Past Tense -았/었어요 (과거)

Korean past tense is formed by adding -았/었 to the verb stem. It expresses completed actions, past states, and experiences.

Basic Pattern

Formula: Stem + 았/었 + Ending

Vowel harmony determines which infix to use:

Bright vowels (ㅏ, ㅗ): -았 Dark vowels (all others): -었 하다 verbs: -했

Politeness Levels

Informal polite: -았어요/었어요 (most common) Formal polite: -았습니다/었습니다 Casual: -았어/었어

Informal Polite: -았어요/었어요

Bright Vowel Stems (았어요)

ㅏ or ㅗ in stem → -았어요:

• 가다 → 갔어요 (went)
• 오다 → 왔어요 (came)
• 보다 → 봤어요 (saw)
• 자다 → 잤어요 (slept)
• 사다 → 샀어요 (bought)
• 앉다 → 앉았어요 (sat)

Dark Vowel Stems (었어요)

Any other vowel → -었어요:

• 먹다 → 먹었어요 (ate)
• 마시다 → 마셨어요 (drank)
• 서다 → 섰어요 (stood)
• 주다 → 줬어요 (gave)
• 읽다 → 읽었어요 (read)
• 만들다 → 만들었어요 (made)

하다 Verbs (했어요)

All 하다 verbs → -했어요:

• 공부하다 → 공부했어요 (studied)
• 일하다 → 일했어요 (worked)
• 사랑하다 → 사랑했어요 (loved)
• 요리하다 → 요리했어요 (cooked)

Contraction: 하 + 였어요 → 했어요

Vowel Contractions

Common Contractions

Essential for natural Korean

ㅏ + ㅏ → ㅏ

가다: 가 + 았어요 → 갔어요 (not 가았어요)

ㅗ + ㅏ → ㅘ

오다: 오 + 았어요 → 왔어요 보다: 보 + 았어요 → 봤어요

ㅜ + ㅓ → ㅝ

주다: 주 + 었어요 → 줬어요 배우다: 배우 + 었어요 → 배웠어요

ㅓ + ㅓ → ㅓ

서다: 서 + 었어요 → 섰어요 (not 서었어요)

ㅣ + ㅓ → ㅕ

마시다: 마시 + 었어요 → 마셨어요

No Contraction Needed

Consonant-ending stems add directly:

• 먹다 → 먹었어요
• 읽다 → 읽었어요
• 좋다 → 좋았어요

Formal Polite: -았습니다/었습니다

Same Harmony Rules

Bright vowels: -았습니다

• 가다 → 갔습니다
• 보다 → 봤습니다

Dark vowels: -었습니다

• 먹다 → 먹었습니다
• 서다 → 섰습니다

하다: -했습니다

• 공부하다 → 공부했습니다

Casual: -았어/었어

Drop 요 from Informal Form

Bright vowels: -았어

• 가다 → 갔어
• 봤어요 → 봤어

Dark vowels: -었어

• 먹다 → 먹었어
• 마셨어요 → 마셨어

하다: -했어

• 공부했어요 → 공부했어

Common Verb Conjugations

Action Verbs

Dictionary	Meaning	Past (아요/어요)	Past Formal	Past Casual
가다	go	갔어요	갔습니다	갔어
오다	come	왔어요	왔습니다	왔어
먹다	eat	먹었어요	먹었습니다	먹었어
마시다	drink	마셨어요	마셨습니다	마셨어
보다	see	봤어요	봤습니다	봤어
듣다	listen	들었어요	들었습니다	들었어
읽다	read	읽었어요	읽었습니다	읽었어
자다	sleep	잤어요	잤습니다	잤어

Descriptive Verbs (Adjectives)

Dictionary	Meaning	Past Form
좋다	good	좋았어요 (was good)
크다	big	컸어요 (was big)
작다	small	작았어요 (was small)
예쁘다	pretty	예뻤어요 (was pretty)
춥다	cold	추웠어요 (was cold)
덥다	hot	더웠어요 (was hot)

Uses of Past Tense

1. Completed Actions

Actions finished in the past:

• 어제 영화를 봤어요 (I watched a movie yesterday)
• 아침에 빵을 먹었어요 (I ate bread in the morning)
• 친구를 만났어요 (I met a friend)

2. Past States

Conditions that existed before:

• 날씨가 좋았어요 (The weather was good)
• 배가 고팠어요 (I was hungry)
• 피곤했어요 (I was tired)

3. Past Experiences

Things you've done:

• 한국에 갔어요 (I went to Korea / I've been to Korea)
• 김치를 먹어 봤어요 (I've tried kimchi)
• 그 영화를 봤어요 (I've seen that movie)

4. Sequential Past Actions

One action after another:

• 일어나서 샤워했어요 (I woke up and showered)
• 학교에 가서 공부했어요 (I went to school and studied)

Past Tense Questions

Same Form + Rising Intonation

Statement: 갔어요 ↓ (went) Question: 갔어요? ↑ (did you go?)

Question Examples

Informal polite:

• 뭐 했어요? (What did you do?)
• 어디 갔어요? (Where did you go?)
• 밥 먹었어요? (Did you eat?)

Formal polite:

• 뭐 하셨습니까? (What did you do? - formal)
• 어디 가셨습니까? (Where did you go? - formal)

Casual:

• 뭐 했어? (What did you do?)
• 어디 갔어? (Where did you go?)

