Korean grammar · Elementary (A2)
The past tense: -았- / -었-
How to form the past with -았- / -었- and 했어요, the past of 이다, honorific -(으)셨어요, formal and casual past forms, and -았/었었- for things no longer true.
Forming the past
The past uses the same ㅏ / ㅗ rule as the present. If the last vowel of the stem is ㅏ or ㅗ, add -았어요; otherwise add -었어요; becomes (haesseoyo). The easiest way: take the polite present and replace -요 with -ㅆ어요. → (meogeosseoyo), → (joasseoyo).
Like the present, the form is the same for every person, and it covers both English “did” and “have done”: can mean I ate, I have eaten or I've already eaten. Time words such as (eoje, yesterday), (jinanju, last week), (jangnyeon, last year) and (iteul jeone, two days ago) often go with it.
| Dictionary form | Present | Past |
|---|---|---|
| (alda) to know | (arayo) | (arasseoyo) |
| (batda) to receive | (badayo) | (badasseoyo) |
| (jota) to be good | (joayo) | (joasseoyo) |
| (meokda) to eat | (meogeoyo) | (meogeosseoyo) |
| (ikda) to read | (ilgeoyo) | (ilgeosseoyo) |
| (itda) to be, to have | (isseoyo) | (isseosseoyo) |
| (eopda) not to be, not to have | (eopseoyo) | (eopseosseoyo) |
| (hada) to do | (haeyo) | (haesseoyo) |
| (gongbuhada) to study | (gongbuhaeyo) | (gongbuhaesseoyo) |
- 어제 뭐 했어요?Eoje mwo haesseoyo?What did you do yesterday?
- 친구를 만나고 영화를 봤어요.Chingureul mannago yeonghwareul bwasseoyo.I met a friend and saw a film.
- 점심 먹었어요?Jeomsim meogeosseoyo?Have you had lunch?
Vowels merge, and irregular verbs change
When the stem ends in a vowel, the vowels merge exactly as in the present: → (gasseoyo), → (wasseoyo), → (masyeosseoyo). The irregular verbs change the same way too: → (deureosseoyo), → (mollasseoyo).
So if you know the present form, you know the past: the shortcut from the first section works for all of them. → , → , → .
| Dictionary form | Present | Past |
|---|---|---|
| (gada) to go | (gayo) | (gasseoyo) |
| (oda) to come | (wayo) | (wasseoyo) |
| (boda) to see | (bwayo) | (bwasseoyo) |
| (masida) to drink | (masyeoyo) | (masyeosseoyo) |
| (baeuda) to learn | (baewoyo) | (baewosseoyo) |
| (doeda) to become | (dwaeyo) | (dwaesseoyo) |
| (bonaeda) to send | (bonaeyo) | (bonaesseoyo) |
| (deutda) to listen | (deureoyo) | (deureosseoyo) |
| (chupda) to be cold | (chuwoyo) | (chuwosseoyo) |
| (moreuda) not to know | (mollayo) | (mollasseoyo) |
| (eotteota) to be how | (eottaeyo) | (eottaesseoyo) |
| (apeuda) to hurt | (apayo) | (apasseoyo) |
- 주말에 부산에 갔어요.Jumare Busane gasseoyo.I went to Busan at the weekend.
- 여행은 어땠어요?Yeohaengeun eottaesseoyo?How was your trip?
- 정말 재미있었어요.Jeongmal jaemiisseosseoyo.It was really fun.
- 좀 피곤했어요.Jom pigonhaesseoyo.I was a bit tired.
Nouns: 이었어요 / 였어요
With nouns, the past of 이에요 / 예요 is 이었어요 after a consonant and 였어요 after a vowel: (haksaengieosseoyo), I was a student; (chinguyeosseoyo), it was a friend. The negative is (anieosseoyo), wasn't.
- 그때 저는 대학생이었어요.Geuttae jeoneun daehaksaengieosseoyo.I was a university student then.
