I’m from the U.S.
미국에서 왔어요 [Migugeseo wasseoyo.]

Verb Tenses: Past, Progressive, and Future

If you had to guess, how many foreigners would you say are living in South Korea right now? Actually, the best anyone can do is guess, because the number isn’t known exactly, but estimates suggest that as much as 2% of the population is made up of non-nationals. That’s a pretty big number in a country of 50 million.

But still, Koreans will see you, a person from a faraway land who’s studying hard to learn their language, with curious eyes. And, as I think I’ve mentioned before, one of the first things they’ll want to know is where exactly you’re from. So prepare to hear this a lot:

어디에서 왔어요 [Eodieseo wasseoyo?] Where do you come from?

These words should be familiar to you. Because, let’s see…we learned about 어디 in chapter 16, right? And the particle -에, that means “from,” remember? And finally there’s the verb 오다, which is “to come.” This is all review for you! But what’s not review is the conjugation of the verb in this sentence—particularly, this component: 았.

To understand, it’s necessary to tell you that, translated literally, the above sentence in English would be “Where did you come from?” not “Where do you come from?” Koreans see this as logical because you’ve already arrived in Korea, so the action of coming is in the past, right? Obviously, what I want to tell you about in this chapter is verb tenses.

What did you do?

In English, you signify the past tense by adding “-d” or “-ed” onto the end of verbs. Well, surprise, surprise—Korean follows the same principle! There’s a special conjugative verb and adjective ending to indicate past tense, and it’s this: -았- / -었- / -였-. This ending follows conjugation pattern 5, which we learned back in chapter 6 (I told you that chapter was important!). In other words, if the final vowel in the stem is] or , -었- is used; for any other final vowel, you’ll need -었- ; and 하다 verbs and adjectives take the ending -였- no matter what.

Let’s take a look at how we arrived at 왔어요 for “came,” shall we? What’s the stem of the verb 오다? That’s right, 오. Its final vowel is , so it’s going to take the -았- ending, giving us 오았. But, in this case, 오 + 았 contracts to something shorter and easier to say. Speak 오았 fast and what comes out? Yes, 왔! Now, we need to add the honorific form 1 ending (don’t forget your manners!). And this is important—in the case of past-tense verb stems, they always take the -어 요 honorific ending, never the -아요 or -여 요. And that’s how we get 왔어 요. A long explanation for a simple question, no?

Now, what if the Korean asking you this question is polite and wants to pay respect to you? To do this, she’d add the honorific suffix (으) 시 to the verb stem, right? That gives us a stem of 오시. This changes the rest of our conjugation, because now we have a stem with a final vowel of], not . So what happens? Uh-huh, we apply the -었- ending in place of -았-. So we have 오시었어요, which contracts into 오셨어요. (Just say 시었 three times fast to understand the contraction.) The honorific question is then:

어디에서 오셨어요 [Eodieseo oshyeosseoyo?] Where do you come from?

Okay, now that you understand the question inside and out, it’s time to answer!

미국에서 왔어요. [Migugeseo wasseoyo.] I’m from the U.S.

싱가포르에서 왔어요. [Shinggaporeueseo wasseoyo.] I’m from Singapore.

홍콩에서 왔어요. [Hongkongeseo wasseoyo.] I’m from Hong Kong.

Great! So that’s a really practical use of the past tense. Want to learn another? We already studied how to say hello to someone in chapter 9: 안녕하세요 But there’s an alternate expression of greeting that can go along with that. It’s

밥 먹었어요 [Pap meogeosseoyo?] Did you eat something?

