Does Korean conjugate verbs for I, you, he or she?

No. A Korean verb form stays the same whoever the subject is, so 가요 means "I go", "you go" and "she goes", and context tells you who. Compared with most European languages that's a real saving, since you learn one form per tense instead of six.

What is the 요 at the end of Korean verbs?

요 is what makes a form polite. 가요, 먹어요 and 해요 are the everyday polite forms you'll use with most people. The same form handles statements, questions and suggestions, and your voice decides which. Korean has more formal and more casual styles, but this one gets a beginner through nearly every situation.

What about irregular Korean verbs?

Some verbs change their stem in predictable ways, in groups named after the letter that changes: ㅂ, ㄷ, ㅅ, 르 and ㅎ. They take the same 아/어요 ending once the stem has changed. Get the regular pattern running without thought first, then go to the irregular verbs lesson, which has a full list for each pattern.

Grammar / Level 1 / Lesson 6

The 아/어 base and the present

By Daniel Buckley · 11 minute read · TOPIK 1

Vocabulary

앉다 - to sit
받다 - to receive
입다 - to wear
살다 - to live
주다 - to give
배우다 - to learn
기다리다 - to wait
쉬다 - to rest
쓰다 - to write
바쁘다 - to be busy

Five lessons in, you've read 먹어요, 가요, 커요 and 좋아해요 dozens of times without being told where they come from. This is the 해요 form, named after 하다's version of it. Korean speakers use it all day with anyone they don't know well, and one rule builds nearly all of it.

Take the stem, add 아 or 어, then add 요. The first two steps give you the 아/어 base, and it's worth getting right now, because a lot of later grammar is built on it.

아요 or 어요

Take off 다 and look at the last vowel of the stem. If it's ㅏ or ㅗ, add 아요. If it's anything else, add 어요. Only the last syllable counts, however long the stem is.

Choosing the ending

Last vowel ㅏ or ㅗ: 아요.앉다 → 앉아요좋다 → 좋아요살다 → 살아요
Any other vowel: 어요.먹다 → 먹어요읽다 → 읽어요입다 → 입어요

This is vowel harmony: ㅏ and ㅗ are the "bright" vowels, and they pull the bright ending. With practice, 앉어요 starts to sound wrong.

의자에 앉아요.
(I) sit on chair.
날씨가 좋아요.
Weather is good.
서울에 살아요.
(I) live in Seoul.
밥을 먹어요.
(I) eat rice.
책을 읽어요.
(I) read book.
돈이 없어요.
Money doesn't exist.

선물을 받___.
I receive a present.
옷을 입___.
I put on clothes.
사람이 많___.
There are a lot of people.
친구가 있___.
I have a friend.

When the stem ends in a vowel

The rule stays the same, but two vowels side by side usually don't stay separate. 가 + 아요 doesn't give 가아요. The vowels fold into one, and the pattern depends on the vowel.

How vowels merge

ㅏ + 아 stays ㅏ. ㅓ + 어 stays ㅓ.가다 → 가요서다 → 서요
ㅗ + 아 becomes ㅘ.오다 → 와요보다 → 봐요
ㅜ + 어 becomes ㅝ.주다 → 줘요배우다 → 배워요
ㅣ + 어 becomes ㅕ.마시다 → 마셔요기다리다 → 기다려요
ㅐ and ㅔ absorb the 어.보내다 → 보내요

학교에 가요.
(I) go to school.
친구가 와요.
Friend comes.
영화를 봐요.
(I) watch movie.
한국어를 배워요.
(I) learn Korean.
물을 마셔요.
(I) drink water.

※ ㅟ doesn't merge: 쉬다 becomes 쉬어요. You'll also see unmerged spellings such as 보아요 and 주어요 in writing. They're correct, but merged forms are what people say.

Pick a verb and watch the form appear. Stay on Present for now, because Past is lesson 7.

가다가·다

가요

to go

For a word that isn't in that list, the Korean verb conjugator takes any dictionary form, and each of the 2,600 verbs in the course has its own page.

Listen and type

1 / 3

Play it as often as you like.

consonants · left hand vowels · right hand

하다 becomes 해요

The most common verb in Korean ignores all of this. 하다 becomes 해요, and every word ending in 하다 goes with it, verbs and adjectives alike. There's nothing to work out, so learn this one on its own.

