Lesson Transcript

Hi, everyone! Welcome to the Ask K-Jin. My name is K-Jin. 안녕하세요, K-Jin입니다. (An-nyeong-ha-se-yo, ke-i-jin-im-ni-da.) In this series, I'll answer your Korean questions. Today I picked questions related to Korean tenses.
Here's the first question. How can I conjugate the present tense in Korean? So here's the chart for the present tense in Korean.
Please save this and refer to it whenever you want to make present tense in Korean.
This looks complicated, right? But don't worry, we'll look at one by one together.
So let's look at the first one. The last vowel of the stem is ㅏ or ㅗ (a or o), then you use ㅏ, ㅛ (a, yo) at the end. Okay, so the second one.
The last vowel of the stem is not ㅏ or ㅗ (a or o), then you use ㅓ, ㅛ (eo, yo), and if the verb or adjective ends in 하다 (hada), then you always use 해요 (haeyo) at the end. What does that mean? What does it mean? So I prepared some example verb and adjective so we can practice together. So here we go.
살다 (salda) to live, to live in Korea, to live in the States.
To be good, so the quality is good, or good idea.
To look, to watch, 보다 (boda). And 먹다 (meokda), 울다 (ulda), 주다 (juda).
I'm preparing lots of verbs and adjectives because I want to practice a lot with you today.
To eat, 울다 (ulda), to cry, 주다 (juda), to give. And 사랑하다 (saranghada), 행복하다 (haengbokhada), 공부하다 (gongbuhada).
So 사랑하다 (saranghada), to love. 행복하다 (haengbokhada), to be happy. 공부하다 (gongbuhada), to study.
So here are some verbs to practice, verb and adjective for us to practice together.
So let's look at the first one. 살다 (salda), so how can I use this dictionary form of the verb and make the present tense. So 짠 (jjan), I have this word. 살다 (salda), to live. What is the stem here? Because as you can see this chart, I need to get the stem first and put 아요 (ayo) or 어요 (eoyo), 해요 (haeyo).
Stem, I need to get the stem. What is the stem? Stem is, 짠짠짠짠 (jjanjjanjjanjjan), 살 (sal), 살 (sal), 살 (sal) is the stem.
So it's 살다 (salda), right? Always Korean verb and adjective ends with 다 (da) at the end. 다 (da), 다 (da).
But 다 (da) is useless. Remove 다 (da). And you only have 살 (sal), right? This is the stem. So the verb or adjective without 다 (da) is the stem. So 살 (sal). Let's look at 살 (sal) now. So does it include 아 (a) or 오 (o)? 아 (a) or 오 (o)? Let's see. 살 (sal), 살 (sal). Do you see this part? You have the 아 (a) sound, right? It does include the 아 (a) sound. The last vowel of the stem includes 아 (a) sound. So you need to use 아요 (ayo). 아요 (ayo). So it means, I live, you live, she lives, he lives, we live, they live. There is no subject so I don't know but it just means someone lives. 살아요 (salayo), 살아요 (salayo). This is the present tense.
And this is a very standard way to make the present tense in Korean. We do have the formal ways to make the present tense and casual way to make the present tense but let's look at the most common one which is this 요 (yo) form. 살아요 (salayo), 살아요 (salayo). Let's try the next one. 좋다 (johta), 좋다 (johta).
Okay so do you remember the meaning? It means to be good. So 좋다 (johta). What's the stem here? Now you know what is a stem, right? Remove 다 (da) at the end. The stem is 조 (jo). Just 조 (jo). And the last vowel of the stem is 아 (a) or 오 (o). Let's look at it. Do you see this 오 (o)? 오 (o)? Yes, yes. It does include 오 sound. So here you need to use 아요. 좋아요 (joayo). 좋아요 means I like it, I like it or it's good, it's good or I like it. It depends on the context. So 좋아요 (joayo), 좋아요. Let's look at another verb which is 보다 (boda). 보다. Okay so 보다 means to look or to watch, to see. 보다 (boda). So what is a stem? Stem is 보 (bo) without 다. 보 is a stem. Let's see. 보 includes 오 (o) sound. It does include the 오 (o) sound.