Time Expressions with Past Tense

Common Time Words

어제 (yesterday):

• 어제 갔어요 (went yesterday)

지난 (last):

• 지난주에 만났어요 (met last week)
• 지난달에 왔어요 (came last month)
• 지난해에 시작했어요 (started last year)

전에 (ago):

• 3일 전에 (3 days ago)
• 한 시간 전에 (an hour ago)

아까 (earlier/a while ago):

• 아까 봤어요 (saw earlier)

그때 (at that time):

• 그때 행복했어요 (was happy at that time)

Negative Past Tense

안 + Past Verb

Didn't:

• 안 갔어요 (didn't go)
• 안 먹었어요 (didn't eat)
• 안 좋았어요 (wasn't good)

-지 않았어요

Alternative negative:

• 가지 않았어요 (didn't go)
• 먹지 않았어요 (didn't eat)
• 좋지 않았어요 (wasn't good)

못 + Past Verb

Couldn't (inability):

• 못 갔어요 (couldn't go)
• 못 먹었어요 (couldn't eat)
• 못 했어요 (couldn't do)

Past Tense of 이다 (to be)

-이었어요/였어요

After consonant: -이었어요 After vowel: -였어요

Examples:

• 학생이었어요 (was a student)
• 의사였어요 (was a doctor)
• 선생님이었어요 (was a teacher)
• 배우였어요 (was an actor)

Contraction: 이었어요 → 였어요

Often shortened:

• 학생이었어요 → 학생이었어요 (both acceptable)
• Some speakers: 학생였어요

Past Tense of 있다/없다

있었어요/없었어요

있다 (had/existed):

• 시간이 있었어요 (had time)
• 돈이 있었어요 (had money)

없다 (didn't have/didn't exist):

• 시간이 없었어요 (didn't have time)
• 돈이 없었어요 (didn't have money)

Honorific Past Tense

-(으)셨어요 Pattern

For honored subjects:

• 가다 → 가셨어요 (went - honored)
• 오다 → 오셨어요 (came - honored)
• 먹다 → 드셨어요 (ate - special honorific verb)
• 자다 → 주무셨어요 (slept - special honorific verb)

Formation: Stem + (으)시 + 었어요 → (으)셨어요

Sentence Patterns

Past Action Statements

[Subject] + [Object] + [Past Verb]

• 저는 한국어를 공부했어요 (I studied Korean)
• 친구가 영화를 봤어요 (Friend watched a movie)
• 날씨가 좋았어요 (The weather was good)

Past Questions

[Question word] + [Past Verb?]

• 뭐 했어요? (What did you do?)
• 어디 갔어요? (Where did you go?)
• 언제 왔어요? (When did you come?)

Sequential Actions

Use -아서/어서 to connect:

• 집에 가서 쉬었어요 (Went home and rested)
• 밥을 먹고 잤어요 (Ate and slept)

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Wrong Vowel Harmony

Wrong: 가 + 었어요 → 가었어요 Right: 가 + 았어요 → 갔어요

Mistake 2: Forgetting Contractions

Unnatural: 오았어요 Natural: 왔어요

Mistake 3: Double Past Marking

Wrong: 어제 갔었어요 (using -았었-, double past) Right: 어제 갔어요 (simple past sufficient)

Note: -았었어요 exists but means "had been" (more distant past)

Mistake 4: Using Present Instead of Past

Wrong: 어제 가요 (present: go) Right: 어제 갔어요 (past: went)

Past vs Present Perfect

Korean Past = English Past + Present Perfect

Korean doesn't distinguish:

갔어요 can mean:

• I went (simple past)
• I have gone (present perfect)

Context determines meaning:

• 어제 갔어요 (went yesterday - simple past)
• 한국에 갔어요 (have been to Korea - experience)

Common Expressions

Greetings

• 잘 잤어요? (Did you sleep well?)
• 잘 먹었어요 (I ate well - after meal)

Past Activities

• 영화 봤어요 (I watched a movie)
• 쇼핑했어요 (I went shopping)
• 운동했어요 (I exercised)

Past States

• 너무 추웠어요 (It was so cold)
• 정말 재미있었어요 (It was really fun)
• 맛있었어요 (It was delicious)

Practice Sentences

Yesterday's Activities

• 어제 친구를 만났어요 (I met a friend yesterday)
• 집에서 영화를 봤어요 (I watched a movie at home)
• 한국 음식을 먹었어요 (I ate Korean food)

Past Experiences

• 제주도에 갔어요 (I went to Jeju Island)
• 김치를 만들어 봤어요 (I've tried making kimchi)
• 그 책을 읽었어요 (I read that book)

Past Feelings

• 정말 행복했어요 (I was really happy)
• 조금 걱정했어요 (I was a bit worried)
• 너무 피곤했어요 (I was so tired)

Key Points

• ✅ Pattern: Stem + 았/었 + ending
• ✅ Vowel harmony: Bright (았) vs dark (었)
• ✅ 하다: Always becomes 했
• ✅ Contractions: Essential (왔어요, 봤어요, 줬어요)
• ✅ Uses: Completed actions, past states, experiences
• ✅ Questions: Same form + rising intonation
• ✅ Most common: -았어요/었어요 for daily conversation
• ✅ Honorific: -(으)셨어요 for respected subjects
• ✅ No distinction: Between simple past and present perfect

Master past tense conjugation and you can talk about all your experiences, completed actions, and past states. The vowel harmony and contraction rules become second nature with practice.