Korean Verb Conjugation: A Beginner’s Guide

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Korean verb conjugation can feel dense at first because one predicate can carry tense, politeness and sentence type. Korean verbs, however, do not change for “I”, “you” or “they”. Once you can find the stem, you can reuse the same endings across hundreds of verbs.

This guide teaches the forms a beginner will use most: the 해요체 polite style, the 합니다체 formal style, casual 반말, past forms, the progressive construction, plans and predictions, plus the main irregular classes.

Romanisation appears as a reading aid, but Hangul is the reliable guide. Sound changes mean a spelling-based romanisation does not always show exactly what you will hear.

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Korean Verb Conjugation

A Korean dictionary form ends in 다 (da): 먹다 (meokda, “to eat”), 가다 (gada, “to go”) and 공부하다 (gongbuhada, “to study”). Remove 다 to find the stem:

• 먹다 → 먹-
• 가다 → 가-
• 공부하다 → 공부하-

You then attach an ending. 먹- + -어요 gives 먹어요 (meogeoyo), a polite form that can mean “eat”, “eats” or “am/is/are eating” depending on context. Korean does not mark person or number on the verb.

Korean is often described as subject-object-verb (SOV), and the predicate normally closes an independent clause. But “the verb is always the final word” is too rigid: Korean drops understood subjects and objects, allows some scrambling, and uses connective endings to link clauses. Think “predicate-final by default”, not “every verb must end the whole sentence”.

There is no single official total of conjugations to memorise. Korean has many final and connective endings, and endings can stack. You will get further by learning a small set of productive patterns, then adding new ones when you need them.

Meaning/style	Vowel-final stem	Consonant-final stem
Present casual	-아/-어	-아/-어
Present polite	-아요/-어요	-아요/-어요
Present formal polite	-ㅂ니다	-습니다
Past polite	-았어요/-었어요	-았어요/-었어요
Progressive polite	-고 있어요
Plan/prediction, polite	-ㄹ 거예요	-을 거예요

Korean Formalities: An Important Aspect of Korean Conjugation

Korean speech level is not chosen from age alone. Your relationship, relative status, familiarity, setting and the tone of the conversation all matter. If you are unsure, 해요체, the everyday polite style ending in 요, is a safe beginner default.

• 해체, casual intimate speech: forms such as 먹어 (meogeo). Use it when the relationship permits 반말 (banmal), such as with close friends who have agreed on casual speech. Being younger does not automatically give a stranger permission to use it.
• 해요체, informal polite speech: forms such as 먹어요 (meogeoyo). This is common in everyday polite conversation.
• 합니다체, formal polite speech: forms such as 먹습니다 (meokseumnida). It is common in presentations, announcements, news, interviews, customer-facing language and formal workplace settings.

Speech level and subject honorification are related but separate. The marker -(으)시- honours the subject: 선생님이 가세요 (seonsaengnimi gaseyo, “The teacher goes/is going”). The 요 ending makes the sentence polite to the listener. A sentence can use one, both or neither, depending on whom you are talking about and whom you are talking to.

How to Conjugate Korean Verbs: Present Tense

The same ending system applies to Korean action verbs and descriptive verbs, often called adjectives in learner materials. For example, 크다 (keuda, “to be big”) becomes 커요 (keoyo, “is big”).

English	Dictionary form	Learner romanisation
to go	가다	gada
to eat	먹다	meokda
to live	살다	salda
to come	오다	oda
to drink	마시다	masida
to learn	배우다	baeuda
to pay or submit	내다	naeda
to write; to wear on the head	쓰다	sseuda
to do	하다	hada
to be, copula	이다	ida
to exist; to have	있다	itda

Present Formal Style

For 합니다체 statements, attach -ㅂ니다 after a vowel-final stem and -습니다 after a consonant-final stem:

• 가다 → 갑니다 (gamnida, “go/goes”)
• 먹다 → 먹습니다 (meokseumnida, “eat/eats”)

ㄹ-final stems drop ㄹ before -ㅂ니다: 살다 → 삽니다 (samnida, “live/lives”). For formal polite questions, use -ㅂ니까? or -습니까?: 먹습니까? (meokseumnikka, “Do you eat?”).

The spelling-based romanisation above is only a bridge. In speech, consonants interact: 합니다 is pronounced close to 함니다, and 먹습니다 includes consonant strengthening. Learn the audio with the written form rather than trying to pronounce each romanised letter separately.

Present Polite Style

For 해요체, choose -아요 when the stem’s final vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ. Use -어요 after other vowels. 하다 follows its own high-frequency pattern, 하여요 → 해요.

• 가다 → 가요 (gayo)
• 살다 → 살아요 (sarayo)
• 오다 → 와요 (wayo)
• 먹다 → 먹어요 (meogeoyo)
• 마시다 → 마셔요 (masyeoyo)
• 배우다 → 배워요 (baewoyo)
• 내다 → 내요 (naeyo)
• 쓰다 → 써요 (sseoyo)
• 하다 → 해요 (haeyo)

Several vowel combinations contract in writing: 오 + 아요 → 와요, 마시 + 어요 → 마셔요 and 배우 + 어요 → 배워요. With many ㅡ-final stems, ㅡ drops: 쓰다 → 써요 and 크다 → 커요. For a longer ㅡ-final stem, the preceding vowel guides the choice: 바쁘다 → 바빠요 (bappayo, “is busy”).