So I'm using 아요 (ayo) at the end. 보아요 (boayo), 보아요. It means I see, he sees, she sees, you see, we see, they see. There's no subject so I don't know but it just means someone sees. 보아요 (boayo), 보아요.
Okay so are you okay with this conjugation? Okay then let's look at another set of these verbs.
먹다 (meokda). 먹다. Okay so it means to eat, right? 먹다 (meokda). What's the stem here? Stem. Stem is remove 다 (da) at the end. You have only 먹 (meok). 먹 (meok) is a stem. 먹 is a stem. Always remove 다 (da). Then you have 뭐 (mwo). Let's see the vowel sound. Does it include 아 (a) or 오 (o) sound? No, it does not include 아 (a) or 오 (o) sound. It only includes 오 (o) sound which is not 아 (a) or 오 (o). It's not 아 (a) or 오 (o), right? It's not 아 (a). It's not 오 (o). So I'm going to use 어요 (eoyo). 먹어요 (meogeoyo). It means someone eats or I eat. 먹어요 (meogeoyo). This is a present tense in Korean. 먹어요 (meogeoyo). Are you okay with this? Let's practice a little bit more. Let's look at the second verb which is 울다 (ulda). Do you remember the meaning? 울다 (ulda) means to cry.
This is a dictionary form and we never use a dictionary form when we speak in Korean so we need to change it to present tense. 울다 (ulda). What is a stem? Stem is 울 (ul) is a stem. Again I removed 다 (da) at the end and 울 (ul) is a stem. Let's see. Does it include 아 (a) or 오 (o) sound? No, it does not include 아 (a) or 오 (o) sound. It only includes 오 (o) sound which is not... Let's look at this chart again. It's not 아 (a). It's not 오 (o) but it's just 아하 (aha). Since it does not include 아 (a) or 오 (o) sound, we are using 어요 (eoyo). So it means I cry or he's crying, she's crying. By the way, did you notice in the translation I just said she is cry, he is crying. Yes, Korean present tense can be used for the present progressive like I am crying which can be continuous. It's happening right now.
Or it can be just in general one like she often cries, he often cries, I often cry.
So present tense is so useful. You can use this present tense for future too.
Anyway, 울어요 (ureoyo). I use 어요 (eoyo) because it does not include 아 (a) or 오 (o). Now let's look at this one.
주다 (juda) meaning to give. Okay, so what is a stem? It's very simple now.
Remove 다 (da). Then you have 주 (ju). It does not include 아 (a) or 오 (o). So we are using 어요 (eoyo). 주어요 (jueoyo). It means I give, I give, you give. 주어요 (jueoyo). And this can be shortened as this. 주어요 (jueoyo). When you pronounce it quickly, it becomes 주어요 (jueoyo). So it can be shortened as this.
Actually, there are a lot of contracted forms like this in Korean. So this can be hard. But as a beginner, don't worry about this. But practice this basic one first. Anyway, 주어요 (jueoyo).
Okay, very good. Now let's look at these ones. How about 사랑하다 (salanghada)? 사랑하다 (salanghada). It means to love, to love. 하다 (hada) verb is very simple. For 하다 (hada) verb, you just need to remove 하다 (hada) at the end. Just remove 하다 (hada). replace 하다 (hada) with 해요 (haeyo). That's it.
You don't need to think about like it ends with 아 (a) or 오 (o). It includes 아 (a) or 오 (o). It doesn't matter.
Just 하다 (hada). 하다 (hada). If it ends with 하다 (hada), replace it with 해요 (haeyo). That's it. 사랑해요 (salanghaeyo) means I love, you love, they love, we love. So 사랑해요 (salanghaeyo). Next, next, we have 행복하다 (haengbokhada). 행복하다 (haengbokhada). This is an adjective. 행복하다 (haengbokhada). 행복하다 (haengbokhada). It ends with 하다 (hada), right? So make it simple. Just replace 하다 (hada) with 해요 (haeyo). I'm happy. 행복해요 (haengbokhaeyo). 행복해요 (haengbokhaeyo). Okay, then how about this? The last one here.
