4 · Helping verbs and modal patterns
Going on and coming along: -아/어 가다/오다
an action stretched out over time
-아/어 오다 says that something has gone on up to now; -아/어 가다 that it goes on from now, or is nearly finished.
At a glance
- Remember
- A oda: it has come up to now. A gada: it goes on from here, or nearly reaches its end.
- Form
- 가르치다 → 가르쳐 왔어요up to now
- Signal words
- -아/어 오다
- -아/어 가다
- 지금까지
- 앞으로
- 거의
- 점점
- Trap
- Wrong:지금까지 열심히 일했어 왔어요.Right:지금까지 열심히 일해 왔어요.
Your turn
10 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| up to now | 가르치다 → 가르쳐 왔어요 |
| from now on | 노력하다 → 노력해 가겠습니다 |
| nearly finished | 하다 → 다 해 가요 |
| ready soon | 되다 → 다 돼 가요 |
| a change through -아/어지다 | 추워져 가요 |
| one word | 살아오다, 살아가다 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
-아/어 오다 says that something has gone on from the past up to now.
저는 이 회사에서 오랫동안 일해 왔어요.I have worked at this company for a long time.
-아/어 가다 says that something goes on from now into the future.
앞으로도 계속 배워 갈 거예요.I will keep on learning from now on.
With 다, “all”, -아/어 가다 says that the end is near.
숙제를 거의 다 해 가요.I have almost finished my homework.
Tense and politeness go on 가다 or 오다, not on the main verb.
지금까지 혼자 잘해 왔어요.Up to now I have managed well on my own.
Example sentences
지금까지 열심히 살아왔어요.I have lived my life diligently up to now.
그 가게는 삼십 년 동안 같은 자리를 지켜 왔어요.That shop has stood in the same place for thirty years.
밥이 거의 다 돼 가요.The rice is almost ready.
이 책은 거의 다 읽어 가요.I have nearly finished this book.
앞으로 두 사람이 행복하게 살아가기를 바랍니다.I wish the two of you a happy life together.
날씨가 점점 따뜻해져 가요.The weather is getting warmer and warmer.
7 more example sentences
저희 가족은 이 동네에서 대대로 살아왔어요.My family has lived in this neighbourhood for generations.
지금까지 많은 사람들의 도움을 받아 왔어요.I have received help from many people up to now.
보고서를 거의 다 써 가요.I have almost finished writing the report.
아이가 점점 아빠를 닮아 가요.The child is looking more and more like their dad.
그동안 모아 온 돈으로 여행을 가요.I'm going travelling with the money I have saved up.
두 나라는 오랫동안 좋은 관계를 유지해 왔습니다.The two countries have kept good relations for a long time.
약속 시간이 다 돼 가요.It's almost time for the appointment.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The main verb only takes the linking -아/어; everything else — the past, the politeness — goes on 오다: 일해 왔어요. This is the same rule as for every helping verb: 먹어 봤어요, never 먹었어 봤어요.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
After -아/어, the verbs of motion 가다 and 오다 stop meaning movement and start meaning time. Picture the speaker standing in the present. Something that has been going on and reaches up to where the speaker stands “comes”: 십 년 동안 한국어를 가르쳐 왔어요, “I have been teaching Korean for ten years”.
Something that starts at the present and moves away into the future “goes”: 앞으로도 열심히 해 가겠습니다, “we will keep working hard”. And something that is moving towards its end “goes” too: 숙제를 거의 다 해 가요, “I have nearly finished my homework”, 밥이 다 돼 가요, “the rice is almost ready”.
The stem takes -아/어 as in -아요/어요, and tense and politeness go on 가다 or 오다, never on the main verb: 일해 왔어요, not 일했어 왔어요. With an adjective, the change usually comes through -아/어지다 first: 날씨가 점점 추워져 가요.
Some of these have become words of their own and are written together: 살아오다, “to have lived (one's life)”, 살아가다, “to go on living”. And sometimes the motion is meant literally: 빵을 사 가요 is “I buy bread and take it with me”, which only the context separates from the time meaning.
A closer look
The speaker as the point of reference
Korean uses 가다 and 오다 strictly from the speaker's point of view, also in space: you “come” to where the speaker is and “go” anywhere else. The time meaning keeps that picture. The present is where the speaker stands; the past “comes” towards it, the future “goes” away from it.
That is why -아/어 오다 pairs with 지금까지, “until now”, and -아/어 가다 with 앞으로, “from now on”. An action that runs from the past through the present into the future can use both: 지금까지 해 왔고 앞으로도 해 갈 거예요.
Worth knowing (1)
-
Almost there: 다 돼 가요
다 돼 가요, “it's nearly done”, is the everyday answer when somebody asks whether you are ready, whether the food is ready, or whether the work is finished.
준비 다 됐어요? — 네, 거의 다 돼 가요.Are you ready? — Yes, nearly.
How well do you know this topic?
This is filled in automatically after you practise. You can change it here at any time.
Next on the path: 181 · The written nominaliser -음: 있음, 없음, 알림Back to the learning path