LEARN KOREAN (한국어) [GRAMMAR] #1

VERBS

Present Tense

You learned how to conjugate verbs to the present tense by adding ㄴ/는다 to the stem of the word. To review:
먹다 - to eat
먹는다 - I eat

배우다 - to learn
배운다 - I learn

There are three more conjugations in the present tense that you should know:
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
나는 나의 선생님을 항상 봐 - I always see my teacher
나는 항상 아침에 운동해 - I always exercise in the morning

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
저는 저의 선생님을 항상 봐요 - I always see my teacher
저는 항상 아침에 운동해요 - I always exercise in the morning

3) Formal High Respect
~>This is done very similar to the conjugation you learned – 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
저는 저의 선생님을 항상 봅니다 - I always see my teacher
저는 항상 아침에 운동합니다 - I always exercise in the morning

Past Tense

You learned how to conjugate verbs to the past tense by adding 았다/었다/였다 to the stem of the word. To review:
먹다 - to eat
나는 먹었다 - I ate

배우다 - to learn
나는 배웠다 - I learned

The three new conjugations should be very simple for you now:
1) Informal Low Respect
~>Instead of adding 었다/았다/였다 to a stem, remove 다 and add 어 after 었/았/였:

나는 먹었어 - I ate
나는 들어봤어 - I listened
나는 운동했어 - I exercised

2) Informal High Respect
~>Just add 요 to the end of the Informal Low Respect conjugations:

저는 먹었어요 - I ate
저는 들어봤어요 - I listened
저는 운동했어요 - I exercised

3) Formal High Respect
~>After adding 였/았/었 instead of adding 다 add 습니다:

저는 먹었습니다 - I ate
저는 들어봤습니다 - I listened
저는 운동했습니다 - I exercised

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
나는 먹겠다 - I will eat

배우다 - to learn
나는 배우겠다 - I will learn

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
나는 배우겠어 - I will learn

2) Informal High Respect
~>Just add 요 to the end of the Informal Low Respect conjugations:

저는 먹겠어요 - I will eat
저는 배우겠어요 - I will learn

3) Formal High Respect
~>After 겠 instead adding 다 add 습니다:

저는 먹겠습니다 - I will eat
저는 배우겠습니다 - I will learn

Let's try looking at all the verb conjugations you know together in one table. This table will include the conjugation you learned, often called "Formal Low Respect," "Plain Form," or "Diary Form."