Lesson 7: Korean Irregulars

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Vocabulary

Korean Irregulars
ㅅ Irregular
ㄷ Irregular
ㅂ Irregular
ㅡ Irregular
르 Irregular
ㄹ Irregular

Irregular Quick Reference (another page)

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Vocabulary

The vocabulary is separated into nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs for the purpose of simplicity.

Click on the English word to see information and examples of that word in use (you probably won’t be able to understand the grammar within the sentences at this point, but it is good to see as you progress through your learning).

A PDF file neatly presenting all of these words, example sentences and extra information can be found here.

You can try to find all of the words from this lesson, and all of the words from every lesson in Unit 1 in a package of twenty five Word Searches.

Nouns:
눈썹 = eyebrow

교사 = teacher

반 = class of students in school

직장 = location of work

벽 = wall

털 = hair (not on head), fur

머리카락 = hair (on head)

저녁 = dinner, evening

점심 = lunch, noonish

옷 = clothes

오전 = morning

오후 = afternoon

여름 = summer

가을 = fall

겨울 = winter

봄 = spring

Verbs:
Conjugate 찾다 = to search for, find

Conjugate 가르치다 = to teach

Conjugate 일하다 = to work

Conjugate 짓다 = to build

Conjugate 가지다 = to own, to possess

Conjugate 잠그다 = to lock

Conjugate 잊다 = to forget

Conjugate 돕다 = to help

Conjugate 주다 = to give

Conjugate 맞다 = to be correct

Adjectives:
Conjugate 쉽다 = to be easy

Conjugate 덥다 = to be hot

Conjugate 그립다 = to miss (a thing)

Conjugate 귀엽다 = to be cute

Conjugate 춥다 = to be cold

Conjugate 어렵다 = to be difficult

Conjugate 더럽다 = to be dirty

Conjugate 바쁘다 = to be busy

Conjugate 같다 = to be the same

Conjugate 안전하다 = to be safe

Conjugate 딱딱하다 = to be hard, to be rigid

Conjugate 부드럽다 = to be soft

Conjugate 가능하다 = to be possible

Conjugate 불가능하다 = to be impossible

Conjugate 예쁘다 = to be pretty

Adverbs:
일찍 = early

매일 = everyday

There are 1050 vocabulary entries in Unit 1. All entries are linked to an audio file.
You can download all of these files in one package here.

For help memorizing these words, try using our mobile app.

You might also want to try listening to all of the words on loop with this Vocabulary Practice video.

 

Irregulars

As with all languages, there are some irregular conjugations that you need to know. Irregulars are applied to certain verbs or adjectives when adding something to the stem of the word. Korean grammar is based on these “additions” that are added to stems. I mentioned this in Lesson 5, but I want to reiterate it here.

There are hundreds of additions that you can add to the stem of a verb or adjective. Some of these additions are conjugations and some of them are grammatical principles that have meaning in a sentence.

You have learned about some of these additions now. For example:

• ~ㄴ/는다 to conjugate to the plain form
• ~아/어 to conjugate to the informal low respect form
• ~아/어요 to conjugate to the informal high respect form
• ~ㅂ/습니다 to conjugate to the formal high respect form
• ~았/었어 to conjugate to the informal low respect form in the past tense
• ~ㄴ/은 added to an adjective to describe an upcoming noun

In future lessons, you will learn about many more of these additions. For example, some of them are:

• ~ㄴ/은 후에 to mean “after”
• ~기 전에 to mean “before”
• ~기 때문에 to mean “because”
• ~아/어서 to mean “because”
• ~(으)면 to mean “when”
• ~아/어야 하다 to mean “one must”
• ~아/어서는 안 되다 to mean “one should not”

Notice that some of these additions start with a vowel, and some of them start with a consonant. Most of the irregulars are applied when adding a vowel to a stem. The ㄹ irregular that is introduced at the end of the lesson is the only irregular that applies when adding a consonant to a stem.

Let’s look at one example before I introduce each irregular one by one. Let’s say we want to conjugate the word “어렵다” into the past tense using the informal low respect form. The following would happen:

어렵다 + ~았/었어 = 어려웠어

Here, you can see that the actual stem of the word changed. This is referred to as the “ㅂ irregular” because the same phenomenon happens with many (but not all) words whose stem ends in “ㅂ”.

