In the previous lesson, I discussed the informal casual ending and present tense form 아/어/여. In this post, I'll continue talking about the informal casual ending, especially the past tense form!
<Table of Contents>
1. 았/었/였어 Grammar
았/었/였어 came from 았어/었어/였어. It is the past tense ending used in the low forms of speech(반말). You can attach this to a verb stem, an adjective stem, or 이다/아니다. It is the combination of the pre-final ending 았/었/였 and the casual form ending 어.
You can express a question and answer with this 았/었/였어. For a question, please attach a question mark. For a statement, please attach a period. Take a look at how the form didn't change for two situations.
Statement | |
Question |
Another thing that has changed is the intonation! You have to raise the end of the question. Listen and repeat each sentence. Can you tell the difference?
2. Regular Conjugation Rules
If you are familiar with the informal polite past tense ending 았/었/였어요, you have nothing to worry about this rule! You can simply erase 요 at the end to make this informal casual form! I'll show you the rules one by one for you!
1.ㅏ, ㅗ, ㅑ: + 았어
When a vowel is ㅏ, ㅗ, or ㅑ, you will attach 았어.
앉다 to sit | |
얇다 to be thin | |
가다 to go | |
보다 to see |
2. 하다 + 였어: → 했
For the words that end with 하다, you can simply replace 하다 with 했어.
하다 to do | |
공부하다 to study | |
행복하다 to be happy |
3. Others: + 었어
For a verb and adjective that don't follow the rules 1 and 2, you'll use this rule! You have to attach 었어 to the stem.
먹다 to eat | |
멀다 to be far | |
펴다 to open | |
마시다 to drink |
3. Irregular Conjugation Rules
Let's check out the irregular rules. For most of the rule, you have to take a look at the final consonant of the stem.
1. ㄷ 받침: ㄷ → ㄹ + 았/었어
When a stem ends with the final consonant ㄷ, you have to change that ㄷ to ㄹ. Then decide either 았어 or 었어 by using the regular rules you saw above.
걷다 to walk | |
듣다 to listen |
If you want to read a more detailed explanation, please click here: Irregular ㄷ and ㅅ Conjugation Lesson.
2. ㅅ받침: Erase ㅅ + 았/었어
For irregular ㅅ words, you need to erase ㅅ first. Then, decide 아 or 어 depending on the last vowel.
낫다 to heal/to be better | |
짓다 to build/to cook rice |
3. ㅂ받침: Erase ㅂ + 왔/웠어
You'll drop out the final consonant ㅂ first. Then, check the stem's vowel. If it is ㅏ or ㅗ, you'll add 왔어 instead of 았어. Other than that, you'll add 웠어 instead of 었어.
돕다 to help | |
줍다 to pick up |
If you want a detailed explanation about this ㅂ and the following ㅎ conjugation, please click here to read my other free lesson!
4. ㅎ 받침: Erase ㅎ + ㅣ+ㅆ+어
The rule looks complicated, but it is not! First, you'll erase ㅎ. Then, attach an extra vowel ㅣ to the last syllable. To make a past tense, we'll attach the final consonant ㅆ as well. Then, add 어 at the end. You can also understand it as replacing ㅎ with ㅆ while adding extra vowel ㅣ.
동그랗다 to be round | |
뿌옇다 to be foggy |
5. 모음 ㅡ: Erase ㅡ + 았/었어
Take a look at the last syllable of the stem. If a vowel is ㅡ, we have to use this one. First, erase that vowel ㅡ. Then, check the last vowel that exists. If it is is ㅏ or ㅗ, add 았어. If not, add 었어.
There are some words that have no vowels left anymore once you erase ㅡ. Then, what do you have to do? Well, no vowel means it is not ㅏ or ㅗ! (It's a pretty strict consistent rule, isn't it?) So, you'll add 었어 for these words.
쓰다 to write/to be bitter | |
빠르다 to be fast |
If you don't know about this rule well, please make sure to read my related lesson.
4. 이다/아니다 Conjugation
The stem of 이다 is 이. It doesn't have the vowel ㅏ or ㅗ. Then, what ending do we add? We have to add 었어. So, in the end, it will become 이었어. It can be shortened to 였어 and people usually attach this version to a noun that ends with a vowel.
받침 | 이다 | Example |
O | 이었어. | 학생이었어. I was a student. |
X | 였어. | 가수였어. I was a singer. |
The stem of 아니다 is 아니. So we attach 었어 to it as well. So, it becomes 아니었어. To say "was/were not" we will need the subject marker (or topic marker).
받침 | 이/가 아니다 | Example |
O | 이 아니었어. | 학생이 아니었어. I was not a student. |
X | 가 아니었어. | 가수가 아니었어. I was not a singer. |
5. Examples
Let's take a look at examples of 았/었/였어 grammar. You can listen and repeat after them as well!
1
Q: What did you do yesterday? | |
A: I studied Korean. |
어제 means yesterday. To casually ask a friend what he or she did, you can use this informal casual past tense in Korean!
2
Q: What did you do yesterday? | |
A: I rested at home. |
집 is a house or home. It is a place where the action (rest) happened. So, we have to use the place marker 에서. It shows a place where the action takes place. 쉬었어 came from 쉬다 which means to rest.
3
Q: Did you call me? | |
A: Yup. |
전화하다 means to make a phone call. 응 is a casual version of yes in Korean.
4
Q: Did you do your homework? | |
A: No, I forgot. |
깜빡했어 came from 깜빡하다. This word means "to blink" or "to forget something." People use this word to show they don't remember something. People also use the word 까먹다 in casual situations.
6. Wrap-up & Worksheet: Informal Casual Past Tense in Korean
Today, you learned how to say the past tense in the informal casual ending in Korean. Here is the summary for you.
To state or ask a past event, use 았어/었어/였어 grammar.
You have to check the last syllable of the stem.
Check the vowel and final consonant.
Let's solve the conjugation quiz to practice! Please use the following free and printable Korean worksheet.
In the next lesson, I'll show you two ways you can suggest the informal casual style. Thank you for studying with My Korean Lesson! 감사합니다!