Korean Verb Conjugation: The Complete Guide (Tenses, Irregulars, Negation)

Korean verb conjugation looks intimidating but reduces to four moves: find the stem, pick the tense, pick the politeness level, apply irregulars where needed. This complete guide covers all three tenses, every irregular type, negation, and the 20 most-used Korean verbs fully conjugated.

Understanding the Building Blocks of Korean Verbs

Every Korean verb in the dictionary ends in -다 (-da). To conjugate, you remove -다 and what's left is the stem. Every conjugation rule is built on top of this stem.

Finding the Verb Stem (The Most Important Skill)

The procedure:

1. Take the dictionary form: 가다 (to go)
2. Remove -다: 가
3. The stem is 가-.

Dictionary Form	Meaning	Stem
먹다 (meokda)	to eat	먹-
마시다 (masida)	to drink	마시-
공부하다 (gongbuhada)	to study	공부하-

Why this matters: every tense, every politeness level, and every irregular pattern is built by attaching endings to the stem. Master stem extraction in your first week and the rest becomes mechanical.

The vowel rule that runs through the whole system: once you have the stem, look at the final vowel of the stem. That vowel determines which ending you attach.

• Stem ends in ㅏ or ㅗ → use -아- endings (가요, 와요)
• Stem ends in any other vowel → use -어- endings (먹어요, 마셔요)
• Stem ends in -하 → use 해 endings (공부해요)

Conjugating Verbs in the Present, Past, and Future

The Present Tense with -아요 and -어요

Polite present tense. Attach -아요 to stems ending in ㅏ/ㅗ, -어요 to all others, -해요 to -하다 verbs.

• 가다 (to go) → 가요
• 먹다 (to eat) → 먹어요
• 마시다 (to drink) → 마셔요 (마시 + 어요 contracts)
• 공부하다 (to study) → 공부해요

The Past Tense with -았어요 and -었어요

Same rule as present, but insert -ㅆ- before -어요.

• 가다 → 갔어요 (went)
• 먹다 → 먹었어요 (ate)
• 마시다 → 마셨어요 (drank)
• 공부하다 → 공부했어요 (studied)

The Future Tense with -(으)ㄹ 거예요

For consonant-ending stems, use -을 거예요. For vowel-ending stems, just -ㄹ 거예요.

• 가다 → 갈 거예요 (will go)
• 먹다 → 먹을 거예요 (will eat)
• 공부하다 → 공부할 거예요 (will study)

Choosing the Right Politeness Level

Korean has three core speech levels you'll use daily:

• Formal (-습니다 / -ㅂ니다): news, formal business, military. 갑니다, 먹습니다.
• Polite (-아요 / -어요): default for most situations. 가요, 먹어요.
• Banmal (no ending): close friends, family. 가, 먹어.

Politeness Levels in Action

Situation	Recommended level
Talking to a boss or customer	Formal (-ㅂ니다) or Polite (-요)
Talking to a stranger or coworker	Polite (-요)
Texting a close friend	Banmal (no -요)
Talking to children	Banmal (no -요)

How to Make Korean Verbs Negative (안 and -지 않다)

Two ways to say "don't" in Korean. Both are equally correct.

Negating a verb is only half of saying "no" — for standalone refusals and polite ways to decline, see our guide on how to say no in Korean.

Method 1: Short Negation with 안

Put 안 directly before the verb. Conversational and common.

• 가요 → 안 가요 ("doesn't go")
• 먹어요 → 안 먹어요 ("doesn't eat")
• 좋아해요 → 안 좋아해요 ("doesn't like")

Exception for -하다 verbs: 안 goes between the noun and 하다. So 공부하다 → 공부 안 해요 (not 안 공부해요).

Method 2: Long Negation with -지 않다

Attach -지 않다 to the stem. Slightly more formal/written.

• 가다 → 가지 않아요
• 먹다 → 먹지 않아요
• 공부하다 → 공부하지 않아요

Which one to use? 안 dominates in speech; -지 않다 dominates in writing. Both are correct.

Top 20 Korean Verbs — Full Conjugation Table

These are the 20 verbs you'll use most often in your first year of Korean. Bookmark this table.

Dictionary	Meaning	Present (polite)	Past (polite)	Future	Type
가다	to go	가요	갔어요	갈 거예요	regular
오다	to come	와요	왔어요	올 거예요	regular
먹다	to eat	먹어요	먹었어요	먹을 거예요	regular
마시다	to drink	마셔요	마셨어요	마실 거예요	regular
보다	to see/watch	봐요	봤어요	볼 거예요	regular
듣다	to listen	들어요	들었어요	들을 거예요	ㄷ irregular
만나다	to meet	만나요	만났어요	만날 거예요	regular
살다	to live	살아요	살았어요	살 거예요	regular
알다	to know	알아요	알았어요	알 거예요	regular
모르다	to not know	몰라요	몰랐어요	모를 거예요	르 irregular
하다	to do	해요	했어요	할 거예요	하 irregular
좋아하다	to like	좋아해요	좋아했어요	좋아할 거예요	하 irregular
공부하다	to study	공부해요	공부했어요	공부할 거예요	하 irregular
쓰다	to write	써요	썼어요	쓸 거예요	ㅡ irregular
크다	to be big	커요	컸어요	클 거예요	ㅡ irregular
바쁘다	to be busy	바빠요	바빴어요	바쁠 거예요	ㅡ irregular
덥다	to be hot	더워요	더웠어요	더울 거예요	ㅂ irregular
춥다	to be cold	추워요	추웠어요	추울 거예요	ㅂ irregular
짓다	to build	지어요	지었어요	지을 거예요	ㅅ irregular
빨갛다	to be red	빨개요	빨갰어요	빨갈 거예요	ㅎ irregular

How to use this table: memorize the present polite form of all 20 first. Then drill past polite. Then future. Once you have these 20 cold, 60–70% of natural Korean speech becomes accessible.

