Learn Korean (eng) (grammar & voc)

Verbs (cont)

Verbs
Present Tense
You have learned before how to conjugate verbs to the present tense by adding ㄴ/는다 to the stem of the word. To review:

먹다 = to eat (not conjugated)
나는 먹는다 = I eat (conjugated – present tense)
배우다 = to learn (not conjugated)
나는 배운다 = I learn (conjugated – present tense)

There are three more conjugations in the present tense that you should be aware of:

1) Informal low respect
All you need to do is add 어/아/여 to the stem of the verb:

나는 항상 저녁에 음식을 먹어 = I always eat food in the evening (먹 + 어)
나는 너의 선생님을 항상 봐 = I always see my teacher (보 + 아)
나는 항상 아침에 운동해 = I always exercise in the morning (운동하 + 여)

In a previous lesson you were introduced to the function of 에 as a particle which identifies a location or a time in which something occurs in a sentence. Since then, you have seen many cases of 에 being used to indicate a place, but you have yet to see any examples of it being used to indicate a time. This is just a quick reminder that 에 is (in addition to other things) attached to the part of sentence to indicate a time.
Also notice in the examples above that “항상” (always) is placed in two different places within a sentence. Adverbs are usually able to be placed wherever the speaker desires.

2) Informal high respect
This is done the exact same way as ‘Informal low respect’ but you also add ‘요’ to the end of the word. Adding 요 to the end of anything in Korean makes it more respectful:

저는 항상 저녁에 음식을 먹어요 = I always eat food in the evening (먹 + 어요)
저는 저의 선생님을 항상 봐요 = I always see my teacher (보 + 아요)
저는 항상 아침에 운동해요 = I always exercise in the morning (운동하 + 여요)

3) Formal high respect
This is done very similar to the conjugation you learned before – that is, adding ㄴ/는다 to the stem of the word. To conjugate using the Formal high respect honorific ending, you add ㅂ니다/습니다 to the end of the word stem. If a word stem ends in a vowel, you add ㅂ to the last syllable and 니다 follows. If a word stem ends in a consonant, you add 습니다 to the word stem.

저는 항상 저녁에 음식을 먹습니다 = I always eat food in the evening (먹 + 습니다)
저는 저의 선생님을 봅니다 = I always see my teacher (보 + ㅂ니다)
저는 항상 아침에 운동합니다 = I always exercise in the morning (운동하 + ㅂ니다)

_ _ _ _ _
Past Tense
You learned how to conjugate verbs to the past tense by adding 었다/았다/였다 to the stem of the word. To review:

먹다 = to eat (not conjugated)
나는 먹었다 = I ate (conjugated – past tense)
배우다 = to learn (not conjugated)
나는 배웠다 = I learned (conjugated – past tense)

The three new conjugations should be very simple for you now:

1) Informal low respect
Instead of adding 었다/았다/였다 to a word stem, remove 다 and add 어 after 었/았/였:

나는 먹었어 = I ate (먹 + 었어)
나는 들어봤어 = I listened (들어보 + 았어)
나는 운동했어 = I exercised (운동하 + 였어)

2) Informal high respect
Just add 요 to the end of the Informal low respect conjugations:

저는 먹었어요 = I ate (먹 + 었어요)
저는 들어봤어요 = I listened (들어보 + 았어요)
저는 운동했어요 = I exercised (운동하 + 였어요)

3) Formal high respect
After adding 었/았/였 instead of adding 다 add 습니다:

저는 먹었습니다 = I ate (먹 + 었습니다)
저는 들어봤습니다 = I listened (들어보 + 았습니다)
저는 운동했습니다 = I exercised (운동하 + 였습니다)

_ _ _ _ _
Future Tense
You learned how to conjugate verbs to the future tense by adding 겠다 to the stem of the word. To review:

먹다 = to eat (not conjugated)
나는 먹겠다 = I will eat (conjugated – future tense)
배우다 = to learn (not conjugated)
나는 배우겠다 = I will learn (conjugated – future tense)

The three new conjugations should be very simple for you now:

1) Informal low respect
Instead of adding 겠다 to a word stem, remove 다 and add 어 after 겠:

나는 먹겠어 = I will eat (먹 + 겠어)
나는 배우겠어 = I will learn (배우 + 겠어)

2) Informal high respect
Just add 요 to the end of the Informal low respect conjugations:

저는 먹겠어요 = I will eat (먹 + 겠어요)
저는 배우겠어요 = I will learn (배우 + 겠어요)

3) Formal high respect
After 겠 instead of adding 다 add 습니다:

저는 먹겠습니다 = I will eat (먹 + 겠습니다)
저는 배우겠습니다 = I will learn (배우 + 겠습니다)

Try looking at all the verb conjugations you know together in one table. This table will include the conjugation you learned before.