Using the 요 form we learned in the last chapter, this lesson will cover how to speak using the past tense.
Conversation
A: 철수 씨가 어디에 있어요?
B: 아마 학교에서 공부해요.
A: 왜 학교에 갔어요? 수업이 이미 끝나지 않았어요?
B: 아니요. 밤에도 수업이 있어요.
A: 철수 씨가 그 수업을 왜 선택했어요?
B: 그 수업에 예쁜 여자가 많기 때문에 선택했어요.
Make sure you’ve got a good grasp of conjugating the 요 form, which we covered in Chapter 19, before beginning this chapter. Fortunately, things get a bit easier now that you’re able to conjugate the 요 form. This chapter will cover how to make the past tense.
Past Tense
Up until now, everything we’ve learned has been only in the present tense. The present tense is used to describe things that are currently happening in the present.
저는 학교에 갑니다.
저는 학교에 가요.
"I go to school."
In this chapter we’ll learn how to make the past tense. The past tense is used to describe things that have happened in the past.
The steps to conjugating the past tense are as so:
1. Conjugate the verb to the 요 form.
2. Remove the 요.
3. Attach ㅆ to the bottom.
4. Attach 습니다/습니까 or 어요, depending on politeness.
For step 4, you can attach 습니다 (or 습니까?) to speak formally, or attach 어요 to speak informally.
공부하다 → 공부해요
공부해요 – 요 → 공부해
공부해 + ㅆ → 공부했
→ 공부했습니다 or 공부했어요
Let’s look at another example.
놀다 → 놀아요
놀아요 – 요 → 놀아
놀아 + ㅆ → 놀았
→ 놀았습니다 or 놀았어요
Here’s an example using the verb 어떻다 – "to be how."
어떻다 → 어때요
어때요 – 요 → 어때
어때 + ㅆ → 어땠
→ 어땠습니까? or 어땠어요?
And here’s an example with a descriptive verb. The steps for turning it into the past tense form are the same.
덥다 → 더워요
더워 – 요 → 더워
더워 + ㅆ → 더웠
→ 더웠습니다 or 더웠어요
If you know how to conjugate the 요 form, turning present tense into past tense is simple.
저는 학교에 갔습니다.
저는 학교에 갔어요.
"I went to school."
이다 and 아니다
There is one additional rule to consider when conjugating the past tense, and it applies to the verbs 이다 and 아니다. It’s best to simply memorize these.
이다 becomes 이었습니다 or 이었어요 when following a consonant, and 였습니다 or 였어요 when following a vowel.
After a consonant:
이다 → 이었습니다 or 이었어요
저는 학생이었습니다.
저는 학생이었어요.
"I was a student."
After a vowel:
이다 → 였습니다 or 였어요
저는 박사였습니다.
저는 박사였어요.
"I was a doctor."
아니다 becomes 아니었습니다 or 아니었어요, regardless of whether it comes after a consonant or vowel.
아니다 → 아니었습니다 or 아니었어요
저는 학생이 아니었습니다.
저는 학생이 아니었어요.
"I was not a student."
Now that we can correctly conjugate the past tense, let’s go over the conversation.
A: 철수 씨가 어디에 있어요?
"Where is Chul-soo?"
Remember that when asking questions, it’s most common to mark the subject of that sentence (whoever or whatever it is that you are specifically asking about) with the Subject Marker – in this case, the subject of this question is 철수 씨.
More on 에 있다
So far we’ve been able to express that something is "at," or "in" somewhere, or is going "to" somewhere by using the particle 에 with the verb 있다. But English has prepositions – "The book is under the desk," "I am in front of the house," or "We’re outside the school." Korean also has these kinds of words, but they’re actually called postpositions – "post" because they are used after, instead of before what you are referring to. They’re simple to use. Let’s look at the most standard, and common postpositions.
위 "above," "on (top of)"
책은 책상 위에 있어요.
"The book is on top of the desk."
밑 "underneath"
고양이는 제 자동차 밑에 있어요.
"The cat is underneath my car."
앞 "in front of"
저 앞에 있어요.
"It’s in front of me."
뒤 "behind," "after"
원숭이는 개 뒤에 있어요.
"The monkey is behind the dog."
옆 "beside," "(right) next to"
제 친구는 저 옆에 있어요.
"My friend is next to me."
안 "inside"
아이는 집 안에 있어요.
"The child is inside the house."
밖 "outside"
우리는 학교 밖에 있어요.
"We are outside the school."
B: 아마 학교에서 공부해요.
"Maybe he’s studying at school."
You can express "maybe" or "probably" in Korean with the adverb 아마(도) – the 도 is optional, and if used makes the meaning stronger. You can think of 아마 as meaning "maybe" or "probably," and think of 아마도 as meaning "maybe" or "probably."
Although in English, "maybe" and "probably" express two different possibilities, in Korean they are the same; 아마(도) can be used to mean both.