How to Handle Common Irregular Verbs

Korean has 7 irregular verb patterns. Each one is a small set of verbs that breaks the standard rule in a predictable way.

The 'ㅂ' Irregular

When a stem ending in ㅂ meets a vowel-led ending, ㅂ becomes 우.

• 덥다 (to be hot) + 어요 → 더워요
• 춥다 (to be cold) + 어요 → 추워요
• 맵다 (to be spicy) + 어요 → 매워요

The 'ㄷ' Irregular

Stem ㄷ becomes ㄹ before a vowel.

• 듣다 (to listen) + 어요 → 들어요
• 걷다 (to walk) + 어요 → 걸어요

The '르' Irregular

When a stem ends in -르, double the ㄹ before -아/어요.

• 모르다 (to not know) → 몰라요
• 다르다 (to be different) → 달라요
• 빠르다 (to be fast) → 빨라요

The 'ㅡ' (Eu) Irregular

When a stem ends in ㅡ, the ㅡ drops before -아/어 endings. The vowel of the syllable before ㅡ determines whether you use -아 or -어 (default -어 if there's no preceding syllable).

Dictionary	+ -아/어요	Result
쓰다 (to write)	(no preceding syllable, default -어)	써요
크다 (to be big)	(no preceding syllable, default -어)	커요
바쁘다 (to be busy)	preceding ㅏ → use -아	바빠요
예쁘다 (to be pretty)	preceding ㅖ → use -어	예뻐요
슬프다 (to be sad)	preceding ㅡ → default -어	슬퍼요

ㅡ irregular is one of the most common patterns in Korean adjectives. If you can't apply this rule reflexively, you can't describe how you feel.

The 'ㅅ' (Si-os) Irregular

When a stem ending in ㅅ meets a vowel-led ending, the ㅅ drops but the syllable does not contract.

• 짓다 (to build) + 어요 → 지어요
• 낫다 (to be better) + 아요 → 나아요
• 잇다 (to connect) + 어요 → 이어요

Not all ㅅ-ending verbs are irregular. 웃다 (to laugh) is regular: 웃어요. Memorize irregular ones as you encounter them.

The 'ㅎ' (Hieuh) Irregular

Found mostly in color and "this/that/which kind" adjectives. The ㅎ drops, and the stem vowel mutates to ㅐ before vowel-led endings.

• 빨갛다 (to be red) → 빨개요
• 파랗다 (to be blue) → 파래요
• 이렇다 (to be like this) → 이래요
• 어떻다 (how to be) → 어때요

좋다 (to be good) is regular — it keeps the ㅎ: 좋아요.

The 하 (Ha) Irregular

Every verb ending in -하다 conjugates with 해 in present tense.

• 하다 → 해요
• 공부하다 → 공부해요
• 사랑하다 → 사랑해요
• 좋아하다 → 좋아해요

Once you see -하다, you know it's -해요.

Building More Complex Sentences with Verb Endings

Once you can conjugate basic tenses, connectors let you build longer sentences.

Linking Actions with -고 (go)

Attach -고 to the stem to connect two actions: "X and (then) Y."

• 저는 책을 읽고 음악을 들어요. (I read a book and listen to music.)

Showing Contrast with -지만 (jiman)

Attach -지만 to the stem for "but / however."

• 커피는 좋지만 카페인은 싫어요. (I like coffee but I dislike caffeine.)

Explaining Reasons with -(으)니까 (eunikka)

Attach -(으)니까 to give a reason.

• 비가 오니까 우산을 가져가세요. (It's raining, so take an umbrella.)

Putting It All Together

Korean verb conjugation reduces to four moves:

1. Find the stem — drop -다 from the dictionary form.
2. Pick the tense — present, past, future.
3. Pick the politeness level — formal, polite (-요), or banmal.
4. Apply irregulars when the stem fits one of the 7 patterns (ㅂ, ㄷ, 르, ㅡ, ㅅ, ㅎ, 하).

What to drill first: the top 20 verbs in the table above, in polite present and past. Get those automatic before tackling banmal or honorific levels.

Common stuck point: ㅡ irregular trips almost every learner. If you can't conjugate 바쁘다 → 바빠요 without thinking, drill that pattern with 10 different ㅡ-ending verbs before moving on.

For real-time feedback on verb endings while you write, try our review of free Korean grammar checkers — Pusan University and ChatGPT both catch conjugation mistakes the moment you make them.

Next: practice these conjugations live with a native teacher. KTalk Live's free trial includes 25 minutes of one-on-one conversation where you can stress-test your verb endings in real time. Or sharpen pronunciation first with our Korean Tongue Twisters guide.