공부하다 (gongbuhada). 공부하다 (gongbuhada). 공부하다 (gongbuhada). Again, it ends with 하다 (hada). So what do you need to do? Just replace 하다 (hada) with 해요 (haeyo). 해요 (haeyo). So simple. 공부해요 (gongbuhaeyo). It means I study, you study, he studies, she studies, we study, they study. 공부해요 (gongbuhaeyo). So this is the present tense in Korean and it's not very difficult, right? I know it can be complicated at the beginning because you need to think, does it include 아 (a) or 오 (o)? But actually, here's a trick. If the last vowel of the stem includes 아 (a) or 오 (o), 아 (a) or 오 (o), your jaw is already opened. 아 (a), 아 (a), 오 (o). That's why when you pronounce 아요 (ayo) naturally, it sounds like 아요 (ayo). And when you pronounce the other vowels other than 아 (a) or 오 (o), other vowels such as 어 (eo), 오 (o), 으 (eu), 이 (i), your jaw is not so much opened. That's why when you pronounce 어요 (eoyo) naturally, it sounds more like 어요 (eoyo). So Korean people didn't make these rules to confuse foreigners. It just happened very naturally to pronounce all the verbs and adjectives easily. So it just happens because of the pronunciation. So when you conjugate these present tense, make sure to read it out, read it out. Then you will understand 아 (a), 아요 (ayo), 어요 (eoyo). You will naturally pronounce these. So please practice a lot. And 해요 (haeyo) is simple, right? Always replace 하다 (hada) with 해요 (haeyo). This needs quite a lot of practices. But once you understand all these rules and get used to it, it won't be so hard. So good luck.
Here's the second question. How can I conjugate the past tense in Korean? So this is the past tense chart for you. Save this and refer to it whenever you need to make the past tense in Korean. Did you notice something? This chart looks very similar to the present tense chart. Yes, it's almost similar. Look, the last vowel of the stem is 아 (a) or 우 (u) or 하다 (hada). Yes, basically the rule is the same. But the ending is different.
Ending was 아요 (ayo). But now it's 아써요 (asseoyo). It was 어요 (eoyo). But now it's 어써요 (eosseoyo). And the last one was 해요 (haeyo). And now it's 했어요 (haesseoyo). So basically it was 아요 (ayo), 어요 (eoyo), 해요 (haeyo). But it became 아써요 (asseoyo), 어써요 (eosseoyo), 했어요 (haesseoyo). So this sounds like past tense to me as a native speaker. So just remember this ending and everything is the same. So let's practice together. Now 살다 (salda) to live. Now I want to say I lived. I lived in some place. I lived in Korea before. So it does include 아 (a) sound. So I'm using 아써요 (asseoyo). 살았어요 (salasseoyo). As in 한국에 살았어요 (han-guge salasseoyo). It means I lived in Korea. 살았어요 (salasseoyo).
Because it includes the 아 (a) sound here, right? 아 (a) sound. Now let's look at the second word which is 좋다 (johda). 좋다 (johda). Okay. 좋다 (johda). 좋다 (johda). Again, I need to get the stem. So remove 다 (da). And 좋 (joh) includes 우 (u) sound, right? 우 (u) sound. So I'm using 아써요 (asseoyo). 좋았어요 (johasseoyo). 좋았어요 (johasseoyo). It means it was good. Maybe you lived in Korea and it was good. 좋았어요 (johasseoyo). 좋았어요 (johasseoyo). Let's try another word. 보다 (boda) to see, to look, to watch.
So 보다 (boda). And what is the stem? Stem is simple. Remove 다 (da) at the end. 보 (bo), 우 (u), 우 (u). It does include 우 (u) sound. So I'm using 보았어요 (boasseoyo). I saw or you saw. I looked or I watched that drama. So 보았어요 (boasseoyo).
I watched. I saw. 보았어 (boasseo) is simple. Now let's try the other word 먹다 (meokda). 먹다 (meokda). To eat. 먹다 (meokda).
