grammar categories such as the different tenses (past tense, present tense, and future tense), honorifics, and voices to name a few.

How do you conjugate verbs in Korean?

Korean verb conjugation is pretty easy to do. All you need to do is to drop the 다 verb endings from the verb stem and then add the appropriate verb endings. The correct verb endings to be used when conjugating verbs are determined by the final vowel after dropping the 다 verb endings from the verb stem.

We’ll get more into the details of conjugations in Korean in awhile.

What’s the common Korean verb conjugation?

The common Korean verb conjugation is the use of 아요 and 어요 which gives the Korean verb its polite and present tense form.

Let’s use the verbs 자다 and 먹다 as an example. These 2 verbs are both in their verb stem form.

As mentioned earlier, conjugations of verbs in Korean happens by dropping the 다 verb endings from the verb stem.

For the verbs 자다 and 먹다, we’ll need to drop the 다 verb endings which will make them:

자다 → 자

먹다 → 먹

If the final vowel after dropping 다 is either ㅏ or ㅗ, you’ll use 아요. But if the final vowel after dropping 다 is ㅓ, ㅣ, or ㅜ, you’ll use 어요. So for the 2 example verbs above, they’ll become

자 → 자요

먹 → 먹어요

 

How important is it to learn Korean Conjugation?

When learning the Korean language particularly the Korean grammar, Korean conjugation is very important to learn. As mentioned earlier, it sets the tense, tone, and meaning of your sentences which are basically all essential elements you’ll need when communicating.

Koreans give emphasis to politeness in everything including their language. Korean conjugation will help you show your respect and politeness towards a person.

Once you get familiar with the different conjugations, it’ll be easy for you to convey and appear to be respectful and polite.

Which part of the verb do you conjugate?

Before learning which part of the Korean verb we need to conjugate, we need to take note that each Korean verb, adverb, and adjective consist of two pieces: a stem and an ending. The first part is the stem and 다 is the ending. These are usually their dictionary form.

When you conjugate any word, you will drop the 다 and replace it with the conjugation. Whenever you conjugate a verb, you only need to think of your tense and tone. The conjugation doesn’t change for the first person, second person, multiple people, etc.

Let’s take a quick look at some common Korean verbs in their basic form or dictionary form!

말하다 (malhada)

to speak

만나다 mannada)

to meet

가르치다 (gareuchida)

to teach

These verbs are made up of a verb stem and a 다 ending.

How to make the conjugation form of the verbs?

In addition to what we already know about Korean conjugation, there are many conjugations that come together with a small puzzle piece that connects the stem to the conjugation in the most natural way. Let’s look at some simple examples of this.

말하다 + -아/어 → 말해요

만나다 + -아/어 → 만나요

닫다 + -아/어 → 닫아요

가르치다 + -아/어 → 가르쳐요

As you can see, the puzzle piece slightly changes the verb stem it joins. Most of the time the verbs play nice with them, so the rules are easy to learn.

How do I combine the verb stem and a conjugation?

Simply, when 아 meets 아, it drops out. And when 아 meets 오, they connect together into one syllable; for example, 보 becomes 봐. When the verb stem ends in a consonant after 아 or 오, 아 becomes its own syllable.

For all other verb stems, you connect them with 어. When the verb stem ends with 이 the 이 + 어 combination cooks up 여. Only the verb 하다 is different and turns into 해.

Some conjugations also require the puzzle piece 으 connected to stems ending with a consonant. (으)면, which we will introduce below, is one such conjugation. We’ll go over how to conjugate irregular verbs at a later time.

 

 

Common Korean conjugations

In this part of the lesson, we’ll be showing the different conjugations for 2 of the commonly used Korean verb 보다 and 만들다.

보다 and 만들다 are the dictionary form of the verbs “to watch or to see” and “to make”. They both are made up of a verb stem and a 다 ending.

Let’s go over how to conjugate these common Korean verbs so that you can immediately see how all this works!

Conjugating 보다 (boda) “to watch/see”

Below is a table with the different conjugations for the verb 보다 (boda) following the different tenses (Past Tense, Present Tense, and Future) and tones.

Korean	Romanization	English	Tone
봐	bwa	I see	Informal
봐요	bwayo	I see (Present Tense)	Polite/Neutral
봅니다	bomnida	I see	Formal
봤어	bwasseo	I saw	Informal
봤어요	bwasseoyo	I saw (Past Tense)	Polite/Neutral
봤습니다	bwasseumnida	I saw	Formal
볼 거야	bol geoya	Will see	Informal
볼 거예요	bol goyeyo	Will see (Future Tense)	Polite/Neutral
볼 겁니다	bol geomnnida	Will see	Formal

The verb 보다 (boda) can also take other forms of conjugation. Let’s take a look at the table below to get familiar with them.