하다

하다 is always 해요.하다 → 해요공부하다 → 공부해요좋아하다 → 좋아해요피곤하다 → 피곤해요

뭐 해요?
What (do you) do?
도서관에서 공부해요.
(I) study at library.
저는 음악을 좋아해요.
I like music.

Stems ending in ㅡ

A stem ending in ㅡ loses it. The vowel before it then picks the ending, by the same ㅏ or ㅗ rule. If the stem has only one syllable, there's no vowel before it, and it takes 어요.

Dropping ㅡ

One syllable: 어요.크다 → 커요쓰다 → 써요
ㅏ or ㅗ before it: 아요.바쁘다 → 바빠요아프다 → 아파요
Any other vowel before it: 어요.예쁘다 → 예뻐요

집이 커요.
House is big.
편지를 써요.
(I) write letter.
오늘은 바빠요.
As for today, (I) am busy.
머리가 아파요.
Head hurts.

The base

Take 요 off any of these forms and you have the 아/어 base: 먹어, 가, 와, 마셔, 해, 커. Later endings attach to it, so everything you've worked out here carries over.

The 아/어 base

The present form minus 요.먹어요 → 먹어해요 → 해
Later grammar starts from it. Lesson 23 adds 서.먹어 → 먹어서해 → 해서

Five groups of verbs change their stem first, and lesson 9 covers them. 듣다 becomes 들어요, 춥다 becomes 추워요 and 모르다 becomes 몰라요, but the ending they take is still 아요 or 어요. Once this pattern runs without thinking, they're a small step.

What the form covers

요 is what makes this polite, and it's the style that gets a beginner through nearly every situation. Korean has more formal and more casual styles, which lesson 8 explains.

The form doesn't change for person or number. 가요 is "I go", "you go", "she goes" and "they go", so you learn one form per tense and no table. It also covers both "I eat" and "I'm eating", and with a time word it covers the near future.

It doesn't change for type of sentence either. Statement, question and suggestion all use the same form, and your voice and the context decide which you mean.

저는 학교에 가요.
I go to school.
동생이 학교에 가요.
Younger sibling goes to school.
내일 학교에 가요.
Tomorrow (I) go to school.
밥을 먹어요?
(You) eat rice?
같이 먹어요.
Together (let's) eat.

Common mistakes

가아요.
가요.
When a stem ends in a vowel, the ending merges into it.
공부하어요.
공부해요.
하다 is always 해요, and so is every word ending in 하다.
음악을 듣어요.
음악을 들어요.
듣다 is irregular, and so is 춥다, which gives 추워요. Lesson 9 has every pattern.

Check yourself

Quick check

1 / 6

Type the 해요 form of 먹다.

consonants · left hand vowels · right hand

The stem's vowel is ㅓ.

Summary

The present

Last vowel ㅏ or ㅗ: 아요. Anything else: 어요.앉아요먹어요
Stems ending in a vowel merge.가다 → 가요오다 → 와요주다 → 줘요마시다 → 마셔요보내다 → 보내요
하다 is always 해요.공부해요
ㅡ drops, and the vowel before it decides.크다 → 커요바쁘다 → 바빠요
Minus 요, you have the 아/어 base.먹어, 가, 와, 해

Now you can say

한국어를 배워요.
(I) learn Korean.
서울에 살아요.
(I) live in Seoul.
같이 먹어요.
Together (let's) eat.

The past and the negative: 았/었어요, and 안 and 못.

Frequently asked questions

Does Korean conjugate verbs for I, you, he or she?: No. A Korean verb form stays the same whoever the subject is, so 가요 means "I go", "you go" and "she goes", and context tells you who. Compared with most European languages that's a real saving, since you learn one form per tense instead of six.
What is the 요 at the end of Korean verbs?: 요 is what makes a form polite. 가요, 먹어요 and 해요 are the everyday polite forms you'll use with most people. The same form handles statements, questions and suggestions, and your voice decides which. Korean has more formal and more casual styles, but this one gets a beginner through nearly every situation.
What about irregular Korean verbs?: Some verbs change their stem in predictable ways, in groups named after the letter that changes: ㅂ, ㄷ, ㅅ, 르 and ㅎ. They take the same 아/어요 ending once the stem has changed. Get the regular pattern running without thought first, then go to the irregular verbs lesson, which has a full list for each pattern.