Present Casual Style

For these basic 해체 statements, remove 요 from the 해요체 form:

• 먹어요 → 먹어 (meogeo)
• 가요 → 가 (ga)
• 해요 → 해 (hae)

That shortcut works for the forms in this section, but 해체 is a complete speech style, not simply “Korean without 요”. Questions, commands and quoted forms can behave differently.

Korean Irregular Verb Conjugation

An irregular class changes the stem or ending in a way the basic attachment rule does not predict. The change usually appears before a vowel-initial ending, so the dictionary form alone does not tell you the whole story.

Class	Example	Polite form	What changes
ㅂ irregular	돕다 (dopda, help)	도와요 (dowayo)	ㅂ drops and 오 or 우 appears before a vowel-initial ending
ㄷ irregular	듣다 (deutda, listen)	들어요 (deureoyo)	ㄷ changes to ㄹ
ㅅ irregular	짓다 (jitda, build)	지어요 (jieoyo)	ㅅ drops
르 irregular	모르다 (moreuda, not know)	몰라요 (mollayo)	르 becomes ㄹㄹ with 아/어
ㅎ irregular, descriptive verbs	그렇다 (geureota, be so)	그래요 (geuraeyo)	ㅎ drops and the vowel changes
여 irregular	하다 (hada, do)	해요 (haeyo)	하여 contracts to 해

Do not apply a class mechanically to every verb with that final consonant. 받다 → 받아요, 입다 → 입어요, 웃다 → 웃어요, 치르다 → 치러요 and 좋다 → 좋아요 are regular in these forms. Learn one common exception beside each irregular pattern.

Two other changes matter early. ㄹ-final stems lose ㄹ before endings beginning with ㄴ, ㅂ or ㅅ, as in 살다 → 삽니다. And ㅡ often drops before 아/어, as in 쓰다 → 써요, though this is commonly taught as vowel contraction rather than an irregular verb class.

이다 (ida) is the copula, not a helping verb. It attaches to a noun: 학생이에요 (haksaeng-ieyo, “is a student”) after a consonant, and 의사예요 (uisa-yeyo, “is a doctor”) after a vowel. The formal polite form is 입니다 (imnida); the casual form is 이야 (iya) after a consonant and 야 (ya) after a vowel.

How to Conjugate Korean Verbs: Past Tense

The polite past uses -았어요 after ㅏ or ㅗ, -었어요 after other vowels, and -했어요 for 하다. The same contractions you learned in the present carry over:

• 가다 → 갔어요 (gasseoyo, “went”)
• 오다 → 왔어요 (wasseoyo, “came”)
• 먹다 → 먹었어요 (meogeosseoyo, “ate”)
• 마시다 → 마셨어요 (masyeosseoyo, “drank”)
• 쓰다 → 썼어요 (sseosseoyo, “wrote” or “wore on the head”)
• 공부하다 → 공부했어요 (gongbuhaesseoyo, “studied”)

For casual past statements, remove 요: 먹었어 (meogeosseo). For formal polite past statements, attach -습니다 to the past marker: 갔습니다 (gatseumnida) and 먹었습니다 (meogeotseumnida).

How to Use the Korean Progressive Form

-고 있다 presents an action as in progress. Attach -고 to the stem, then conjugate 있다 for speech level and time:

• 먹고 있어 (meokgo isseo): casual
• 먹고 있어요 (meokgo isseoyo): polite
• 먹고 있습니다 (meokgo itseumnida): formal polite
• 먹고 있었어요 (meokgo isseosseoyo): polite past progressive, “was eating”

This is an aspect construction, not a one-to-one replacement for every English “-ing” form. Korean often uses a simple present form where English prefers a progressive, and some state verbs do not normally take -고 있다 with the same meaning.

How to Talk About the Future in Korean

Korean does not have just one future tense. A very useful beginner construction is -(으)ㄹ 거예요, which can express a plan, expectation or prediction. Add -ㄹ 거예요 after a vowel-final stem, -을 거예요 after most consonant-final stems, and – 거예요 after an existing ㄹ:

• 가다 → 갈 거예요 (gal geoyeyo, “will go/is going to go”)
• 먹다 → 먹을 거예요 (meogeul geoyeyo, “will eat/is going to eat”)
• 살다 → 살 거예요 (sal geoyeyo, “will live/is going to live”)

The casual form is -(으)ㄹ 거야: 갈 거야 (gal geoya). The formal polite form is -(으)ㄹ 겁니다: 갈 겁니다 (gal geomnida). Another common ending, -(으)ㄹ게요, often presents the speaker’s decision, intention or promise in response to the situation: 제가 할게요 (jega halgeyo, “I’ll do it”). It is not interchangeable with every prediction.

Practise Korean Verb Conjugation

Pick three regular verbs and one irregular verb. Write each in 해요체, 합니다체, casual present, polite past and -(으)ㄹ 거예요. Then say a complete sentence aloud with each form.

Start with 먹다: 먹어요, 먹습니다, 먹어, 먹었어요, 먹을 거예요. Once that sequence feels natural, swap in 가다, 공부하다 and 듣다. That way, you are practising one reusable system instead of memorising five unrelated words.

If you want a guided way to turn grammar patterns into speaking practice, try The Language Gym.

Next, use our core Korean verbs list to choose vocabulary you actually need, and check unfamiliar forms in the National Institute of Korean Language’s Korean-English Learners’ Dictionary.

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