500 Basic Korean Verbs. Kyubyong Park
and -아서/-어서/-여서. These types of endings are basically classified according to whether the final vowel in the stem of the verb is ㅏ / ㅗ or not. Here it does not matter whether the stem ends with a consonant or not. If the final vowel in the stem of the verb is a ㅏ / ㅗ, the stem combines with ending -아, and in other cases, -어. Also, remember one important group of verbs: 하다 verbs. In Korean, many verbs end with -하다 such as 공부하다 (to study), 대답하다 (to answer), and 도착하다 (to arrive) (i.e., their stem ends with -하-). When they are conjugated in this way, they combine with -여.
| Examples: | (-아요 /-어요 /-여요 ) | ① 가 + 아요 → 가요 (I go) |
| 오 + 아요 → 와요 (I come) | ||
| 살 + 아요 → 살아요 (I live) | ||
| ② 서 + 어요 → 서요 (I stand) | ||
| ③ 공부하 + 여요 → 공부해요 (I study) | ||
| (-았어요/-었어요/-였어요) | ① 가 + 았어요 → 갔어요 (I went) | |
| 오 + 았어요 → 왔어요 (I came) | ||
| 살 + 았어요 → 살았어요 (I lived) | ||
| ② 서 + 었어요 → 섰어요 (I stood) | ||
| ③ 공부하 + 였어요 → 공부했어요 | ||
| (I studied) |
Maybe you’ve already noticed something that seems a bit strange. 가 + 아요 becomes 가 요, not 가아요. And 오 + 아요 becomes 와요, not 오아요; 서 + 어요 becomes 서요, not 서어요. This is because of vowel contraction. In the course of conjugation, when a vowel meets with a vowel directly, they are usually contracted.
Rule of Vowel Contraction
| Types | Rule | Example |
| A | ㅏ + ㅏ → ㅏ | 가 + 아 → 가 |
| B | ㅓ + ㅓ → ㅓ | 서 + 어 → 서 |
| C | ㅗ + ㅏ → ㅘ | 오 + 아 → 와 |
| D | ㅜ + ㅓ → ㅝ | 주 + 어 → 줘 |
| E | ㅡ + ㅓ → ㅓ | 쓰 + 어 → 써 |
| F | ㅣ + ㅓ → ㅕ | 가지 + 어 → 가져 |
| G | ㅐ + ㅓ → ㅐ | 꺼내 + 어 → 꺼내 |
| H | ㅔ + ㅓ → ㅔ | 세 + 어 → 세 |
| I | ㅚ + ㅓ → ㅙ | 되 + 어 → 돼 |
| J | 하 + ㅕ → 해 | 하 + 여 → 해 |
4. Conjugation of Irregular Verbs
4.1. ㅅ irregular verbs
ㅅ irregular verbs are verbs whose stems end with ㅅ. They lose their ㅅ before endings beginning with a vowel.
Examples:
The following verbs look like ㅅ irregular verbs, but they are not. They follow the regular conjugation rules.
벗다 (to take off ), 웃다 (to laugh), 씻다 (to wash), 빗다 (to comb)
4.2. ㅂ irregular verbs
ㅂ irregular verbs are verbs whose stems end with ㅂ. They lose their ㅂ before endings beginning with a vowel, and then grow a 오 or 우.
Examples:
The following verbs look like ㅂ irregular verbs, but they are not. They follow the regular conjugation rules.
잡다 (to take), 뽑다 (to pull out), 씹다 (to chew), 입다 (to wear)
4.3. ㄷ irregular verbs
ㄷ irregular verbs are verbs whose stems end with ㄷ. The ㄷ becomes a ㄹ before endings beginning with a vowel.
Examples:
The following verbs look like ㄷ irregular verbs, but they are not. They follow the regular conjugation rules.
받다 (to take), 닫다 (to close), 얻다 (to get), 믿다 (to believe)
4.4. 르 irregular verbs
르 irregular verbs are verbs whose stems end with 르. The ㅡ of 르 is dropped before the endings beginning with a vowel, and then the remaining ㄹ is doubled.
Examples:
aesseuda 애쓰다 to try, to endeavor
| Present | Past | Future | ||
| Declarative | I | 애써 aesseo | 애썼어 aesseoseo | 애쓰겠어/애쓸 거야 aesseugeseo/aesseul kkeoya |
| II | 애써요 aesseoyo | 애썼어요 aesseoseoyo | 애쓰겠어요/애쓸 거예요 aesseugeseoyo/aesseul kkeoyeyo | |
| III | 애쓴다 aesseunda | 애썼다 aesseottta | 애쓰겠다/애쓸 거다 aesseugettta/aesseul kkeoda | |
| IV | 애씁니다 aesseumnida | 애썼습니다 aesseotsseumnida |
애쓰겠습니다/애쓸 겁니다 |