So what is the stem here? Stem is simple. Remove 다. 먹 is the stem. 먹 (meok). It does not include 아 (a) or 우 (u) sound, right? 아 (a), 우 (u), nope. It does not include this. So I'm using 먹었어요 (meogeosseoyo). 먹었어요 (meogeosseoyo). 먹었어요 (meogeosseoyo). It means I ate. I ate. 먹었어요 (meogeosseoyo).
Now let's try this 울다 (ulda) to cry. 울다 (ulda). 울다 (ulda). This is a dictionary form and again we never use the dictionary form when we speak. We need to change to present tense or past tense, future tense.
So I got the stem here. 울 (ul), 울 (ul), 울 (ul). It was 울다 (ulda) but stem is 울 (ul), right? 울 (ul), 울 (ul), 우 (u), 우 (u). It includes 우 (u) as a vowel which is not 아 (a) or 우 (u). So I'm using 울었어요 (ureosseoyo). I cried. I cried. 울었어요 (ureosseoyo). 울었어요 (ureosseoyo).
Okay, now let's try this word 주다 (juda) to give. 주다 (juda). Okay, now you know what is the stem, right? It's simple. 주 (ju) is the stem. 주 (ju) is the stem. 주 (ju), 우 (u), 우 (u), 우 (u). It includes 우 (u) sound. It's not 아 (a) or 우 (u). So I'm using 주었어요 (jueosseoyo). 주었어요 (jueosseoyo). It means I gave or you gave. 주었어요 (jueosseoyo). 주었어요 (jueosseoyo).
Okay, so now let's try this 하다 (hada). 하다 (hada) verbs or 하다 (hada) adjectives. 하다 (hada).
짠 (jjan), I have this word 사랑하다 (salanghada). 사랑하다 (salanghada) to love. Now I want to say I loved. I loved. 하다 (hada) is simple. Just replace 하다 (hada) with 했어요 (haesseoyo). I loved. 사랑했어요 (salanghaesseoyo). I loved or they loved. They loved me so much but not anymore. 사랑했어요 (salanghaesseoyo). I loved. 사랑했어요 (salanghaesseoyo). Let's try 행복하다 (haengbokhada) now. 행복하다 (haengbokhada).
Do you remember the meaning? It means to be happy. 행복하다 (haengbokhada). 행복하다 (haengbokhada). To be happy. Now it's simple.
You just need to remove 하다 (hada) and replace 하다 (hada) with 했어요 (haesseoyo). 했어요 (haesseoyo). It means I was happy. Yes, when I was in Korea, I was so happy. 행복했어요 (haengbokhaesseoyo). 행복했어요 (haengbokhaesseoyo). Last one, 공부하다 (gongbuhada). 공부하다 (gongbuhada). This is what you are doing now. 공부하다 (gongbuhada). It means to study. 공부하다 (gongbuhada). 공부하다 (gongbuhada). To study. I want to say I studied. I studied last night. So replace 하다 (hada) with 했어요 (haesseoyo). That's it. 했어요 (haesseoyo). 했어요 (haesseoyo). 공부했어요 (gongbuhaesseoyo).
공부했어요 (gongbuhaesseoyo) means oh they studied or we studied. We studied. So it's a past tense of 공부하다 (gongbuhada). 공부했어요 (gongbuhaesseoyo).
So I think you're okay with these conjugations. Especially if you study the present tense and if you're familiar with the conjugation, past tense is relatively simple. But you still need to practice.
So please practice a lot and read it out when you conjugate it. The rule is, well, it's simple.
These rules are made simply because of the pronunciation. When you use these endings, it's easier to pronounce. That's why these rules are here. It's not to confuse you. So when you practice it, please read it out a lot as many times as you can until you get used to it. Here's the last question. How can I conjugate the future tense in Korean? So this is a future tense chart for you.
Save this and refer to it whenever you need to make the future tense in Korean. Now the future tense looks a little bit different from the present tense and past tense. That's right. It's different.
