안녕하세요? Today, I'll teach you the most important and basic Korean grammar, the preset tense form! This present tense is the most basic and can mean a lot of things. So wherever you learn Korean, it's the first basic ending you'll learn. I'll guide you one by one on the basics, so please follow me!
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1. Informal Present Tense
The sentence-ending 아요/어요/여요 [ah-yo/eo-yo/yeo-yo] is used to express the present tense in a polite yet friendly manner. This ending is suitable for most daily and informal conversations. In Korean grammar lessons, the verb endings 아요/어요/여요 can be abbreviated as 아/어/여요 to make them shorter.
As it is a polite ending, it can be used when you talk to older people. You can also use it for those with a higher social status than you. For example, you can use this ending for your parents, boss, teacher, or even stranger. Of course, you can use it for your co-workers.
The "informal" means it can be used in daily conversations. The opposite is a formal ending. The formal ending is usually used in more formal situations like public speech, news, or presentation.
아/어/여요 is called the present tense ending, but it actually has many uses. You can express the simple present tense and present progressive tense. So when you say, for example, "먹어요." that can be both "I eat," or "I am eating," depending on context.
It can be also used to talk about future events when the context is provided. But that is a story for another time. In this lesson, let's focus on the uses of the simple/progressive present tense.
2. Sentence Types
The Korean sentence ending, 아/어/여요, can be used for all four types of sentences: statements, questions, commands, and propositive sentences. However, it is mostly used for statements and questions. Just like in English, you can indicate a statement by adding a period(.) and a question by adding a question mark(?). If you want to listen to the sentences, please click on the play buttons.
Statement | I eat. / I'm eating. | |
Command | Eat. | |
Propositive | Let's eat. | |
Question | Do you eat? / Are you eating? |
As you can see in the chart above, all four sentence types use the same spelling. To differentiate between a statement, command, or propositional sentence, you will need to consider the context. However, it is easy to distinguish between a sentence with a period and a sentence with a question mark because they have different intonations.
The intonations for sentences with a period slightly fall at the end. But the intonation of the question rises at the end. Listen to them again and compare! Can you hear the difference?
3. Regular Conjugation Rules
Changing the basic form of verbs or adjectives is called conjugation. All Korean basic verb ends with the syllable "다" and the stem is the part in front of the 다. Let's see how we can conjugate the verbs into the informal present tense forms; 아/어/여요. The key to conjugating the present tense is to see the last syllable of a stem.
There are a lot of rules, but don't worry! If you follow me step-by-step carefully, it should not be too hard! Once you understand the rules, I recommend memorizing both basic and conjugated forms for each verb as chunks.
Rule 1: ㅏ, ㅗ verbs + 아요
To start, you have to look at the last syllable of the stem. Check the vowel of the syllable. If the vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ, you will use this rule and add 아요 to the stem. Here are some examples with ㅏ first.
살다 to live
Remove "다", because all verbs end with 다. It is not important. → 살 → 살 is the only (and the last) syllable. If you look at 살, the vowel of it is ㅏ. So we will add 아요 to it. → 살아요. (I) live. / (I) am living.
Meaning | Basic Form | Present Tense Form |
to live |
앉다 to sit
Erase 다 and leave only the stem. → 앉 → If you look at 앉, the vowel of it is ㅏ. Let's add 아요. → 앉아요. (I) sit. / (I) am sitting.
to sit |
가다 to go
(Okay, I can skip talking about 다, right?) → The stem is 가. → What is the last vowel? ㅏ. So, let's add 아요. → 가아요 → Now, here is the tricky part. Since there is no 받침(final consonant), the two vowels stick to each other. And since 가 and 아 have the same vowels(ㅏ) they just become one. → 가요. (I) go. / (I) am going.
to go |
For words with 받침(final consonants), the 받침 works as a separator to prevent the vowels from sticking to each other. When there is no 받침, the vowels tend to combine and be compound vowels. Here, take a look at other examples with ㅗ.
