Present tense
Korean verbs conjugate — but not for person or number. A verb changes for tense, for politeness and for honour, and the same ending serves I, you, she and they. The dictionary form ends in -다; strip it and you have the stem everything is built on.
| dictionary | stem | polite present | plain present | formal present |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 가다 go | 가- | 가요 | 가 | 갑니다 |
| 먹다 eat | 먹- | 먹어요 | 먹어 | 먹습니다 |
| 하다 do | 하- | 해요 | 해 | 합니다 |
| 있다 be, have | 있- | 있어요 | 있어 | 있습니다 |
The polite present: -아요 / -어요
The workhorse ending. Choose by the last vowel of the stem: ㅏ or ㅗ take -아요, everything else -어요, and 하다 becomes 해요:
| stem vowel | ending | example |
|---|---|---|
| ㅏ, ㅗ | -아요 | 가다 → 가요 (the two 아 merge) · 보다 → 봐요 · 살다 → 살아요 |
| other | -어요 | 먹다 → 먹어요 · 배우다 → 배워요 · 읽다 → 읽어요 · 마시다 → 마셔요 |
| 하다 | 해요 | 공부하다 → 공부해요 · 일하다 → 일해요 |
The same form is a statement, a question (with rising pitch), a suggestion and a mild command. 가요. I go / let's go. 가요? Are you going?
The formal present: -습니다 / -ㅂ니다
After a consonant stem -습니다 (먹습니다), after a vowel stem -ㅂ니다 (갑니다). Questions end -습니까 / -ㅂ니까. News, speeches, the army, shop staff to customers.
The plain present: -아 / -어
The polite form minus 요: 가, 먹어, 해. Friends and juniors only.
Honorific -시-
When the subject is someone you respect, -시- goes into the stem before the ending: 가다 → 가시다 → 가세요 (polite) / 가십니다 (formal). 선생님이 오세요. "The teacher is coming." A learner who uses 가세요 for "you go" and 가요 for "I go" has got the essential thing.
Progressive: -고 있다
먹고 있어요. — "I'm eating (right now)."
The plain present already covers "I eat" and "I'm eating"; -고 있다 insists on the ongoing action, as Vietnamese đang does.
"To be": three verbs
| verb | for | example |
|---|---|---|
| 이다 | noun = noun (attaches to the noun) | 학생이에요 / 학생입니다 — "(I) am a student"; after a vowel 의사예요 |
| 있다 | existence, location, possession | 집에 있어요 — "(I)'m at home"; 시간 있어요? — "Do you have time?" |
| -다 adjectives | states — adjectives are verbs | 바빠요 — "(I) am busy"; 좋아요 — "it's good" |
Never 이다 before an adjective: adjectives conjugate on their own (see Adjectives).
"Can": -ㄹ 수 있다
한국어 할 수 있어요. — "I can speak Korean." 수영할 수 있어요? — "Can you swim?"
Literally "there exists a way to do": -ㄹ/을 수 "a way" + 있다. The negative is -ㄹ 수 없다 or 못 + verb.
If you speak Vietnamese
Vietnamese leaves the verb alone and puts politeness in the pronoun; Korean leaves the pronoun out and puts politeness in the verb. Everything else lines up: đang is -고 있다, là is 이다 (and only for nouns), có is 있다 for both "there is" and "have", and adjectives need no copula on either side.
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