As I mentioned previously, most of these irregulars are applied when adding a vowel to a stem.  There are many additions that start with a vowel, and you got a start on learning some of those conjugations in Lessons 5 and 6:

• ~아/어
• ~아/어요
• ~았/었어
• ~았/었어요
• ~았/었습니다
• ~았/었다

As such, this lesson will present the Korean irregulars and how they change as a result of adding these conjugations. In later lessons when you learn about other additions, you can apply what you learned in this lesson to those concepts. For now, let’s get started.

ㅅ Irregular

If the last letter of a word stem ends in ㅅ (for example: 짓다 = to build), the ㅅ gets removed when adding a vowel. For example, when conjugating:

짓다 = to make/build
짓 + 어 = 지어
나는 집을 지어 = I build a house

짓 + 었어요 = 지었어요
저는 집을 지었어요 = I built a house

Notice that this only happens when adding a vowel. When conjugating to the plain form, for example, you only add “~는다” to a stem and thus ㅅ does not get removed. For example:

집을 짓는다 = to  build a house

The reason this irregular is done is to avoid changing the sound of a word completely after conjugating it.

Pronouncing 짓다 sounds like ‘jit-da.’
Pronouncing 지어 sounds like ‘ji-uh’
Pronouncing 짓어 sounds like ‘jis-suh’

The third one (which is incorrect) completely changes the sound of the word stem when a vowel is added (from ‘jit’ to ‘jis.’ Whereas in the second one, the sound of the word stem only changes from ‘jit’ to ‘ji,’ which is much smaller of a difference (especially considering the ‘t’ in the pronunciation of 짓 is not aspirated – which makes it barely audible). I know that is confusing, but if you can’t understand why it is done, that’s fine. Just know that it must be done.

Some other examples of words that follow this irregular are (these words are too difficult for you right now, but I’m just showing you):

낫다 = better (adjective) – You will learn more about this word in Lesson 19
잇다 = to continue (verb)

Common words that this does not apply to are:

웃다 (to laugh) = 저는 웃었어요 = I laughed
벗다 (to take off clothes) = 저는 저의 옷을 벗었어요 = I took off my clothes
씻다 (to wash) = 저는 저의 손을 씻었어요 = I washed my hands

Here is a table with the word “짓다 (to build)” being conjugated using all the honorific forms you have learned so far. The irregular conjugations are in bold. Notice that this only occurs when ~아/어 (or one of its derivatives like ~았/었어요) is added to the verb stem.

짓다 = build	Past	Present	Future
Informal low	지었어	지어	짓겠어
Informal high	지었어요	지어요	짓겠어요
Plain form	지었다	짓는다	짓겠다
Formal high	지었습니다	짓습니다	짓겠습니다

Note that when a word stem has ㅅ as the fourth consonant, this irregular does not apply. For example, this does not apply to 없다, which you will learn about in the next lesson.

 

 

ㄷ irregular

If the last letter of a word stem ends in ㄷ (for example: 걷다 = to walk), the ㄷ gets changed to ㄹ when adding a vowel. This is only done with verbs. For example:

걷다 = to walk
걷 + 어 = 걸어
저는 걸어요 = I walk

걷 + 었어요 = 걸었어요
저는 걸었어요 = I walked

I don’t mean to confuse you, but I will:

걷다 means “to walk.” When conjugating, by adding a vowel it changes to 걸어
Another meaning of 걷다 is “to tuck.” But this meaning of 걷다 does not follow the irregular rule. So when conjugating by adding a vowel, it simply stays as 걷어.
걸다 means “to hang.” When conjugating, by adding a vowel it stays as 걸어

Confusing enough? Let’s look at all three:

	걷다 To walk	걷다 To tuck	걸다 To hang
Past (Informal High)	걸었어요	걷었어요	걸었어요
Present (Informal High)	걸어요	걷어요	걸어요
Future (Informal High)	걷겠어요	걷겠어요	걸겠어요

Honestly, though, the whole 걷다/걷다/걸다 thing is probably the most confusing part of this conjugation, and don’t worry too much about it. “Walk” is a word that is used much more frequently than “tuck,” so it is not something that comes up a lot.

The reason this conjugation is done is simply because the sounds flows off your tongue better. It is similar to pronouncing the word “butter” in English. When pronouncing “butter” we don’t say “butt-tter,” we just say “bud-er.” Like the ㄷ irregular, it is simply to avoid saying a hard consonant.

