Korean Verb Conjugation - The Past Tense

How to Use The Past Tense in Korean

To conjugate verbs into their past tense form:

- Conjugate the verb as usual (before adding 요).

- Attach ㅆ to the bottom of the conjugated form.

- Attach “어요.”

먹다 (to eat)

Conjugates to 먹어

Attach ㅆ

Attach 어요

먹어 + ㅆ + 어요 → 먹었어요
가다 (to go)

Conjugates to 가

Attach ㅆ

Attach 어요

가 + ㅆ + 어요 → 갔어요
보다 (to see)

Conjugates to 봐

Attach ㅆ

Attach 어요

봐 + ㅆ + 어요 → 봤어요

Sentence example:

어제 드라마를 봤어요.

I watched a drama yesterday.

우리 할머니는 의사였어요.

My grandma was a doctor.

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Did you know?

As with its present tense conjugation, 이다 is an exception.

이다 becomes:

이었어요 (after a consonant)
였어요 (after a vowel)

Some more examples to close out this lesson:

어제 운동을 했어요.

I exercised yesterday.

저는 비빔밥을 먹었어요.

I ate bibimbap.

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Vocab Review!

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비빔밥 (bibimbap)
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할머니 (grandmother)
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의사 (doctor)
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드라마 (drama/s)
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