But actually the conjugation is simpler. So let's look at it together. So if the stem ends in a vowel, then you use ㄹ 거예요 (l geo-ye-yo). And if the stem ends in a consonant, then you will use ㄹ 거예요 (l geo-ye-yo).
Lastly, if the stem ends in consonant ㄹ (l), then you only use ㄱ이에요 (gi-e-yo). It sounds difficult.
But actually it's simpler. So let me show you why. So let's look at this word first. 보다 (boda) to look.
So let's get the stem first. What is the stem? Stem is 보 (bo).
보 (bo). 보 (bo). So which one should I have to use? 을 거예요 (eul geo-ye-yo) or 을 거예요 (eul geo-ye-yo)? Simple. It's 보 (bo). 오 (o). 오 (o). 오 (o). It ended with vowel sound, right? It sounds like 보 (bo), right? 보 (bo). 보 (bo). 보 (bo).
So it ended with vowel sound. So I will use ㄹ 거예요 (l geo-ye-yo) as in 볼 거예요 (bol geo-ye-yo).
It means I will watch or I will see. 볼 거예요 (bol geo-ye-yo). So basically we need to have 을 거예요 (eul geo-ye-yo).
을 거예요 (eul geo-ye-yo). And if something ends with a vowel sound, you can actually combine this vowel sound with 을 거예요 (eul geo-ye-yo) as in 볼 (bol). So it naturally becomes 볼 거예요 (bol geo-ye-yo). And if there is any consonant, you cannot combine the sound. So you are pronouncing the sounds clearly as in 을 거예요 (eul geo-ye-yo).
을 거예요 (eul geo-ye-yo). So let's look at more examples. Now I have this word. 주다 (juda) meaning to give.
Okay. So what's the stem? Stem is 주 (ju). 주 (ju). Yes. And 주 (ju). 우 (u). 우 (u). 우 (u). It ends with 우 (u). 우 (u). Vowel sound, right? 주 (ju). Because it sounds like 주 (ju), right? 주 (ju). By the way, English pronunciation and Korean pronunciation are different. So this romanization doesn't sound exactly like English pronunciation. But well, this is how you can romanize in Korea. So anyways, it ends with a vowel sound. So you are using 줄 거예요 (jul geo-ye-yo). 줄 거예요 (jul geo-ye-yo). I will give. I will give.
I'm going to give. 줄 거예요 (jul geo-ye-yo). 줄 거예요 (jul geo-ye-yo). Okay. So now let's try another word, which is 짜잔 좋다 (jjajan johda). 좋다 (johda). 좋다 (johda). To be good. To be good. So it's 좋다 (johda). What is the stem? Now stem is simple, right? Remove 다 (da). 좋 (joh) is the stem. Oh, do you see this? It's conjugated with three sounds, right? Three sounds. So this one is kind of like J, kind of like O, kind of like, well, we don't have exact sound, but here 좋 (joh), it ended with, yes, consonant, consonant. So we are using this one, 을 거예요 (eul geoyeyo). Because it ended with consonant. Okay, so let's use 을 거예요 (eul geoyeyo). It will be good. So for example, the weather will be good.
Weather will be good tomorrow. So 날씨가 (nalssiga), 내일 날씨가 (naeil nalssiga) 좋을 거예요 (joh-eul geoyeyo). For example, 좋을 거예요 (joh-eul geoyeyo).
It will be good. 좋을 거예요 (joh-eul geoyeyo). Now let's try this. 먹다 (meokda). 먹다 (meokda). To eat, right? 먹다 (meokda). The verb.
What is the stem? Stem is 먹 (meok). By removing 다 (da) at the end. 먹 (meok). 먹 (meok). 먹 (meok). It consists of 먹 (meok).
먹 (meok). Right? 먹 (meok). 먹 (meok). So it consists of this component, and it does end with a consonant.
So let's use 을 거예요 (eul geoyeyo). 을 거예요 (eul geoyeyo). 을 거예요 (eul geoyeyo). I will eat. I will eat. Or we will eat.