Obviously, the stem 먹 of the verb 먹다 (“to eat”) has a final vowel of , so it takes the 었어요 past-tense ending. Literally, this translates to “Did you eat (cooked) rice?” But this is just an expression; your new acquaintance doesn’t really care to know whether you ate cooked rice, uncooked rice, ramen, or anything else. He just wants to greet you. So instead of screwing up your face and saying “Why do you want to know whether I’ve eaten cooked rice?”, just say:

네. 규병 씨는 점심 드셨어요 [Ne. Kyubyeong ssineun cheomshim teushyeosseoyo?] Yes. Did you

Oh, perfect! Your response is going to make 규병씨 look at you with admiration, because you used the honorific 드시다 instead of the plain 먹다 for “to eat”. So you showed respect for 규병 씨. (Remember, saying 씨 after someone’s given name is another very common way of being respectful when addressing them.)

This is a good habit to get into, so why don’t you memorize this for a greeting to use with new acquaintances?

안녕하세요, 아침 ₍점심, 저녁) 드셨어요 [Annyeonghaseyo, achim (cheomshim, cheonyeok)

teushyeosseoyo?] Hi, did you have breakfast (lunch, dinner)?

No, you’re not a crazy person obsessed with people’s diets, you’re just being polite!

What are you doing?

Wow, did you know you just learned the past tense in Korean? In other languages, it can take years to master this element, but I’ve actually told you nearly all you need to know to speak about the past in Korean. So let’s move on to another tense: the progressive.

The progressive tense is what you use to describe an action that’s currently in progress. For example, I am explaining Korean tenses to you, and you are understanding me, right!? Well, I think you’ll understand this one pretty easily, because it utilizes an ending from conjugation pattern 1, the simplest! To form the progressive tense in Korean, simply add -고 있다 to any verb stem. Yup, that’s it! So, let’s ask your friend what they’re doing right now:

뭐 하고 있어요 [Mweo hago isseoyo?] What are you doing?

See how that works? You just stick -고 onto the stem of the verb 하다 (“to do”), and then conjugate the adjective 있 다 accordingly. Of course, if you’re addressing a person you don’t know well, or someone you need to impress, it’s better to use the honorific verb 계 시 다 instead of 있다:

뭐 하고 계세요 [Mweo hago kyeseyo?] What are you doing?

Okay, and your friend will answer with the progressive tense, so you may hear:

책 읽고 있어요. [Chaek ilkko isseoyo.] I’m reading a book.

텔레비전 보고 있어요. [Telrebijeon pogo isseoyo.] I’m watching TV.

음악 듣고 있어요. [Eumak teutgo isseoyo.] I’m listening to music.

인터넷 하고 있어요. [Inteonet hago isseoyo.] I’m surfing the Internet.

당신 생각하고 있었어요… [Tangshin saenggakago isseosseoyo…] I was thinking about you…

Oh! It sounds like you guys might be more than just friends, eh? I sense the spark of romance in the air! ^^ But seriously, that last sentence is a little different, isn’t it? I think you can figure it out, though. That’s right, it’s using the past progressive. And how does that work? Well, if the present progressive conjugation is V -고 있나, then it makes sense that the past progressive will be V -고 있었나—just use the past tense of 있나, and you’ve got it!

What will you do?

So, what’s left in our discussion of Korean tenses? I am going to let you guess what tense this will be. Okay, enough riddles—I know you know it’s the future tense!

In English, you express future actions and conditions in two ways: by adding “will” or “shall” in front of a verb, and by saying “going to do.” Well, it’s only fair that in Korean there are also two ways: using the ending -ᄅ게요 / -을게요, and using the construction -ᄅ / -을 거예요, both of which belong to conjugation pattern 4. However, just as “will,” “shall,” and “going to do” are not exactly the same, neither are these two endings. Allow me to explain:

	1. 이따가 숙제를 할게요. [Ittaga sukjereul halgeyo.] I promise I’ll do my homework later (and if I don’t, you can punish me).
	2. 이따가 숙제를 할 거예요. [Ittaga sukjereul hal keoyeyo.] I’m going to do my homework later (but if I don’t, I’m not taking any responsibility for my behavior).