This is done to most stems ending in ㄷ. Common words that this does not apply to (like 걷다 = to tuck) are:

받다 (to get/receive) = 돈을 받았어요 = I received money
묻다 = 묻어요 (to bury) = 저는 저의 강아지를 묻었어요 = I buried my dog
닫다 = 닫아요 (to close) = 저는 문을 닫았어요 = I closed the door

Here is a table with the word “걷다 (to walk)” being conjugated using all the honorific forms you have learned so far. The irregular conjugations are in bold. Notice that this only occurs when ~아/어 (or one of its derivatives like ~았/었어요) is added to the verb stem.

걷다 = walk	Past	Present	Future
Informal low	걸었어	걸어	걷겠어
Informal high	걸었어요	걸어요	걷겠어요
Plain form	걸었다	걷는다	걷겠다
Formal high	걸었습니다	걷습니다	걷겠습니다

 

 

ㅂ Irregular

If the last letter of a word stem ends in ㅂ (쉽다 = easy), the ㅂ changes to 우 when adding a vowel. 우 then gets added to the next syllable in the conjugated word.

This is mostly done with adjectives. Many verbs end with ㅂ but this rule is rarely applied to verbs (some of the few verbs where this rule applies are: 줍다 (to pick up), 눕다 (to lie down)). For example:

쉽다 = to be easy
쉽 + 어 = 쉬 + 우 + 어 = 쉬워
그것은 쉬워 = That is easy

어렵다 = to be difficult
어렵 + 어요 = 어려 + 우 + 어요 = 어려워요
그것은 어려워요 = That is difficult

귀엽다 = cute
귀엽 + 어요 = 귀여 + 우 + 어요 = 귀여워요
그 여자는 귀여워요 = That girl is cute

In the words “돕다” (to help) and “곱다” (an uncommon way to say “beautiful”) ㅂ changes to 오 instead of 우. For example:

돕다 = to help
돕 + 았어요 = 도 + 오 + 았어요 = 도왔어요
저는 저의 어머니를 도왔어요 = I helped my mother

Note: The ㅂ in 돕다 and 곱다 changes to 오 only when ~아/어 (or any derivative like ~았/었다 or ~아/어요) is added. When adding any other vowel, ㅂ changes to 우. As of now, you haven’t learned when you would need to add a different vowel. For example, in future lessons you will learn about adding ~ㄹ/을 to verbs. When this gets added to 돕다, it changes to 도울. This isn’t immediately pressing to you now, but you should make a mental note of it.

Because the ㅂ irregular is found in adjectives, you will be conjugating it not only at the end of a sentence, but also in the middle of a sentence (before a noun). Remember the difference between these two sentences.

사과는 크다 = Apples are big
나는 큰 사과를 좋아한다 = I like big apples

In the first sentence, ‘big’ is an adjective that describes the noun (apple) at the end of the sentence.
In the second, ‘big’ describes the apple (as ‘a big apple’) and then “like” acts on the noun. In Lesson 4, you learned how to describe a noun by placing an adjective with ~ㄴ/은 before it. Adding ~ㄴ/은 to adjectives where the stem ends in “ㅂ” causes this irregular to come into play.

When placing an adjective (who’s stem ends in “ㅂ”)  before a noun to describe it, you add ~ㄴ to the newly formed 우/오 syllable:

귀엽 + ㄴ = 귀여 + 우 + ㄴ = 귀여운
저는 귀여운 여자를 좋아해요 = I like cute girls

More examples:
쉽다 = easy
쉽 + ㄴ = 쉬 + 우 + ㄴ = 쉬운
저는 쉬운 일을 했어요 = I did easy work

부드럽다 = soft
부드럽 + ㄴ = 부드러 + 우 + ㄴ = 부드러운
나는 부드러운 손이 있어= I have soft hands

춥다 = cold
춥 + ㄴ = 추 + 우 + ㄴ = 추운
저는 추운 날씨를 좋아해요 = I like cold weather

Note that in most irregulars, the word changes differently if the last vowel in the stem is ㅗ OR ㅏ. However, in the ㅂ irregular, except for 돕다 and 곱다, all applicable words are changed by adding 우. Therefore, even in words where the last vowel in the stem is ㅏ (ex: 아름답다) or ㅗ (ex: 새롭다), 우 is added. For example:

아름답다 = beautiful:
아름답 + 어요 = 아름다 + 우 + 어요 = 아름다워요
그 여자는 아름다워요 = That girl is beautiful

