The Past Tense: -았어요/었어요
Talk about what happened with the polite past tense -았어요/었어요/했어요, including contractions like 갔어요, 왔어요, 마셨어요 and 됐어요.
Mr. Gaon · Grammar, vocabulary & TOPIKWhat you will learn in this lesson
- Make the past tense of any regular verb
- Use contracted past forms like 갔어요, 봤어요, 배웠어요
- Say “was N” with 이었어요/였어요
- Use time words like 어제, 지난주, 작년
Good news! If you studied the present tense lesson, you already know 90% of the past tense. The past tense uses the same ㅏ/ㅗ rule and the same contractions. We only add one extra piece: ㅆ.
The idea: present form + ㅆ어요
Take the polite present form, remove 요, add ㅆ as a final consonant, then add 어요.
가요 → 가 + ㅆ → 갔 + 어요 → 갔어요 “went”
먹어요 → 먹어 + ㅆ → 먹었 + 어요 → 먹었어요 “ate”
해요 → 해 + ㅆ → 했 + 어요 → 했어요 “did”
Another way to say the same rule: if the last stem vowel is ㅏ or ㅗ, add -았어요. Otherwise add -었어요. 하다 becomes 했어요. The ending is always 어요 after ㅆ, never 아요.
polite past tense
- Last vowel ㅏ or ㅗ → -았어요: 살다 → 살았어요, 좋다 → 좋았어요.
- Any other vowel → -었어요: 먹다 → 먹었어요, 읽다 → 읽었어요.
- 하다 → 했어요: 공부하다 → 공부했어요.
- Vowel stems contract just like the present: 가다 → 갔어요, 오다 → 왔어요.
- The past tense can describe one finished action (“I ate”) or a past state (“It was good”).
- 어제 친구를 만났어요. [어제 친구를 만나써요] eoje chingureul mannasseoyo.I met a friend yesterday.
- 점심을 먹었어요? [점시믈 머거써요] jeomsimeul meogeosseoyo?Did you have lunch?
- 주말에 청소했어요. [주마레 청소해써요] jumare cheongsohaesseoyo.I cleaned on the weekend.
- 영화가 정말 좋았어요. [영화가 정말 조아써요] yeonghwaga jeongmal joasseoyo.The movie was really good.
- 책을 다 읽었어요. [채글 다 일거써요] chaegeul da ilgeosseoyo.I finished reading the book.
Present and past side by side
| Dictionary form | Present | Past | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 가다 | 가요 | 갔어요 | went |
| 오다 | 와요 | 왔어요 | came |
| 보다 | 봐요 | 봤어요 | saw, watched |
| 먹다 | 먹어요 | 먹었어요 | ate |
| 배우다 | 배워요 | 배웠어요 | learned |
| 마시다 | 마셔요 | 마셨어요 | drank |
| 보내다 | 보내요 | 보냈어요 | sent |
| 되다 | 돼요 | 됐어요 | became; was okay |
| 쓰다 | 써요 | 썼어요 | wrote, used |
| 하다 | 해요 | 했어요 | did |
| 있다 | 있어요 | 있었어요 | there was, had |
| 없다 | 없어요 | 없었어요 | there wasn’t, didn’t have |
Pronunciation: 갔어요 [가써요], 먹었어요 [머거써요], 있었어요 [이써써요], 없었어요 [업써써요].
Notice the spelling 됐어요. Just like 돼요, it comes from 되 + 었 → 됐. Learners and even native speakers sometimes write 됬어요, but that is incorrect. Now you know the logic behind it.
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was N
- After a consonant: 이었어요 — 학생이었어요.
- After a vowel: 였어요 — 의사였어요.
- The negative is N이/가 아니었어요: 학생이 아니었어요.
- 작년에는 학생이었어요. [장녀네는 학쌩이어써요] jangnyeoneneun haksaengieosseoyo.I was a student last year.
- 그 사람은 가수였어요. [그 사라믄 가수여써요] geu sarameun gasuyeosseoyo.That person was a singer.
