In this lesson, you will learn how to say past-tense adjectives in Korean. They will be similar to past tense verb rules, so if you want to review them, please click here to read the lesson. If you want to learn about Korean adjectives and the present tense form, please click here.
As you go through the lesson with me, please utilize the adjective organizer. It's a free and printable PDF worksheet. Print the worksheet and fill up the blanks with a pencil!
<Table of Contents>
1. What Is Informal Past Tense?
Just like the verbs "살다 (to live) - 살았어요 (lived)", we can conjugate Korean adjectives into past tense. Especially, you will see the informal past tense in this lesson.
Informal means you can use it in conversation. It is polite and somewhat friendly, so good to use in daily life.
You can use this ending for people who are older than you or who hold higher social status than you like teachers, bosses, or parents. You can even use this to people you do not know well since it is a polite version. You can use it for colleges in a work environment. Let's learn how we can conjugate Korean adjectives into the past tense forms!
2. Past Tense Regular Conjugation Rules
Remember the present tense forms? We added 아요/어요/여요 (shortened to 아/어/여요) for the present tense.
Today you'll add 았어요/었어요/였어요 (shortened to 았/었/였어요) to make the past tense. If you compare their looks, you can tell ㅆ is added at the final consonant position. All informal past tense will have this final consonant ㅆ. Make sure not to write ㅅ!
1) ㅏ, ㅗ , ㅑ adjectives + 았어요
Check the stem, the part without 다. Confirm the last syllable of the stem. If the vowel of the syllable is ㅏ, ㅗ, or ㅑ, you will need to add 았어요. Here, I will show you the steps to conjugate!
작다 to be small
The stem is 작. → If you look at the last (and only) syllable, it has the vowel ㅏ so we have to add 았어요 to make the past tense. → 작았어요. (was/were) small
The Basic Form | The Past Tense Form |
많다 to be a lot /many/much
많 → Check the vowel. It's "ㅏ". So we need 았어요.. → 많았어요. (was/were) a lot
얇다 to be thin
얇 → The vowel is 야. We need 았어요. → 얇았어요 (was/were) thin
2) 하다 adjectives: +였어요 → 했어요
Even though 하다 means "do" in Korean, it can also appear in adjectives, too. In this case, they no longer have the meaning of "do."
건강하다 to be healthy
The stem is 건강하. → The important part is the last syllable of the stem. → 하 needs 였어요 as the ending. → 건강하였어요. → However, in modern Korean, 하였어요 became 했어요. → 건강했어요.
So, changing 하다 adjectives is very easy! You can simply replace 하다 with 했어요. Here is one more example for you.
뚱뚱하다 to be fat → 뚱뚱했어요.
3) Others: +었어요
The adjectives that do not follow rules 1 or 2 will follow the rule number 3. So, for adjectives that don't have ㅏ or ㅗ as the last vowels or end with 하다, you will add 었어요.
적다 to be few/little
적 → The vowel is "ㅓ." It is not ㅏ or ㅗ. It is not 하다 adjective. So let's add 었어요. → 적었어요.
느리다 to be slow
The stem is 느리. → 느리+었어요 → 리 and 었 combine and become 렸. → 느렸어요.
3. Past Tense Irregular Conjugation Rules
You are going to see some irregular past-tense rules. The reason why they are irregular is not only they don't follow regular rules but also not all words follow the irregular words!
The final consonants are the key and you will see the special ㅅ, ㅂ, and ㅎ here. But even though they have ㅎ or ㅂ, some words do not follow these "irregular" rules. Those words will be conjugated with regular rules. I will show you those exceptions as well!
1) ㅅ adjectives: Erase ㅅ + 았어요
The only ㅅ adjective in Korean is 낫다.
낫다 to be better
낫 → The final consonant is ㅅ. Just like a verb, we erase ㅅ. → 나 → It has ㅏ as a vowel so we need 았어요 not 었어요 or 였어요! → 나았어요.
2) ㅎ adjectives: Erase ㅎ + ㅣ + ㅆ어요
When you see ㅎ at the final consonant position in verbs, you don't have to worry. You can ignore that ㅎ and just conjugate the verb with a regular rule.
But not with adjectives! When you see ㅎ, you have to use the irregular rule. (BUT then again, not all ㅎ adjectives follow this irregular rule. Hence the name is irregular!)
For irregular ㅎ adjectives, you'll erase ㅎ and add the extra vowel ㅣ. Then add ㅆ어요. The ㅆ goes where ㅎ was before. So, it's the new final consonant. In the end, it looks like you attached 앴어요 or 엤어요 or 얬어요 or 옜어요.