Korean	Romanization	English	Tone
봐라	bwara	See!	Informal Command
보세요	boseyo	See!	Polite Command
보십시오	bosibsio	See!	Formal Command
보자	boja	Let's see	Informal/Neutral
봅시다	bopsida	Let's see	Polite/Formal
보고	bogo	I see, and
보면	bomyeon	When/if I see
볼 수 있어	bol su isseo	Can see	Informal
볼 수 있어요	bol su isseoyo	Can see	Neutral/Polite
볼 수 있습니다	bol su isseumnida	Can see	Formal
볼 수 없어	bol su eopseo	Cannot see	Informal
볼 수 없어요	bol su eopseoyo	Cannot see	Neutral/Polite
볼 수 없습니다	bol su eopseumnida	Cannot see	Formal
봐야 해	bwaya hae	Must see	Informal
봐야 해요	bwaya haeyo	Must see	Neutral/Polite
봐야 합니다	bwaya hamnida	Must see	formal
보고 싶어	bogo sipeo	Want to see	Informal
보고 싶어요	bogo sipeoyo	Want to see	Neutral/Polite
보고 싶습니다	bogo sipseumnida	Want to see	Formal
보고 싶지 않아	bogo sipji ana	Don't want to see	Informal
보고 싶지 않아요	bogo sipji anayo	Don't want to see	Neutral/Polite
보지 않아	boji ana	Not see	Informal
보지 않아요	boji anayo	Not see	Neutral/Polite
보지 않습니다	boji anseumnida	Not see	Formal
보고 있어	bogo isseo	Am/are/is seeing	Informal
보고 있어요	bogo isseoyo	Am/are/is seeing	Neutral/Polite
보고 있습니다	bogo isseumnida	Am/are/is seeing	Formal
볼까	bolkka	Shall we see?	Informal
볼까요	bolkkayo	Shall we see?	Neutral/Polite
봤더라	bwatdeora	Saw it	Informal Fact Declaration
봤던데요	bwatdeondeyo	Saw it	Neutral/Polite Fact Declaration

Conjugating 만들다 (mandeulda) “to make”

Below is a table with the different conjugations for the verb 만들다 (mandeulda) following the different tenses (Past Tense, Present Tense, and Future) and tones.

Korean	Romanization	English	Tone
만들어	mandeureo	I make	Informal
만들어요	mandeureoyo	I make (Present Tense)	Polite/Neutral
만듭니다	mandeumnida	I make	Formal
만들었어	mandeureosseo	I made	Informal
만들었어요	mandeureosseoyo	I made (Past Tense)	Polite/Neutral
만들었습니다	mandeureosseumnida	I made	Formal
만들 거야	mandeul geoya	Will make	Informal
만들 거예요	mandeul goyeyo	Will make (Future Tense)	Polite/Neutral
만들 겁니다	mandeul geomnnida	Will make	Formal

The verb 만들다 (mandeulda) can also take other forms of conjugation. Let’s take a look at the table below to get familiar with them.

Korean	Romanization	English	Tone
만들어라	mandeureora	Make!	Informal Command
만드세요	mandeuseyo	Make!	polite command
만드십시오	mandeusibsio	Make!	formal command
만들자	mandeulja	Let's make	Informal/Neutral
만듭시다	mandeupsida	Let's make	Polite/Formal
만들고	mandeulgo	I make, and
만들면	mandeulmyeon	When/if I make
만들 수 있어	mandeul su isseo	Can make	Informal
만들 수 있어요	mandeul su isseoyo	Can make	Neutral/Polite
만들 수 있습니다	mandeul su isseumnida	Can make	Formal
만들 수 없어	mandeul su eopseo	Cannot make	Informal
만들 수 없어요	mandeul su eopseoyo	Cannot make	Neutral/Polite
만들 수 없습니다	mandeul su eopseumnida	Cannot make	Formal
만들어야 해	mandeureoya hae	Must make	Informal
만들어야 해요	mandeureoya haeyo	Must make	Neutral/Polite
만들어야 합니다	mandeureoya hamnida	Must make	Formal
만들고 싶어	mandeulgo sipeo	Want to make	Informal
만들고 싶어요	mandeulgo sipeoyo	Want to make	Neutral/Polite
만들고 싶습니다	mandeulgo sipseumnida	Want to make	Formal
만들고 싶지 않아	mandeulgo sipji ana	Don't want to make	Informal
만들고 싶지 않아요	mandeulgo sipji anayo	Don't want to make	Neutral/Polite
만들지 않아	mandeulji ana	Not make	Informal
만들지 않아요	mandeulji anayo	Not make	Neutral/Polite
만들지 않습니다	mandeulji anseumnida	Not make	Formal
만들고 있어	mandeulgo isseo	Am/are/is making	Informal
만들고 있어요	mandeulgo isseoyo	Am/are/is making	Neutral/Polite
만들고 있습니다	mandeulgo isseumnida	Am/are/is making	Formal
만들까	mandeulkka	Shall we make?	Informal
만들까요	mandeulkkayo	Shall we make?	Neutral/Polite
만들었더라	mandeureotdeora	Made it	Informal Fact Declaration
만들었던데요	mandeureotdeondeyo	Made it	Neutral/Polite Fact Declaration

Success! You are now ready to start putting Korean conjugations to use in your Korean studies.

There are a lot of useful conjugations in here, so make sure you refer to this list often. In addition to these conjugations, there are many more you’ll later get to learn. You can also learn about Korean particles and how they fit into Korean grammar in general.

What Korean conjugation do you think is most useful? Let us know in the comments below!

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