Korean Past / Future Tense

I will teach you how to conjugate from dictionary form to past and future tenses!

How to conjugate verbs into PAST tense

It's pretty simple to conjugate present to past. In fact, it's so much easier than English, as you don't need to memorize all the exceptions like English verbs when conjugating verbs into different tenses.

Steps to follow;

1. Conjugate dictionary formed verb into conversational polite form
2. Remove 요 at the end
3. Add ㅆ어요. (ㅆ is the last consonant of the last syllable after step 2)



Here are the examples below.

When verb root ends with 'ㅏ' or 'ㅗ'

Present Polite	Past Polite	English Meaning
가요	갔어요	go → went
사다	샀어요	buy → bought
오다	왔어요	come → came

When verb root ends with '하'

Present Polite	Past Polite	English Meaning
공부하다	공부했어요	study → studied
요리하다	요리했어요	cook → cooked
운동하다	운동했어요	exercise → exercised

When verb root ends with 'rest of the vowels'

Present Polite	Past Polite	English Meaning
주다	줬어요	give → gave
쓰다	썼어요	write/use → wrote/used
마시다	마셨어요	drink → drank

How to conjugate verbs into FUTURE tense

It's as easy as learning the past form. In fact, you don't even need to think about any conjugation!

Steps to follow;

1. Figure out if the verb root ends with a vowel or a consonant.
2. When it ends with a vowel, add 'ㄹ 거예요' and
when it ends with a consonant, add '을 거예요'.

Here are examples below.

When verb root ends with a vowel

Dictionary Form	Future Polite Tense	English Meaning
가다	갈 거예요	go → go + will
주다	줄 거예요	give → give + will
공부하다	공부할 거예요	study → study + will
마시다	마실 거예요	drink → drank + will

When verb root ends with a consonant

Dictionary Form	Future Polite Tense	English Meaning
읽다	읽을 거예요	read → drank + will
먹다	먹을 거예요	eat → eat + will
갖다	갖을 거예요	have → have + will