초급 · Beginner
동사는 끝에서 변한다
문장 뼈대 · 7분
Every Korean verb and adjective in the dictionary ends in 다: 가다 (go), 먹다 (eat), 예쁘다 (pretty).
Nobody says 다 out loud. You chop it off, keep the front part — the stem — and glue a new ending on. That is the whole system.
가다 — to go가 · 가요
먹다 — to eat먹 · 먹어요
하다 — to do하 · 해요
Which ending — 아요 or 어요?
Look at the last vowel of the stem. If it is ㅏ or ㅗ, use 아요. Everything else takes 어요. And 하다 is irregular in a friendly way: it always becomes 해요.
가요 · ga-yo가 + 아요. Two ㅏ sounds collapse into one — you never say 가아요.
먹어요 · meo-geo-yo먹 + 어요. The stem vowel is ㅓ, so 어요.
해요 · hae-yo하다 → 해요. Memorise this one; it turns up constantly.
Adjectives conjugate too. In English you need “is” — *it is pretty*. In Korean 예쁘다 becomes 예뻐요 and that is already a full sentence. No “to be” needed.
연습 · Practice
이 레슨에는 풀어 보는 문제가 4개 있습니다. 앱에서 하나씩 맞히며 넘어갑니다.
4 exercises come with this lesson — open it to work through them.
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