새롭다 = new
새롭 + 어요 = 새로 + 우 + 어요 = 새로워요
그 학교는 새로워요 = That school is new
그것은 새로운 학교예요 = That (thing) is a new school

Probably the most confusing of all irregulars, mainly because it seems strange that ㅂ can change to 우/오. The reason this happens is similar to the ㅅ irregular. As you know already, when pronouncing a syllable with the last letter ㅂ, you don’t really pronounce the ‘B’ sound. If you don’t know what I mean, check out the Pronunciation guide. But, if you add a vowel after ㅂ the sound of ‘B’ would be pronounced. The purpose of the irregular is to eliminate the ‘B’ sound which isn’t actually in the word. Confusing? Yes, I know, but again, you don’t really need to care about why it is done.

This is done to some words ending in ㅂ. Some common words in which this does not apply:

좁다 (narrow) = 이 방은 좁아요 = This room is narrow
잡다 (to catch/grab) = 저는 공을 잡았어요 = I caught the ball
넓다 (wide) 이 방은 넓어요 = This room is wide
(Korean people often describe a room/place being “big” by saying it is “wide”)

Here is a table with the word “춥다 (cold)” being conjugated using all the honorific forms you have learned so far. The irregular conjugations are in bold. Notice that this only occurs when ~아/어 (or one of its derivatives like ~았/었어요) is added to the verb stem.

춥다 = cold	Past	Present	Future
Informal low	추웠어	추워	춥겠어
Informal high	추웠어요	추워요	춥겠어요
Plain form	추웠다	춥다	춥겠다
Formal high	추웠습니다	춥습니다	춥겠습니다
Adjective form	추운 날씨 = cold weather

 

ㅡ Irregular

If the final letter in a stem is ㅡ (for example: 잠그다 = to lock), when adding ~아/어, you can not determine whether you need to add ~어 or ~아 to the stem by looking at ㅡ. Instead, you must look at the vowel in the second last syllable. For example, in the word 잠그다, the second last syllable in the stem is 잠, and the vowel here is ㅏ. We use the same rules as above to determine  whether 아 or 어 is added. If the vowel in the second last syllable is ㅏ or ㅗ, 아 is added. If the vowel in the second last syllable is anything other than ㅏ or ㅗ, 어 is added. For example:

Where the vowel in the second last syllable is ㅏ or ㅗ:
잠그다 + ~아/어
= 잠그아

Where the vowel in the second last syllable is anything butㅏ or ㅗ:
슬프다 + ~아/어
= 슬프어

Unfortunately, that is not all that happens. When ~아/어 is added to a stem where the last letter is ㅡ, ~아/어 merges to the stem and the ㅡ is eliminated. That is quite confusing, so let’s look at examples of how this is done.

잠그다 = to lock
This stem ends in ㅡ. If we were to add ~아/어, we need to look at the second last syllable, which is 잠. The vowel in this syllable is ㅏ, so ~아 needs to be added to the stem.
잠그 + 아
~아 merges to the stem and the ㅡ is eliminated:
잠그 + 아 = 잠가

바쁘다 = to be busy
This stem ends in ㅡ. If we were to add ~아/어, we need to look at the second last syllable, which is 바. The vowel in this syllable is ㅏ, so ~아 needs to be added to the stem.
바쁘 + 아
~아 merges to the stem and the ㅡ is eliminated:
바쁘 + 아 = 바빠

예쁘다 = pretty
This stem ends in ㅡ. If we were to add ~아/어, we need to look at the second last syllable, which is 예. The vowel in this syllable is not ㅏ or ㅗ, so ~어 needs to be added to the stem.
예쁘 + 어
~어 merges to the stem and the ㅡ is eliminated:
예쁘 + 어 = 예뻐

슬프다 = to be sad
This stem ends in ㅡ. If we were to add ~아/어, we need to look at the second last syllable, which is 슬. The vowel in this syllable is not ㅏ or ㅗ, so ~어 needs to be added to the stem.
슬프 + 어
~어 merges to the stem and the ㅡ is eliminated:
슬프 + 어 = 슬퍼

This merging of ~아/어 to the stem occurs when ~아/어 is added, or any of its derivatives, including ~아/어요 and past tense conjugations like ~았/었어 or ~았/었어요. For example:

저는 문을 잠갔어요 = I locked the door
저는 바빠요 = I am busy
그 여자는 예뻐요 = That girl is pretty
저는 아주 슬퍼요 = I am very sad

