4 · The written style
The plain written style: -ㄴ/는다, -다, -았다
the style of newspapers, essays and diaries
Written texts end their sentences in the plain style: verbs in -ㄴ/는다, adjectives in -다, the past in -았/었다.
Texts that are not addressed to a particular listener — newspaper articles, essays, reports, textbooks, diaries, the narration of a novel — end their sentences in the plain style. For an action verb in the present it is -는다 after a consonant (먹는다, 읽는다) and a final -n plus 다 after a vowel (간다, 마신다). A stem in l loses it first: 살다 → 산다, 만들다 → 만든다.
Adjectives, and 있다 and 없다, simply keep their dictionary form: 한국의 여름은 덥다, 시간이 없다. The copula is 이다: 학생이다, and after a vowel often just 다: 의사다. The past is -았/었다 for everything (갔다, 먹었다, 했다, 좋았다), and the future or a conjecture is written out in full, 갈 것이다 — not the spoken 갈 거다 — or expressed with -겠다.
The one mistake almost every learner makes is to end a verb sentence in the dictionary form: 나는 커피를 마시다. The dictionary form is only correct for adjectives; a verb needs 마신다. The test is simple: if the word can take -는 before a noun (마시는 사람), it takes -는다 or its short form at the end of a written sentence. The only exceptions are 있다 and 없다: 맛있는 음식, but 음식이 맛있다.
The plain style looks exactly like the intimate plain speech of 반말 (밥 먹는다), but on paper it carries no intimacy at all: it is neutral, because there is nobody to be polite to. With it go a few other choices: an essay writer says 나 or 우리 rather than 저, writes 것이 rather than 게, and avoids the contractions of speech.
The form
| verb after a consonant | 먹다 → 먹는다 |
| verb after a vowel | 가다 → 간다 |
| verb stem ending in l | 살다 → 산다 |
| adjective | 좋다 → 좋다 |
| copula | 학생이다 / 의사다 |
| past and future | 갔다 / 갈 것이다 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
An action verb takes -는다 after a consonant and a final -n plus 다 after a vowel.
나는 매일 아침 여섯 시에 일어난다.I get up at six every morning.
Adjectives, 있다 and 없다 keep the dictionary form.
이 방은 아주 조용하다.This room is very quiet.
The copula is 이다; after a vowel it may shorten to 다.
내 꿈은 의사다.My dream is to be a doctor.
The past is -았/었다; the future is written in full with 것이다.
이 문제는 쉽게 해결되지 않을 것이다.This problem will not be solved easily.
An essay uses 나 or 우리, never the humble 저.
나는 그 결정이 옳았다고 생각한다.I believe that decision was right.
A closer look
Neutral on paper, blunt in speech
The same forms serve two very different purposes. Spoken to someone, 간다 or 먹는다 is plain speech between close friends, or to a child; used to an older stranger it would be rude. Written in an article or a diary, the identical form is the neutral default, because it addresses no one. That is why a learner's polite essay full of -아요 reads oddly: it sounds as if the writer were talking to a particular reader.
Questions exist in the written style too, mostly in essays that ask something of themselves: -는가 for verbs (가는가) and the modifier form plus 가 for adjectives (좋은가) — 왜 사람들은 도시로 떠나는가?, “why do people leave for the cities?”.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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the verb stem ends in l
the l drops before the short ending: 살다 → 산다, 알다 → 안다, 만들다 → 만든다.
그는 서울에서 혼자 산다.He lives alone in Seoul.
The l of a stem falls away before an ending that starts with n, as it does in 사는 and 아니까. The result can look like another verb: 산다 is both “lives” and “buys”, and only the context tells.
How to spot it
- -ㄴ다
- -는다
- -다
- -았다/었다
- 것이다
- 나는
- 우리는
Example sentences
한국의 여름은 덥고 습하다.Summer in Korea is hot and humid.
어제 오랜만에 고향 친구를 만났다.Yesterday I met a friend from my home town for the first time in ages.
그는 매일 신문을 읽는다.He reads the newspaper every day.
주말에는 많은 사람들이 산에 간다.At the weekend many people go to the mountains.
서울은 한국의 수도이다.Seoul is the capital of Korea.
요즘 혼자 사는 사람이 늘고 있다.The number of people living alone is growing.
8 more example sentences
물은 백 도에서 끓는다.Water boils at a hundred degrees.
오늘은 하루 종일 비가 왔다.It rained all day today.
그녀는 창밖을 바라보며 아무 말도 하지 않았다.She looked out of the window and said nothing.
아이들은 공원에서 공을 찬다.The children are kicking a ball in the park.
이 지역에는 오래된 절이 많다.There are many old temples in this region.
그때 나는 그 말의 뜻을 몰랐다.At the time I did not understand what those words meant.
내일은 전국에 눈이 내리겠다.Tomorrow it will snow across the country.
우리는 매년 여름 바다로 여행을 떠난다.Every summer we go on holiday to the sea.
Worth knowing (1)
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Headlines drop the ending altogether
Newspaper headlines go one step further and often end in a noun, with no verb ending at all: 내일 전국에 비, “rain across the country tomorrow”. A headline that does end in a verb uses the plain style.
주말 동안 전국에 많은 비.Heavy rain across the country over the weekend.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The dictionary form ends in -다, and so does the written style — but only for adjectives are the two the same. An action verb in a written sentence needs -는다 or its short form: 마신다, 먹는다. 마시다 at the end of a sentence reads like a word-list entry.
In writing, adjectives stay as they are; verbs say -n-da or -neun-da.
Your turn
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