The above sentence could therefore also translate as, "He’s probably studying at school."
A: 왜 학교에 갔어요? 수업이 이미 끝나지 않았어요?
"Why did he go to school? Didn’t classes already finish?"
Notes on Sentence Order
Let’s take a look at the following two sentences:
A. 왜 학교에 갔어요?
B. 학교에 왜 갔어요?
"Why did he go to school?"
Both of the above two sentences are correct, and have the same meaning. However, there is a difference between them.
Sentence A uses a question word (왜, 언제, 어디, 무엇, 누구/누가, 어떻게, etc.) at the beginning of the sentence.
Sentence B uses a question word as an adverb, right before the verb.
The easiest way to know how these two sentences are different is by looking at sentence B. Using a question word directly before a verb adds more emphasis to the question word.
학교에 왜 갔어요?
"Why did he go to school?"
Using a question word at the beginning of a sentence adds no additional emphasis.
왜 학교에 갔어요?
"Why did he go to school?"
Let’s take a look at a couple of different examples.
어디에서 숙제를 해요?
"Where are you doing homework at?"
숙제를 어디에서 해요?
"Where are you doing homework at?"
누가 병원에 갔어요?
"Who went to the hospital?"
병원에 누가 갔어요?
"Who went to the hospital?"
언제 밥을 먹었어요?
"When did you eat?"
밥을 언제 먹었어요?
"When did you eat?"
Remember that both usages are correct, and both can be used. Don’t worry about making mistakes with this. When in doubt, use question words at the beginning of a sentence or phrase.
잘생기다
Previously in Chapter 10 we learned to only use 잘생기다 as an adjective – 잘생긴. Now we can use it at the end of a sentence too.
This verb is an exception, and must be conjugated in the past tense to be used at the end of a sentence.
저 남자가 잘생겼어요.
"That man over there is handsome."
제가 잘생겼어요?
"Am I handsome?"
끝나다 and 끝내다
Before finishing the conversation, we need to cover how to use the verbs 끝나다 and 끝내다. The same concepts that apply to these two verbs will apply to numerous other verbs that you will come across in the future. Let’s go over each of them first.
끝나다 means "to be finish," "to end," or "to be over." It can be used with a variety of markers.
수업이 끝났어요.
"Class is over."
수업은 끝났어요.
"As for the class, it’s over."
수업도 끝났어요.
"Even the class is over."
끝내다 means "to finish (something)," or "to end (something)." It can also be used with a variety of markers.
숙제를 끝냈어요.
"I finished the homework."
철수 씨가 시험을 끝냈어요.
"Chul-soo finished the test."
Can you tell how 끝나다 and 끝내다 are different? 끝나다 refers to something finishing, and 끝내다 refers to someone finishing something. They are certainly different. For example, the following sentence is incorrect:
숙제를 끝났어요.
Since 끝나다 means "to be finished," this would not translate. 끝나다 does not indicate an action, but something finishing, and does not need an object. The following sentence is also incorrect:
숙제가 끝냈어요.
Since the Subject Marker shows the subject of a sentence (here, who or what that is doing the verb), using it after 숙제 would imply that "homework" is finishing something. If "homework" starts to finish things, it’s time to start running for your life (or stop drinking).
However, the following sentence would be correct:
숙제는 끝났어요.
"As for homework, it’s finished."
In addition, this sentence would also be correct:
숙제는 끝냈어요.
"As for homework, I finished it."
And these two sentences as well would be correct:
숙제도 끝냈어요.
"I also finished the homework."
숙제도 끝났어요.
"The homework is finished too."
It’s important to distinguish whether a verb indicates that something is being done (끝나다), or indicating that someone or something is doing something (끝내다). Knowing this difference will help you learn new verbs in the future, such as 움직이다 and 옮기다 – verbs that indicate physical movement.
박스가 움직였어요.
"The box moved."
제가 박스를 옮겼어요.
"I moved the box."
Now let’s continue the conversation.
B: 아니요. 밤에도 수업이 있어요.
"No. He has class at night also."
More than one particle can appear after a noun, such as 에 and 도 in the above sentence. However, particles that indicate direction, such as 에 or 에게, must come first. Particles such as 도 or 만, if used, must come after.
Here are some more basic examples.
저에게도 주세요.
"Please give it to me too."
한국에만 가고 싶어요.
"I only want to go to Korea."
김 씨에게는 주고 싶지 않아요.
"As for Mr. Kim, I don’t want to give it to him."
However, the Subject Marker cannot be used after a particle that indicates direction (such as 에 and 에게). The following sentence would be incorrect:
저에게가 주세요.
To be safe, if you are not certain how to combine particles, experiment only using combinations which you have seen used before. Some will be more common than others, such as the above examples.
A: 철수 씨가 그 수업을 왜 선택했어요?
