1 · Verb endings and speech levels
Verb stem: cutting off 다
dictionary form and stem
Every verb is listed with 다 at the end; take it off, and what is left is the stem that all endings attach to.
A dictionary lists Korean verbs with 다 at the end: 먹다(eat)가다(go)공부하다(study) This dictionary form is a label, rather like the English "to eat"; in conversation it is hardly ever used as it stands. Take 다 away and you have the stem — 먹-, 가-, 공부하- — and every ending is built onto that stem: 먹어요, 먹고, 먹지만, 먹었어요.
Korean adjectives work in exactly the same way, because they are a kind of verb: 좋다 (good) has the stem 좋-, 크다 (big) the stem 크-, and they take the same endings: 좋아요, 커요. Even "to be", 이다, has a stem, 이-, which is attached to the noun before it.
Two things about a stem decide how its endings look. The first is how it ends: in a vowel (가-, 마시-), in a consonant (먹-, 읽-), or in l (살-, 만들-), which behaves like a vowel in some places and drops in others. The second is its last vowel: an a or o (살-, 보-) takes different endings from any other vowel (먹-, 마시-). Verbs made from a noun and 하다 keep the noun and conjugate only 하다.
English speakers sometimes try to put an ending after 다, as if it were part of the word, or use the bare dictionary form in speech, which sounds blunt or unfinished. Going the other way is a skill worth practising: when you hear 먹었어요, peel the endings off until the stem is left, add 다, and you have the word to look up.
The form
| dictionary form | 먹다, 가다, 공부하다 |
| stem: take off the last syllable | 먹-, 가-, 공부하- |
| stem ending in a consonant | 먹-, 읽-, 앉- |
| stem ending in a vowel | 가-, 보-, 마시- |
| stem ending in l | 살-, 만들-, 알- |
| adjectives and "to be" | 좋-, 크-, 이- |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
Take 다 off the dictionary form to find the stem.
저는 매일 빵을 먹어요.I eat bread every day.
Endings attach to the stem, never to 다.
친구를 만나고 집에 가요.I meet a friend and then go home.
A verb in 하다 keeps its noun and conjugates only 하다.
저녁에 운동하고 쉬어요.In the evening I exercise and then rest.
Whether the stem ends in a vowel or a consonant decides the shape of many endings.
천천히 읽으세요.Please read slowly.
Adjectives have stems too, and take the same endings.
날씨가 좋아요.The weather is nice.
A closer look
From what you hear back to the dictionary
In real speech you meet verbs with several endings on them, and to look one up you have to undo them. Take off the polite 요, then the ending 어, then the past syllable 었: 먹었어요 → 먹었어 → 먹었- → 먹- → 먹다. With practice this takes no time at all.
Stems that end in a vowel are harder, because the vowel of the ending often melts into them: 가요 comes from 가다, 봐요 from 보다, 마셔요 from 마시다, and 해요 from every verb in 하다. The next topic shows these merges one by one, and after a few weeks they are recognised at a glance.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
-
the verb is irregular
the last sound of the stem changes before some endings: 듣다 → 들어요, 춥다 → 추워요.
음악을 들어요.I am listening to music.
The dictionary form shows the stem as it sounds before a consonant. Before a vowel, a few stem endings have shifted over time, and the spelling follows the sound.
How to spot it
- -다
- 먹-
- 가-
- 하다
Example sentences
아이가 책을 읽어요.The child is reading a book.
저는 서울에 살아요.I live in Seoul.
여기에 앉으세요.Please sit here.
이 가방은 작아요.This bag is small.
주말에 친구를 만나고 영화를 봐요.At the weekend I meet friends and see a film.
그 단어를 사전에서 찾았어요.I looked that word up in the dictionary.
8 more example sentences
창문을 닫아요.I close the window.
형은 은행에서 일하고 저는 학교에 다녀요.My brother works at a bank and I go to school.
이 방은 아주 넓어요.This room is very spacious.
손을 씻으세요.Please wash your hands.
사진을 찍었어요.I took a photo.
이 신발은 편하고 예뻐요.These shoes are comfortable and pretty.
친구가 선물을 받았어요.My friend received a present.
저는 강아지를 좋아하지만 고양이는 안 좋아해요.I like dogs, but I do not like cats.
Worth knowing (1)
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When the dictionary form is heard after all
The form ending in 다 does appear in real life: in the plain written style of newspapers and diaries, and in speech as an exclamation when an adjective bursts out of somebody.
와, 맛있다!Wow, this is delicious!
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
다 is not part of what you conjugate; it is only the label the dictionary uses. Take it off first, then add the ending to the stem: 먹- plus -어요 is 먹어요.
Da is only the label: cut it off and build on the stem.
Your turn
9 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.