Some stems only have one syllable. For example, the stem of 크다 is just 크. In this case, we know that we need to use the ㅡ irregular, but there is no previous syllable to draw on to determine what should be added to the stem. In these cases, ~어 is added to the stem. For example:

크다 = to be big
This stem ends in ㅡ. If we were to add ~아/어, we need to look at the second last syllable, but there is none, so ~어 needs to be added to the stem.
크 + 어
~어 merges to the stem and the ㅡ is eliminated:
크 + 어 = 커
그 집은 커요 = That house is big

Sometimes the last vowel of a stem is ㅡ, but the stem ends in a consonant. In these cases, there is no merging and ~어 is always chosen instead of ~아. For example:

긁다 = to scratch
The last vowel in the stem is ㅡ. However, the stem does not end in ㅡ and instead ends with a consonant. Therefore, 어 is added.
긁 + 어요 = 긁어요
저는 머리를 긁었어요 = I scratched my head

듣다 = to hear
The last vowel in the stem is ㅡ. However, the stem does not end in ㅡ and instead ends with a consonant. Therefore, 어 is added.
듣 + 었어요 = 듣었어요

But wait! Don’t forget the ㄷ irregular.

듣 + 었다 = 들었다
저는 쥐를 들었어요 = I heard a mouse

만들다 = to make
The last vowel in the stem is ㅡ. However, the stem does not end in ㅡ and instead ends with a consonant. Therefore, 어 is added. Regardless of what the vowel in the previous stem is, because the stem ends in a consonant, 어 is added.
만들다 + ~아/어요
= 만들어요

Here is a table with the word “잠그다 (to lock – which is a verb)” being conjugated using all the honorific forms you have learned so far. The irregular conjugations are in bold. Notice that this only occurs when ~아/어 (or one of its derivatives like ~았/었어요) is added to the verb stem.

잠그다 = lock	Past	Present	Future
Informal low	잠갔어	잠가	잠그겠어
Informal high	잠갔어요	잠가요	잠그겠어요
Plain form	잠갔다	잠근다	잠그겠다
Formal high	잠갔습니다	잠급니다	잠그겠습니다

And here is a table with the word “예쁘다 (pretty – which is an adjective)” being conjugated using all the honorific forms you have learned so far. The irregular conjugations are in bold. Notice that this only occurs when ~아/어 (or one of its derivatives like ~았/었어요) is added to the verb stem.

예쁘다 = pretty	Past	Present	Future
Informal low	예뻤어	예뻐	예쁘겠어
Informal high	예뻤어요	예뻐요	예쁘겠어요
Plain form	예뻤다	예쁘다	예쁘겠다
Formal high	예뻤습니다	예쁩니다	예쁘겠습니다

Finally, here is a table with the word “만들다 (to make – which is a verb)” being conjugated using all the honorific forms you have learned so far.

만들다 = to make	Past	Present	Future
Informal low	만들었어	만들어	만들겠어
Informal high	만들었어요	만들어요	만들겠어요
Plain form	만들었다	만든다	만들겠다
Formal high	만들었습니다	만듭니다	만들겠습니다

You will learn how 만든다 and 만듭니다 are formed later in the lesson when you learn about the ㄹ irregular.

 

르 Irregular

If the final syllable in a stem is 르 (마르다), it is conjugated differently when adding ~아/어. This irregular only applies when adding ~아/어(or any of its derivatives) to a stem and not when adding any other grammatical principles that starts with a vowel or consonant. Up until now, you haven’t learned about any of these other grammatical principles, that can start with anything other than ~아/어~, so don’t worry about this distinction too much.

When adding ~아/어 to these words, an additional ㄹ is created and placed in the syllable preceding 르 as the last consonant. The 르 also gets changed to either 러 or 라 (depending on if you are adding 어 or 아). This is done to both verbs and adjectives (the only exceptions are 따르다 = to follow/to pour; and 푸르다 = to be calming blue). This is difficult to explain, and much easier to show with examples:

다르다 = different
다르 + 아요 = 다 + ㄹ + 라요 = 달라요
그것은 달라요 = That thing is different

빠르다 = to be fast
빠르 + 아요 = 빠 + ㄹ + 라요 = 빨라요
그 남자는 빨라요 = That man is fast

부르다 = to call somebody’s name
부르 + 었어요 = 부 + ㄹ + 렀어요 = 불렀어요
저는 저의 누나를 불렀어요 = I called my sister

Here is a table with the word “고르다 (to choose – which is a verb)” being conjugated using all the honorific forms you have learned so far. The irregular conjugations are in bold. Notice that this only occurs when ~아/어 (or one of its derivatives like ~았/었어요) is added to the verb stem.

