-았/었어요 is used for past tense. It is used to express a statement that either started and completed in the past or started in the past and still going on. Note that the ending 어요 can be substituted with a different sentence ending or clause ending, such as 어,습니다,죠?,으니까,ect. But there must be some ending; a word may not be end with 았/었.
•If the last vowel in the verb before the ending is a yang vowel (아,야,오,요,애,얘,와,외,or 왜): 았아요
•If the last vowel in the verb before ending is a yin vowel (어,여,우,유,에,예,워,위,or 웨): 었어요
•If the last vowel in the verb before the ending is neutral vowel (으,이,or 의): use the preceding vowel: if it is yang, then 았어요;if it is yin, then 었어요; if there are no non-neutral vowels, use 었어요.
•One exception: the verb 하다 (or any verb ending in 하다) becomes 했다 or 하였다 (했다 is the contracted form and much more common)
막다 ➡ 막았다
먹다 ➡ 먹었다
가다 ➡ 갔다
오다 ➡ 왔다
주다 ➡ 줬다
춥다 ➡ 추웠다 (Irregular case)
쓰다 ➡ 썼다 (Irregular case)
듣다 ➡ 들었다 (Irregular case)
Example sentences:
점심 먹었어요?
Did you have (eat) lunch?
•먹➡ 어 (yin vowel) + 었어요 = 먹었어요
동생은 학교에 갔습니다
My younger brother went to school
•갔어요 (어요 been substitute to 습니다) = 갔습니다
나는 자주 도서과에 갔어요
I often went to the library
•가➡ 아 (yang vowel) + 았어요 = 갔어요
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KEY TO KOREAN (키 투 코리얀)
RandomWelcome to KEY TO KOREAN! Your story of reliable korean lessons. This book will help you learn, speak, and write useful Korean words. Together, Let's Learn Korean! Some lessons are from my notes and others are come from different sources. I only co...
