The Verb 하다


How to say 'to do' in Korean

We’ve seen the verb 하다 used a lot so far. In this lesson we’ll cover it in more depth.

하다 is an action verb that means “to do,” and is sometimes attached to a noun to create a new verb.

We’ve seen some examples of this already:

공부하다 (to do study)
공부 (studying) + 하다 (to do)
사랑하다 (to do love)
사랑 (love) + 하다 (to do)

Here are some more examples of verbs created nouns using 하다:

말하다 (to do speech/speak)
운동하다 (to exercise)
샤워하다 (to shower)
요리하다 (to cook)

Since these are nouns + 하다, you can separate the noun from 하다 and throw in the object marker. So, the below two sentences mean the same thing:

저는 샤워 해요
저는 샤워해요
I take a shower
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Not every noun can have 하다 attached to it.

Not every word attached to 하다 is a noun by itself:

똑똑하다 (똑똑 is not a noun)
좋아하다 (좋아 is not a noun)
싫어하다 (싫어 is not a noun)
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Vocab Review!

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샤워 = shower
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사랑 = love
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싫어하다 = to dislike
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똑똑하다 = to be smart
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요리 = cooking
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