고르다 = choose	Past	Present	Future
Informal low	골랐어	골라	고르겠어
Informal high	골랐어요	골라요	고르겠어요
Plain form	골랐다	고른다	고르겠다
Formal high	골랐습니다	고릅니다	고르겠습니다

And here is a table with the word “마르다 (thin – which is an adjective)” being conjugated using all the honorific forms you have learned so far. The irregular conjugations are in bold. Notice that this only occurs when ~아/어 (or one of its derivatives like ~았/었어요) is added to the verb stem.

마르다 = thin	Past	Present	Future
Informal low	말랐어	말라	마르겠어
Informal high	말랐어요	말라요	마르겠어요
Plain form	말랐다	마르다	마르겠다
Formal high	말랐습니다	마릅니다	마르겠습니다
Adjective form	마른 여자 = thin girl

 

 

ㄹ Irregular

Okay, last one, I promise.

As you know, there are times when you must choose between two things to add to a stem. For example:

~아/어 means you must choose between adding ~아 or ~어
~ㄴ/은 means you must choose between adding ~ㄴ or ~은
~ㅂ/습 means you must choose between adding ~ㅂ or ~습
~ㄹ/을 means you must choose between adding ~ㄹ or ~을

As you know, you choose the correct addition based on the stem.

If the final letter of a stem is ㄹ AND you add any of the following:

~ㄴ/은
~ㄴ/는
~ㅂ/습
~ㄹ/을

The first option (~ㄴ/ ~ㅂ / ~ㄹ ) should be used. In addition, the ㄹ is removed from the stem and the ~ㄴ / ~ㅂ / ~ㄹ is added directly to the stem. Let’s look at each one individually.

 

ㄹ Irregular: Adding ~ㄴ/은 to words

You have learned about adding ~ㄴ/은 to adjective stems when describing nouns. Usually, you add ~ㄴ directly to the stem of an adjective ending in a vowel, and ~은 to the stem of an adjective ending in a consonant, for example:

크다 = 큰 남자
작다 = 작은 남자

When adding ~ㄴ/은 to a stem which ends in ㄹ, the ㄹ is removed and ㄴ is added to the stem:

길다 = long
길 + ㄴ = 긴
저는 긴 거리를 건넜어요 = I crossed the long street

멀다 = far away
멀 + ㄴ = 먼
저는 먼 병원에 갔어요 = I went to a far away hospital (a hospital that is far away)

There will be times when you have to add ~ㄴ/은 to verbs stems as well, but you haven’t learned about this yet. I introduce this concept in Lesson 26, and then talk about the irregular being applied in Lesson 28. I don’t want you to think about this too much until those lessons, but just so you know, the concept is the same as adding ~ㄴ/은 to an adjective. For example:

열다 = to open
열 + ㄴ = 연

Although you haven’t learned about adding ~ㄴ/은 to stems, you have learned about adding ~ㄴ/는다 to verb stems. Normally, you add ~ㄴ다 to the stem of a verb ending in a vowel, and ~는다 to the stem of a verb ending in a consonant. For example:

나는 집에 간다 = I go home
나는 밥을 먹는다 = I eat rice

But when adding ~ㄴ/는다 to a verb stem that ends in ㄹ, you must remove ㄹ and add ~ㄴ다 to the verb stem:

나는 문을 연다 = I open the door
나는 케이크를 만든다 = I make a cake

 

ㄹ Irregular: Adding ~ㅂ/습 to words

You have also learned about adding ~ㅂ/습니다 to verb and adjective stems when conjugating in the Formal high respect form: Normally, you add ~ㅂ니다 to the stem of a word ending in a vowel, and ~습니다 to the stem of a word ending in a consonant. For example:

Verbs:
저는 집에 갑니다 = I go home
저는 밥을 먹습니다 = I eat rice

Adjectives:
그 여자는 예쁩니다 = That girl is pretty
이 방은 넓습니다 = This room is big/wide

But when adding ~ㅂ니다 to the stem of a word that ends in ㄹ, you must remove ㄹ and add ~ㅂ directly to the stem. For example:

Verbs:
저는 문을 엽니다 = I open the door
저는 케이크를 만듭니다 = I make a cake

Adjectives:
그 병원은 멉니다 = That hospital is far
그 여자의 머리카락은 깁니다 = That girls hair is long

머리 can mean ‘head’ or ‘hair’ depending on the context. If you want to specifically mention your hair, you can say 머리카락, which always means the hair on one’s head. 머리 or 머리카락 does not refer to the hair on an animal, or the body hair of a human. This hair is referred to as “털” and extends to most of the hair that can be found on animals (fur, the wool on a sheep, etc).

