LEARN KOREAN (한국어) [GRAMMAR] #1

르 IRREGULAR

If the final syllable in a stem is 르 (마르다), it is conjugated differently when adding ~아/어. This irregular only applies when adding ~아/어 (or any of its derivatives) to a stem and not when adding any other grammatical principles that starts with a vowel or consonant. Up until now, you haven't learned about any of these other grammatical principles, that can start with anything other than ~아/어~, so don't worry about this distinction too much.

When adding ~아/어 to these words, an additional ㄹ is created and placed in the syllable preceding 르 as the last consonant. The 르 also gets changed to either 러 or 라 (depending on if you are adding 어 or 아). This is done to both verbs and adjectives (the only exception is 따르다 - to follow/to pour). This is difficult to explain, and much easier to show with examples:

다르다 - different
다르 + 아요 = 다 + ㄹ + 라요 = 달라요
그것은 달라요 - That thing is different

빠르다 - to be fast
빠르 + 아요 = 빠 + ㄹ + 라요 = 빨라요
그 남자는 빨라요 - That man is fast

부르다 - to call somebody's name
부르 + 었어요 = 부 + ㄹ + 렀어요 = 불렀어요
저는 저의 누나를 불렀어요 - I called my sister

Here is a table with the word "고르다 (to chose – which is a verb)" being conjugated using all the honorific forms you have learned so far. The irregular conjugations are in bold. Notice that this only occurs when ~아/어 (or one of its derivatives like ~았/었어요) is added to the verb stem.

And here is a table with the word "마르다 (thin – which is an adjective)" being conjugated using all the honorific forms you have learned so far. The irregular conjugations are in bold. Notice that this only occurs when ~아/어 (or one of its derivatives like ~았/었어요) is added to the verb stem.