- 어제는 제 생일이었어요. [어제는 제 생이리어써요] eojeneun je saengirieosseoyo.Yesterday was my birthday.
- 그건 제 실수가 아니었어요. [그건 제 실쑤가 아니어써요] geugeon je silsuga anieosseoyo.That wasn’t my mistake.
Irregular verbs in the past
Verbs that are irregular in the present are irregular in the past in the same way. If you know the present form, just change 요 to ㅆ어요.
덥다: 더워요 → 더웠어요 (was hot)
춥다: 추워요 → 추웠어요 (was cold)
듣다: 들어요 → 들었어요 (listened, heard)
걷다: 걸어요 → 걸었어요 (walked)
모르다: 몰라요 → 몰랐어요 (didn’t know)
바쁘다: 바빠요 → 바빴어요 (was busy)
Past time words
- 어제 eoje yesterday
- 그저께 geujeokke the day before yesterday
- 지난주 jinanju last week
- 지난달 [지난딸] jinandal last month
- 작년 [장년] jangnyeon last year
- 아까 akka a little while ago
- 전에 jeone before, previously
- 방금 banggeum just now
- 처음 cheoeum for the first time
Present or past?
- 밥 먹어요. [밥 머거요] bap meogeoyo. I eat / I’m eating. Present: now or habit.
- 밥 먹었어요. [밥 머거써요] bap meogeosseoyo. I ate. / I have eaten. Past: also used where English says “have eaten”.
- 결혼했어요. [결혼해써요] gyeolhonhaesseoyo. I’m married. (I got married.) Korean uses the past tense for a state that started in the past and continues now.
- 알았어요. [아라써요] arasseoyo. Got it. / Okay, I understand. A very common reply. The past form shows you understood what was just said.
Talking about your weekend
- 주말에 뭐 했어요? [주마레 뭐 해써요] jumare mwo haesseoyo? What did you do on the weekend?
- 한강 공원에 갔어요. [한강 공워네 가써요] hangang gongwone gasseoyo. I went to Hangang Park.
- 거기서 자전거를 탔어요. [거기서 자전거를 타써요] geogiseo jajeongeoreul tasseoyo. I rode a bike there.
- 날씨가 조금 추웠어요. [날씨가 조금 추워써요] nalssiga jogeum chuwosseoyo. The weather was a little cold.
- 저녁에 치킨을 시켰어요. [저녀게 치키늘 시켜써요] jeonyeoge chikineul sikyeosseoyo. I ordered chicken for dinner.
Monday morning
Telling a short story
When you tell a story about the past, you don’t need to use the past tense in every small word, only in the verbs at the end of each sentence. Start with a time word to set the scene, then add the place and the action.
어제 친구하고 시장에 갔어요. 거기서 떡볶이를 먹었어요. 조금 매웠어요. 그리고 옷을 샀어요.
“Yesterday I went to the market with a friend. I ate tteokbokki there. It was a bit spicy. And I bought clothes.”
Notice how each sentence is short and ends with a past verb. This simple style is perfect for beginner stories, diaries and messages to friends.
Check quiz
Q1. Past tense of 가다:
Q2. Past tense of 마시다:
Q3. Which spelling is correct?
Q4. “I was a doctor.”
Q5. Past tense of 공부하다:
Q6. Past tense of 춥다 (to be cold):
Wonderful! You can now tell stories about your day. Tonight, try writing three sentences about what you did today. In the next lesson, we will look to the future.
Key points
- Past = stem + 았어요 (ㅏ/ㅗ) / 었어요 (others) / 했어요 (하다).
- Vowel stems contract: 갔어요, 왔어요, 봤어요, 배웠어요, 마셨어요.
- 되다 → 됐어요 (never 됬어요).
- N이었어요 after a consonant, N였어요 after a vowel.
- Irregular verbs follow their present form: 더웠어요, 들었어요, 몰랐어요.
- Korean past tense can express a current state: 결혼했어요.
Recommended official free resources
- Korean Spelling & Standard Pronunciation rules — National Institute of Korean Language
- Everyone’s Korean (모두의 한국어) — Ministry of Education
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