The addition of ~ㅂ/습니다 only affects words that end in ㄹ. There is no irregular that occurs if adding ~ㅂ/습니다 to any other type of stem. For example, notice how only the stem of 길다 changes as a result of adding this:

Irregular	Example Word	+ ~ㅂ/습니다
ㅅ Irregular	짓다	짓습니다
ㄷ Irregular	걷다	걷습니다
ㅂ Irregular	쉽다	쉽습니다
ㅡ Irregular	예쁘다	예쁩니다
르 Irregular	마르다	마릅니다
ㄹ Irregular	길다	깁니다

 

Here is a table with the word “열다 (to open – which is a verb)” being conjugated using all the honorific forms you have learned so far. The irregular conjugations are in bold. Notice that this only occurs when ~ㄴ or ~ㅂ is added to the verb stem.

열다 = open	Past	Present	Future
Informal low	열었어	열어	열겠어
Informal high	열었어요	열어요	열겠어요
Plain form	열었다	연다	열겠다
Formal high	열었습니다	엽니다	열겠습니다

And here is a table with the word “길다 (long – which is an adjective)” being conjugated using all the honorific forms you have learned so far. Notice that this only occurs when ~ㄴ or ~ㅂ is added to the verb stem (it would happen when ~ㄴ is added, but you don’t add ~ㄴ/는 to an adjective when you conjugate it like this. There are times, however, when this would happen, but you haven’t even gotten close to learning about them yet. For example, in Lesson 76, we talk about the addition of ~ㄴ/는데 to clauses. This would make 길다 turn into 긴데. Please don’t even think about looking ahead to Lesson 76 until you’ve finished with this lesson, and the 69 lessons in between.

길다 = long	Past	Present	Future
Informal low	길었어	길어	길겠어
Informal high	길었어요	길어요	길겠어요
Plain form	길었다	길다	길겠다
Formal high	길었습니다	깁니다	길겠습니다
Adjective form	긴 거리 = long road

I don’t want to confuse you too much more because I am sure you are already really confused. Just the amount of content on this page alone is enough to make somebody cry. That being said, I think it is a very good exercise to try to compare how the words 듣다 and 들다 differ in their conjugations. Don’t worry about the meaning of 들다 yet (it is a very complex word that has many meanings), but just assume it is a verb in this case. For now, let’s just focus on how they are conjugated.

Notice that when conjugating 듣다, you need to consider the following irregular patterns:

• ㄷ irregular (because it ends in ㄷ)
• ㅡ irregular (because the final vowel is ㅡ)

The following table shows how 듣다 should be conjugated across the honorifics and tenses you have learned so far: (Irregular conjugations are in bold)

듣다 = to hear	Past	Present	Future
Informal low	들었어	들어	듣겠어
Informal high	들었어요	들어요	듣겠어요
Plain form	들었다	듣는다	듣겠다
Formal high	들었습니다	듣습니다	듣겠습니다

Notice when conjugating 들다, you need to consider the following irregular patterns:

• ㄹ irregular (because it ends in ㄹ)
• ㅡ irregular (because the final vowel is ㅡ)

The following table shows how 들다 should be conjugated across the honorifics and tenses you have learned so far: (Irregular conjugations are in bold)

들다	Past	Present	Future
Informal low	들었어	들어	들겠어
Informal high	들었어요	들어요	들겠어요
Plain form	들었다	든다	들겠다
Formal high	들었습니다	듭니다	들겠습니다

I feel that comparing these two is a very good exercise because you can see that sometimes, because of the irregular conjugations, 듣다 might look exactly like 들다. For example, in all of the past tense conjugations, there is no way to distinguish between the two based on sound, and the only way to distinguish them is by context in a sentence.

There is no easy way around memorizing stuff like this. The only words of encouragement I can give you is that – as you become more and more familiar with the language, and as you expose yourself to it more and more, it does become second nature. I know you can’t believe that now, but it does.