"Why did Chul-soo choose that class?"
In the above sentence, remember that 왜 is being emphasized since it appears directly before the verb.
B: 그 수업에 예쁜 여자가 많기 때문에 선택했어요.
"He chose it because there are many pretty girls in that class."
"To Wear"
Expressing "to wear" can be a bit complicated in Korean at first glance, as there are multiple verbs that can all translate as "to wear" depending on where it is being worn. Let’s go over a few of the most common ones.
For general items such as shirts and pants, use the verb 입다.
셔츠를 입다
"to wear a shirt"
바지를 입다
"to wear pants"
For items you can wear on your feet, such as shoes and socks, use the verb 신다.
양말을 신다
"to wear socks"
신발을 신다
"to wear shoes"
Advanced Notes:
The verb 신다 is pronounced 신따, and is an exception to the sound change rules.
For items you can wear on your head, use the verb 쓰다.
모자를 쓰다
"to wear a hat"
You can also use the verb 벗다, "to take off (clothing)" as the opposite of 입다, for any type of clothing worn on the body.
셔츠를 벗다
"to take off one’s shirt"
양말을 벗다
"to take off one’s socks"
모자를 벗다
"to take off a hat"
Although there are other, less common verbs for expressing "to wear," these are the most important ones to remember for the time being.
Advanced Notes:
Two more verbs that you might want to learn are 끼다 and 차다.
For items you wear on your hands, use the verb 끼다.
장갑을 끼다
"to wear gloves"
반지를 끼다
"to wear a ring"
For items you wear on your wrists, use the verb 차다.
손목 시계를 차다
"to wear a wristwatch"
Culture Notes:
The traditional Korean dress is known as 한복. There are both male and female styles of 한복. 한복 can be very expensive, and like a tuxedo, are custom tailored to fit each individual. Nowadays, such clothing is only seen on special occasions, such as in traditional Korean wedding ceremonies.
Practice
Complete the following exercises using informal Korean in the past tense.
Conjugate the following verbs:
1. 하다
2. 가다
3. 춥다
4. 차갑다
5. 좋아하다
6. 아니다
7. 버리다
8. 쓰다
9. 가르치다
10. 배우다
Translate to Korean:
11. "I do not want to go to school today."
12. "I did not want to go to school yesterday."
13. "Yesterday I went to the store, and I bought milk and cheese."
14. "From what time did you study?"
15. "From what time, until what time, did you work yesterday?"
16. "Who went to the hospital?"
Translate to English:
17. 제 샌드위치를 왜 먹었어요?
18. 누가 제 피자를 훔쳤어요?
19. 저는 안 갔지만 정말 가고 싶었어요.
20. 언제 김 씨를 만났어요? 왜 만났어요?
21. 지난 주 너무 더웠기 때문에 반바지를 입었어요.
22. 오늘 집에서 한국어를 두 시간 동안 열심히 공부했어요.
New Phrases
행운(을) 빌어요! - "Good luck!"
New Vocabulary
행운(을) 빌다 - "to wish (someone) good luck"
한복 - "Hanbok"
농담 - "joke"
농담(을) 하다 - "to tell a joke," "to joke"
웃기다 - "to be humorous," "to be funny"
훔치다 - "to steal"
샌드위치 - "sandwich"
반바지 - "shorts" (literally, "half pants")
바지 - "pants"
코트 - "coat"
입다 - "to wear (on body)"
쓰다 - "to wear (on head)"
신다 - "to wear (on feet)"
끼다 - "to wear (on hands)"
차다 - "to wear (on wrists)"
손목시계 - "wristwatch"
반지 - "ring"
벗다 - "to take off (clothing)"
구두 - "dress shoes"
아마(도) - "maybe," "possibly"
수업 - "lesson," "course," "class"
끝나다 - "to be finished," "to end," "to be over"
끝내다 - "to finish (something)," "to end (something)"
끝 - "the end"
시작(을) 하다 - "to begin," "to start"
선택(을) 하다 - "to choose," "to select"
움직이다 - "to move"
옮기다 - "to move (something)"
책상 - "desk," "(writing) table"
가구 - "furniture"
유리 - "glass"
램프 - "lamp"
과거 - "the past"
현재 - "the present"
미래 - "the future"
위 - "above," "on top of"
밑 - "underneath"
앞 - "in front of"
뒤 - "behind," "after"
옆 - "beside," "(right) next to"
안 - "inside"
밖 - "outside"
중 - "center"
광고 - "advertisement"
사랑에 빠지다 - "to fall in love"
열심히 - "diligently," "hard" (adverb)
역시 - "(just) as expected" (adverb)
갑자기 - "all of the sudden," "suddenly" (adverb)
매일 - "every day"
매주 - "every week"
매월 - "every month"
매년 - "every year"
작년 - "last year"
올해 - "this year"
내년 - "next year"