파랗다 to be blue
The stem is 파랗. → The important part is the last syllable 랗. → Erase ㅎ first. → 파라 → Add ㅣ to 라 which makes 파래 → Now add ㅆ어요. The ㅆ goes to the final consonant position! → 파랬어요.
노랗다 to be yellow
노랗 → Erase ㅎ. → 노라 → Add ㅣ and make 노래. Then add ㅆ어요. → 노랬어요.
뿌옇다 [bbu-yeo-ta] to be foggy
뿌옇 → ㅎ will be erased. → 뿌여 → Now add ㅣ and make 뿌예. → Then add ㅆ어요. → 뿌옜어요.
⚐ Watch out!
좋다(to be good) follows the regular rule, even though it is an adjective. This is only one ㅎ adjective that follows the regular rule.
좋다 [jo-ta] to be good
좋 → It is the only adjective with ㅎ that follows the regular rule. So you can add 았어요 without erasing ㅎ. → 좋았어요.
3) ㅂ adjectives: Erase ㅂ add 왔어요/웠어요
There are many adjectives with ㅂ. Just like irregular ㅂ verbs, ㅂ adjectives have their own special forms.
First, you have to erase ㅂ. Then, you have to check its last vowel. If it is ㅏ or ㅗ, you have to add 왔어요 (not 았어요). If it is not ㅏ or ㅗ, please add 웠어요 (not 었어요).
Usual past tense ending | Irregular ㅂ words | |
Vowel ㅏ or ㅗ | 았어요 | 왔어요 |
Other vowels | 었어요 | 웠어요 |
덥다 to be hot
덥 → We have to erase the final consonant ㅂ first! → 더 →The vowel is ㅓ. So, we will add 웠어요. (not 었어요). → 더웠어요.
춥다 to be cold
춥 → Erase ㅂ. → 추 →The vowel is ㅜ. It's not ㅏ or ㅗ, so we use the conjugation rule number 3, but with the special form 웠어요! → 추웠어요.
곱다 to be pretty
곱 → We don't need ㅂ! → 고 →The vowel is ㅗ. If the vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ we need to add 왔어요. → 고왔어요.
☆ Even though many of the ㅂ follow the 왔어요/웠어요 rules, 좁다 will use the regular conjugation rule. It is good to remember these special words separately.
좁다 to be narrow
The stem is 좁. → It follows the regular rule. That means we don't have to erase ㅂ and since the vowel is ㅗ, you will add 았어요. → 좁았어요.
4) Others
Those are other irregular rules than ㅅ, ㅂ, and ㅎ. For now, you can try to memorize them as they are since these rules are a bit more complicated! However, if you want to know the detailed rules, please read my other post! Post: Irregular conjugation ㅡ and 르
크다 to be big → 컸어요.
빠르다 to be quick/fast → 빨랐어요.
예쁘다 to be pretty → 예뻤어요.
곱다 is also pretty, but it is more old-fashioned way. Usually, people use 예쁘다.
4. Examples
1
There were a lot of people. |
사람 means person/people. 많다 means a lot/many/much and it follows the regular rule number 1. 사람 is the subject of the sentence, so I used the subject marker 이.
2
This book was better. |
책 is a book. 이, in this case, is the pointing word that means "this". 이 책 means this book. Once again the subject marker 이 is used with an adjective to describe the subject.
3
Q: Was it hot yesterday? | |
A: No, it was cold. |
춥다 and 덥다 are used to talk about air temperatures hot and cold. Both sentences had a hidden word 날씨 which means weather.
4
Jen was fast. | |
Jinsu was slow. |
We can also use the topic marker 은/는 to describe as well. Especially when you compare people or things, it is natural to use the topic marker instead of the subject marker. It is because 은/는 has a contrasting vibe.
It is a bit advanced grammar. However, if you want to learn more about this, please click here to check out the topic marker Vs. subject marker.
5. Wrap-up & Worksheet: Korean adjectives in the past tense
Good job! Let's review the lesson! Here is the summary for you.
Korean adjectives can come at the end of a sentence to say "be 00."
Adjectives have the basic forms that end with "다". You must conjugate them.
Conjugation rules are similar to verb rules. Depending on their last vowels, you had to add 았어요 or 었어요 or 였어요. For irregular final consonants like ㅅ, ㅎ, ㅂ, you have to take care of the final consonant first.
Once you understand the rules, try to remember a basic form and its conjugated form as a set.
Now, lets solve the quiz. Download the free, printable PDF worksheet to use your Korean studying! Actually write down using your pencil and check the answers as well! Writing helps you to memorize things better! 😉
You've learned the basic verb and adjectives! In the next lesson, I'll show you how to say the negative versions of these words! Thank you for studying with My Korean Lesson! 감사합니다! 🤗
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