- 어제가 제 생일이었어요.Eojega je saengirieosseoyo.Yesterday was my birthday.
- 전화한 사람은 제 친구였어요.Jeonhwahan sarameun je chinguyeosseoyo.The person who called was my friend.
- 그건 제 실수가 아니었어요.Geugeon je silsuga anieosseoyo.That wasn't my mistake.
Honorific past: -(으)셨어요
When the subject is someone you respect, such as a grandparent, a customer or a boss, the honorific -(으)시- comes before the past: -(으)시- + -었- becomes -(으)셨-. → (gasyeosseoyo), → (ilgeusyeosseoyo), → (hasyeosseoyo). With nouns it is -(이)셨어요: (seonsaengnimisyeosseoyo).
Verbs with their own honorific form use it in the past too: (deusyeosseoyo, ate), (jumusyeosseoyo, slept), (gyesyeosseoyo, were somewhere). (siksahasyeosseoyo?, have you eaten?) is a common polite greeting around mealtimes.
- 할머니, 그때 몇 살이셨어요?Halmeoni, geuttae myeot sarisyeosseoyo?Grandma, how old were you then?
- 식사하셨어요?Siksahasyeosseoyo?Have you eaten? (a polite greeting)
- 안녕히 주무셨어요?Annyeonghi jumusyeosseoyo?Good morning. (Did you sleep well?)
- 사장님은 벌써 퇴근하셨어요.Sajangnimeun beolsseo toegeunhasyeosseoyo.The boss has already left for the day.
The past in other styles
The past marker -았- / -었- stays the same in every style; only the final ending changes. In the formal style it is -았습니다 / -었습니다 / 했습니다, with questions in -습니까?. In casual speech, drop the -요: (gasseo). In writing, the plain form is -았다 / -었다 / 했다.
Remember that the romanisation follows the sound: is said gat-sseum-ni-da and written gatseumnida, and (kkeunnatseumnida, it's finished) is said kkeun-nat-sseum-ni-da.
| Verb | Polite | Formal | Casual | Written |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (gada) to go | (gasseoyo) | (gatseumnida) | (gasseo) | (gatda) |
| (meokda) to eat | (meogeosseoyo) | (meogeotseumnida) | (meogeosseo) | (meogeotda) |
| (hada) to do | (haesseoyo) | (haetseumnida) | (haesseo) | (haetda) |
| (haksaengida) to be a student | (haksaengieosseoyo) | (haksaengieotseumnida) | (haksaengieosseo) | (haksaengieotda) |
- 회의가 끝났습니다.Hoeuiga kkeunnatseumnida.The meeting is over.
- 대학교에서 디자인을 전공했습니다.Daehakgyoeseo dijaineul jeongonghaetseumnida.I majored in design at university.
- 어제 뭐 했어?Eoje mwo haesseo?What did you do yesterday? (casual)
- 서울에 첫눈이 내렸다.Seoure cheonnuni naeryeotda.The first snow fell in Seoul.
Past states and -았/었었-
Some verbs describe a change, so their past tells you about the present state: (gyeolhonhaesseoyo) means “I'm married” (literally “I got married”), (neujeosseoyo) “I'm late” and (da dwaesseoyo) “it's ready”, “it's done”.
Doubling the past marker, -았었- / -었었-, stresses that something was true in the past but isn't any more, or feels far away: (eoril ttaeneun sigore sarasseosseoyo), I used to live in the countryside as a child. The simple past is often enough, so don't overuse it.
- 저는 결혼했어요.Jeoneun gyeolhonhaesseoyo.I'm married.
- 죄송해요, 늦었어요.Joesonghaeyo, neujeosseoyo.Sorry, I'm late.
- 어릴 때는 시골에 살았었어요.Eoril ttaeneun sigore sarasseosseoyo.I used to live in the countryside when I was little.
- 예전에는 담배를 피웠었어요.Yejeoneneun dambaereul piwosseosseoyo.I used to smoke (but I don't any more).