As you can see, -ᄅ게요 / -을게요 expresses a strong will or intention to do something. In fact, it’s as if you’re making a promise to the listener. For this reason, we often use the adverb 꼭 [kkok], meaning “surely” or “at any cost,” with this future-tense ending.

On the other hand, -ᄅ / -을 거예요 simply adds the meaning of “in the future” to whatever verb or adjective you’re using, without expressing your dedication to living up to your word. This ending is often paired with the adverb 분명 히 [punmyeonghi], meaning “definitely,” or 아마 [ama], “probably.”

Let’s continue examining the distinctions between the two:

다음부터 이를 꼭 닦을게요. [Taeumbuteo ireul kkok takkeulgeyo.] I promise I’ll brush my teeth from next time on.

다음부터 이를 꼭 닦을 거예요. [Taeumbuteo ireul kkok takkeul keoyeyo.] I’ll brush my teeth from next time on.

내일은 분명히 비가 올 거예요. [Naeireun punmyeonghi piga ol keoyeyo.] I’m sure it’ll rain tomorrow.

내일은 아마 비가 올 거예요. [Naeireun ama piga ol keoyeyo.] It’ll probably rain tomorrow.

Okay, let me explain one more useful future-tense expression, which you can employ when you need to avoid making a promise to someone. Of course, you could simply use the -ᄅ / -을 거예요 ending, but this still implies that you’re in agreement with whatever the person wants you to do. Instead, to approximate English hedging phrases like “Um…I think…I guess…well…I mean…I’m afraid…,” you can utilize the ending -ᄅ / -을 거같다. Like the others, this belongs to pattern 4. Watch:

저 좀 늦을 거 같아요. [Cheo chom neujeul keo katayo.] I’m afraid I’m going to be a little late.

비행기를 놓칠 거 같아요. [Pihaenggireul nochil keo katayo.] It’s possible that I’ll miss the plane.

Hey, 빨리 빨리 You don’t want to miss your flight to the next chapter!

Korean Style: How to multiply your Korean vocabulary

Surely you’ll have a basic grasp of Korean and all its different colors and flavors after you finish this book. But why stop there? You’re such a dedicated student, I’m sure you’ll want to continue learning—more grammar, more culture, more words!

Memorizing vocabulary is a big part of learning any language, but what’s the best way to do this? Imagine a Korean friend asks you what the word “extraterrestrial” means. Of course, you might answer, “Oh, you don’t need to learn that.” Or “Haven’t you seen the movie E.T.? That’s an extraterrestrial!”

But there’s a more helpful way of explaining this complicated-looking word, isn’t there? You have the prefix “extra-,” which means “out, outside.” And then the root “terr-” is related to the earth. So put it together and you have something that means “life that exists outside the earth.” Perfect! I’m sure your friend will be so happy to have your help, and you’ll be able to teach her all kinds of words like “territory” extraordinarily.

Can’t this method be applied to Korean as well? Yes! I told you at the beginning of the book that more than two thirds of Korean words are derived from Chinese, remember? There was 국 (國), which is used in the names of many countries, and 어 (五), which appears in the names of languages. As you can see, by learning a handful of Chinese characters, you can substantially increase your Korean vocabulary!

Let’s look at one very useful Chinese character: 외 (外), which means “outside,” just like the English “extra-.” You don’t have to memorize the shape itself. Just focus on the meanings that it creates in Korean.

외계인 (外界人) 外 outside 界 world 人 people, life →
life that exists outside our world → extraterrestrial

외국인 (外國人) 外 outside 國 country 人 people, life →
people who live outside our country → foreigners

외줄 (外出) 外 outside 出 come out →
coming outside the house → going out, outing

해외 (海外) 海 sea 外 outside →
outside one’s country across the sea → foreign country, overseas

시외 (市外)

市 city 外 outside →
outside of the city → countryside, outskirts

See how the characters fit together to create meaning? Even though Korean doesn’t use characters in this exact way, much of its vocabulary is based on the same principle.