오다 to come
오 → The vowel of it is ㅗ. We will need to add 아요 to it. → 오아요 → There is no final consonant! The vowels will stick and make the compound vowel ㅘ. → 와요. (The compound vowel ㅘ came from the basic vowels ㅗ and ㅏ.)
to come |
보다 to see
보 → The vowel of 보 is ㅗ so we will add 아요 to it. → 보아요 → ㅗ and ㅏ become the compound vowel ㅘ. → 봐요.
to see |
Rule 2: 하다 verbs + 여요 → 해요
하다 [ha-da] means "do". Some Korean nouns (especially with action involved) can become a verb by adding 하다. For example, 숙제 [suk-je] is a noun meaning "homework". 숙제하다[suk-je-ha-da] means "do homework." The conjugation rule for 하다 is like below.
하다 to do
하 → We add 여요. → 하여요 → However, over time, this 하여요 changed form and shortened. → 해요.
to do |
You can still use 하여요, however, it gives a bit old-fashioned vibe. 해요 is the most common way to say these days. For the verbs that end with 하다, I call them 하다 verbs. The conjugation rule for 하다 verbs is easy. You can simply add 해요 to a noun instead of 하다.
숙제하다 to do homework
숙제하 → 숙제하여요 → 숙제해요.
to do homework |
공부하다 to study
Change 하다 to 해요. → 공부해요.
to study |
수영하다 to swim
하다 verbs are easy to conjugate! → 수영해요.
to swim |
By the examples above, you can even learn the nouns! 공부 is a noun meaning "study." 수영 is also a noun, meaning "swim."
Rule 3: Other verbs + 어요
The vowels that do not follow rules 1 and 2 above will follow this rule number 3. So, for verbs that don't have ㅏ or ㅗ as the last vowels or end with 하다, you will add 어요. Here are the examples with the final consonant.
먹다 to eat
먹 → The vowel is "ㅓ." It does not follow the rule 1. It also does not end with 하다. So, let's add 어요 to the stem. → 먹어요.
to eat |
있다 to stay
있 → The vowel is "ㅣ". So, attach 어요 to the stem. → 있어요.
to stay |
The final consonant made conjugating 먹다 and 있다 pretty easy. What will happen when there is no final consonant? Take a look!
서다 to stand
서 → 서어요 → Nothing can prevent their sticking! Also, 서 and 어 have the same vowel! Let's erase 어. → 서요.
to stand |
주다 to give
주 → 주어요 → No final consonant! Vowels are combining! ㅜ and ㅓ combine and make the compound vowelㅝ [wo]. → 줘요.
to give |
One more interesting change happens when ㅣ(ee or i) and 어요 meet. They will become "ㅕ" Like the examples below.
그리다 to draw/paint
그리 → 그리어요 → 리 and 어 combine and become 려. → 그려요.
to draw |
마시다 to drink
마시 → 마시어요 → 시 and 어 combines and become 셔. → 마셔요.
to drink |
4. Examples
Informal present tense can be used for both simple present tense and progressive present tense. You have to guess by context. You'll get to learn how to add context more in the future, but for now, let's practice with the basic conjugated words. By the way, you'll see 네 and 아니요. 네 means yes and 아니요 is no in Korean.
1
Q: 먹어요? Are you eating? / Do you eat?
A: 네. Yes.
2
Q: 가요? Are you going? / Do you go?
A: 네, 가요. Yes, I am going. / Yes, I go.
Instead of simply just saying 네, you can repeat the verb part in the answer. It is similar to English. We can say "Yes, I do," or "Yes, I am," instead of just "Yes."
3
Q: 마셔요? Are you drinking? / Do you drink?
A: 아니요. No.
4
A: (As seeing B is at the desk.) 공부해요? Are you studying?
B: 아니요, 숙제해요. No, I'm doing my homework.
5. Wrap-up & Free Worksheets
아요/어요/여요 is attached to a verb stem and turns that into a present tense form.
It can mean the simple present or progressive present tense depending on the context.
For a regular conjugation, you have to pay attention to the last vowel of the stem.
Please download the free printable PDF worksheets to practice more. The worksheets have the answer sheets in them. So you can check if your writing is correct! You can also download the organizer. As you go through the lessons, you can continue adding new words!
Conjugation Practice
Conjugation Quiz
Verb Organizer
You've learned the meaning of the informal present tense and the three regular conjugation rules. In the next lesson, you will learn about the irregular conjugation rules. See you at the next lesson!
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