They will eat. She or he will eat. 먹을 거예요 (meogeul geoyeyo). So it's a future tense. So are you okay with this? Then how about these verbs? These verbs. What should I do with these 하다 (hada) verbs? 하다 (hada) verbs.
하다 (hada) verbs are so simple. 사랑하다 (salanghada). 행복하다 (haengbokhada).
Meaning to be happy. 사랑하다 (salanghada) means to love. And now 공부하다 (gongbuhada). 공부하다 (gongbuhada). To study. So what is the stem? Stem is simple. Remove 다 (da) at the end. 사랑하 (salangha). 행복하 (haengbokha). 공부하 (gongbuha). Is the stem. Does it end with a vowel or a consonant? It ended with? Yes, it ended with vowel sound. 아 (a) sound. Right? 사랑하 (salangha). 하 (ha). 아 (a). 아 (a). It ends with vowel sound.
So you're using 할 거예요 (hal geoyeyo). I will love. 사랑할 거예요 (salanghal geoyeyo). 행복할 거예요 (haengbokhal geoyeyo). I'll be happy. 행복할 거예요 (haengbokhal geoyeyo). Or I will study. 공부할 거예요 (gongbuhal geoyeyo).
So for 하다 (hada) verb, it's just simple. Just put 을 거예요 (eul geoyeyo) simply because the stem ends in a vowel sound.
Okay now we have these verbs which is 살다 (salda). 살다 (salda). To live. To live. What is the stem? It's 살 (sal). And 살 (sal). It ended with consonant. So I need to use 을 거예요 (eul geoyeyo). Right? 살을 거예요 (sal-eul geo-ye-yo). I will live. Is it right? No, I'm sorry but this is incorrect. Because 살 (sal). 살 (sal). It consists of this sound, right? It does already include the 응 (eung) sound. It already includes. So you don't need to put 을 (eul) sound again.
So in this case, you just put 거예요 (geo-ye-yo) only. 거예요 (geo-ye-yo) meaning I will live. I will live in Korea or I live in the States.
Another example would be 울다 (ul-da). Cry. 울다 (ul-da). 울다 (ul-da). So let's get the stem. Stem is 울 (ul).
So 울 (ul) ended with a consonant. So should I say 울을 거예요 (ul-eul geo-ye-yo)? 울 거예요 (ul geo-ye-yo)? This? Nope. The stem ends with a consonant ㄹ (rieul). So I need to use just 거예요 (geo-ye-yo).
거예요 (geo-ye-yo). 거예요 (geo-ye-yo). So I will cry. 울 거예요 (ul geo-ye-yo). So simply because this already includes the ㄹ (rieul) sound. ㄹ (rieul) ㄹ (rieul) pronunciation already.
So you don't need to add another this ㄹ (rieul) or ㄹ (rieul) sound again. Just put 거예요 (geo-ye-yo). For this one, if the stem ends in a vowel, again as I mentioned, the vowel sound can combine with this sound as in 볼 (bol). 볼 (bol). 보 (bo). 을 (eul). If the stem ends in a consonant, you cannot combine the sound with 을 (eul). 을 (eul). 을 (eul).
So you put 을 (eul) sound separately again. And for the last one, now it's simple. It does include the ㄹ (rieul) sound. So you don't need to put it again.
So these are the future tense in Korean. And actually, future tense is easier than present tense and past tense.
So you just need to see if there is any 받침 (batchim) or last consonant in the stem. So if there is anything, stem, then for example, let's use my favorite verb, which is 먹다 (meok-da). So always remove 다 (da) at the end and see if there is any consonant at the bottom.
This is called 받침 (batchim). If there is anything, then you use 을 거예요 (eul geo-ye-yo). And if there is nothing here, then you put ㄹ (rieul) sound here and put 거예요 (geo-ye-yo).
So this is the future tense in Korean. It's not very difficult, so please practice it a bit more.
And always read it out when you practice conjugating these future tenses. Good luck! That's it for this lesson. Today I answered three questions about Korean tenses. Thanks for watching.
I'm Keijin, and I'll see you on KoreanClass101.com. 다음 시간에 봐요! (Daeum sigan-e bwayo!)

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