Korean Verbs: Conjugation, Irregular Verbs and Word Lists

What Are Korean Verbs and How Do They Work?

A Korean verb is a word built from a stem and an ending, and its dictionary form always ends in 다. The verb 먹다 (to eat) is the stem 먹 plus 다. To use it in a sentence, you replace 다 with an ending that shows tense and politeness: 먹어요 (eat, polite), 먹었어요 (ate), 먹습니다 (eat, formal).

Three features set Korean verbs apart. First, the verb comes last in the sentence. Second, it never changes for person, number or gender, so 가요 means "I go", "you go" or "they go". Third, adjectives take the same tense and politeness endings as action verbs, so 좋다 (to be good) becomes 좋아요. The lesson How Korean verbs work shows the three parts of every verb, and the next section helps you choose where to go.

Which Lesson Should You Start With?

Start with the lesson that answers your question. The router below maps seven common learner questions to a page.

If you are brand new to verbs, begin with the first lesson, then follow the study path later on this page. The conjugator is the quickest check, so here is what it returns.

What Does the Conjugator Return for 먹다?

The Korean verb conjugator takes a verb or adjective in dictionary form and returns its polite, past, future, formal and casual forms, with the rule shown for each. For 먹다 the output has five rows:

The tool is built for checking, not for learning from scratch. The lessons below explain every rule it applies.

What Do the Verbs Sections Teach?

The verbs hub has nine children. Each card says what the page teaches and what it lets you do next.

• Korean verb conjugation. How Korean verbs change form: stems, endings, the polite present, past, future, formal and casual styles, and how to read a conjugation chart. This is the largest section and the one most learners need first.
• Korean irregular verbs. The seven irregular classes (ㅂ, ㄷ, ㅅ, 르, ㅎ, ㅡ, ㄹ), how to recognise them and the regular look-alikes. Use it when a form from the conjugation lessons does not match what you hear.
• Common Korean verbs. The verbs to learn first: the top 100, lists by level, action verbs, 하다 verbs, motion verbs and a method for learning them. The 하다 group starts with Korean hada verbs explained.
• Korean adjectives. How Korean adjectives work, the -(으)ㄴ form before nouns, the 50 most common adjectives and themed lists for size, colour, feelings and more.
• Korean verb dictionary. Look up a Korean verb or adjective: meaning, polite and other forms, irregular class, audio and example sentences.
• 이다 and 있다. The Korean be verbs: 이다 (is), 있다 (exists) and how to choose between them.
• How Korean verbs work. Shows the three parts of every Korean verb (stem, ending, 다 marker), where the verb sits in a sentence and why one verb can carry tense, politeness and mood.
• Types of Korean verbs. Sorts Korean verbs into action, descriptive, copula, existential, auxiliary and 하다 verbs, so you know which rules and endings apply to each.
• Korean verb conjugator. Type a Korean verb or adjective in dictionary form and get its polite, past, future, formal and casual forms, with the rule shown for every form.

The comparison below shows how the main verb types differ, because the type decides which rules apply.

How Do the Main Verb Types Compare?

The main types differ in what they describe and how they pair with particles. Their polite present follows the same recipe, with one extra form for the copula.

Notice that the copula is the only type with two polite forms: 이에요 after a consonant and 예요 after a vowel. All other rows use the 아요/어요 recipe.

What Are the Seven Irregular Classes at a Glance?

The seven irregular classes are ㅂ, ㄷ, ㅅ, 르, ㅎ, ㅡ and ㄹ. Each class has one verb that shows the pattern. The strip below gives the polite present of one verb per class.

The ㄹ class is shown in the formal style because 살다 looks regular in the polite present (살아요). The irregularity appears before endings that start with ㄴ, ㅂ or ㅅ, such as -ㅂ니다, where the ㄹ drops. Korean school grammar counts the ㅡ and ㄹ drops as regular sound rules, but learner materials usually teach them with the irregular classes, as this site does. The classes ㅂ and ㅡ are taught in ㅂ irregular and ㅡ irregular, and the rest are in Korean irregular verbs.

Knowing the pieces, the next step is deciding the order.

How Should You Study Korean Verbs?

Study Korean verbs in five stages, each building on the last. The path is an editorial suggestion, not a measured plan, and you can reorder it to match your goals.

1. Stems and endings. Learn why verbs end in 다 and how to find the stem in How Korean verbs work. Reason: every later step uses the stem.
2. Polite present. Learn the 아요/어요 recipe in Korean verb conjugation. Reason: it is the form you use first and most.
3. Past tense. Add 았/었 with the same stem and vowel. Reason: it reuses stage 2, so it is quick.
4. Irregular classes. Learn the seven classes in Korean irregular verbs. Reason: early irregular verbs such as 듣다 and 덥다 appear in beginner conversations.
5. Word lists. Learn 100 Korean verbs and the adjective lists. Reason: forms are only useful when you have words to put in them.

Check each form you build with the conjugator, and use the single-verb pages for practice with audio:

• 가다 (to go): gada conjugation
• 오다 (to come): oda conjugation
• 먹다 (to eat): meokda conjugation
• 마시다 (to drink): masida conjugation
• 하다 (to do): hada meaning
• 보다 (to see, watch): boda conjugation
• 듣다 (to listen): deutda conjugation, a ㄷ-irregular verb
• 말하다 (to speak): malhada conjugation

What Does This Section Not Cover?

The verbs section teaches verb forms and verb lists. It does not cover everything about verbs.

• Meaning of tenses and speech levels: see Korean tenses in the grammar section.
• Connectors and sentence endings such as -고 and -(으)면: the grammar section.
• Words by topic (food verbs, travel verbs): Korean vocabulary.
• Single-word entries: the Korean verb dictionary.

The full learning path for the whole language is on the homepage, how to learn Korean.

Korean verbs are easiest to learn in order: how they work, the polite present, the past, the irregular classes, then word lists. The forms on this page follow standard written Korean as described by the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원), and each lesson in the section names its own limits.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most important Korean verbs? Start with the high-frequency verbs 하다 (do), 가다 (go), 오다 (come), 먹다 (eat), 마시다 (drink), 보다 (see) and 있다 (exist), plus the adjective 좋다 (be good). The common verbs subhub ranks the top 100 and groups them by level and by topic, so you can learn them in useful sets.

How do I start learning Korean verbs? Begin with how verbs work, then learn the stem and the polite present form. After that, learn the past tense and the irregular classes, and then build vocabulary from the 100-verb list. The conjugation subhub gives this order, and the conjugator tool lets you check each form you build.

Do Korean verbs change for I, you and he? No. Korean verbs never change for person, number or gender, so 가요 means I go, you go, he goes or they go. Context supplies the subject. What changes is the ending, which shows tense, politeness and mood, as in 가요 (polite), 갑니다 (formal) and 가 (casual).

Where can I check a conjugated form? Use the free Korean verb conjugator. Type a verb or adjective in dictionary form and get its polite, past, future, formal and casual forms, with the rule shown for every form. For one verb in depth, open its dictionary page, which lists every form with audio and example sentences.

Are adjectives verbs in Korean? Korean adjectives behave like verbs because they take the same tense and politeness endings, which is why they are called descriptive verbs. The difference is meaning: an action verb names an action (먹다) and an adjective names a quality (좋다). They differ in the modifier form before a noun.