 

 

 

 

Adding ~ㄴ/은 to Adjectives

I mentioned this in some of the sections above, but I would like to organize it all here. In Lesson 4, you learned how to add ~ㄴ/은 to adjectives to describe an upcoming noun. Some irregulars will come into play when doing this because of the possibility of adding a vowel to a stem. Let’s look at the word “어렵다” as an example. 어렵다 has a consonant as its final letter, which means that ~은 must be added (instead of ~ㄴ). Therefore, we end up with:

어렵은

Because of this, we now have the final consonant “ㅂ” followed by a vowel, which causes the ㅂ irregular to be applied. The correct conjugation of 어렵다 + ~ㄴ/은 is therefore “어려운.”

Below is a table that shows how irregular adjectives can change because of adding ~ㄴ/은:

Irregular	Example Word	Does this apply?	Application
ㅅ Irregular	낫다 (better)	YES	나은
ㄷ Irregular	NA	NA	NA
ㅂ Irregular	쉽다 (easy)	YES	쉬운
ㅡ Irregular	바쁘다 (busy)	NO	바쁜
르 Irregular	빠르다 (fast)	NO	빠른
ㄹ Irregular	길다 (long)	YES	긴

 

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Looking Ahead to Grammatical Principles that you will Learn in Future Lessons

There are many additions that you will learn in future lessons. You will learn the meaning and usage of all of these when they become important for your level of study. When you learn about a new addition in a future lesson, I will explain how it causes irregular words to change.

The good thing is – if you learn how one format of addition causes irregulars to change, every addition with the same initial letters will cause the same change. For example, adding ~아/어 causes ㅅ to be eliminated in words that follow the ㅅ irregular. Likewise, any other addition that starts with ~아/어 causes the same change. For example, if I add ~아/어 or ~았/었다 to 짓다, we see the same change to the word stem – that is 짓다 changes to 지어 and 지었다 respectively.

This same idea can be applied to grammatical additions that will be introduced in later lessons. For example, in Lesson 43 you will learn how ~(으)면 causes irregular words to change. The change that results from adding ~(으)면 is exactly the same as the change that results from adding similar additions like ~(으)며 and ~(으)면서. Therefore, you don’t need to memorize how each one affects irregulars, but rather how the general format of adding ~(으)ㅁ… will affect irregulars. I know the road ahead to memorizing these new additions and their effects on irregulars looks daunting, but this grouping of formats will allow your brain to compartmentalize the information.

Each time a new format/style of addition is introduced in my lessons, I will explain how irregulars adapt to it. This only needs to be done once for each format, because each successive addition with the same format will create the same change to irregulars. Below is a list of grammatical principles you will learn in future lessons. Each one follows a particular style. In each of these lessons, I will explain how they cause irregular words to change. Furthermore, I will explain the other grammatical principles that follow the same format that will create the same change:

~ㄹ/을 (Lesson 9)
~니 (Lesson 21)
~ㅁ/음 (Lesson 29)
~(으)려고 (Lesson 32)
~(으)시다 (Lesson 39)
~(으)면 (Lesson 43)
~(으)니까 (Lesson 81)

For now, focus on the concepts that were introduced in this lesson. When you reach each of the lessons above, I will bring up the discussion of irregulars again. At that point, we can talk about how that grammatical principle causes irregular words to change.

Check out our Irregular Guide if you are confused (I’m sure you are!).

Everybody is confused when they learn these irregulars. Eventually you will reach a point where all of these will come natural to you. Whenever you learn a new word where the stem ends in ㅅ/ㄹ/ㅂ/ㄷ/르/ㅡ just make a mental note about how you should conjugate that word in the future. I don’t even have to think about these irregulars anymore because they just flow out naturally. If you can’t memorize them all right now, just try to understand them, which will allow you to recognize them later. Eventually, you will memorize them simply from using and hearing them so much.

There are 1250 example sentences in Unit 1.
All entries are linked to an audio file. You can download all of these files in one package here.

Okay, I got it! Take me to the next lesson! Or,
Click here for a workbook to go along with this lesson.

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Want to try to create some sentences using the vocabulary and grammar from this lesson?

This YouTube video will prompt you to translate English sentences into Korean using the concepts from this lesson.

 

 

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This lesson focused on conjugations. You might want to try practicing the conjugations by watching this video.

I will prompt you with verbs and adjectives to conjugate into the past, present and future tenses.

 

 

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Want to practice your listening skills?

This YouTube video will prompt you with Korean sentences to dictate using the concepts from this lesson.