Korean Daily Verbs: Routine Verbs in Time Order

What you will be able to do after this lesson

• Name and conjugate 23 routine verbs in the polite present.
• Say what you do at a given time with the particle 에 (7시에, 아침에).
• Use the natural partners 이를 닦다 and 머리를 감다 instead of translating "brush" and "wash" word for word.
• Describe a full day in ten sentences using a fill-in template.

Before you start: read how Korean conjugation works. Time: about 35 minutes. Level: A1.

Which Verbs Describe a Daily Routine in Korean?

The core routine verbs are 일어나다 (wake up), 씻다 (wash), 먹다 (eat), 출근하다 (go to work), 일하다 (work), 공부하다 (study), 운동하다 (exercise), 쉬다 (rest) and 자다 (sleep). Add a time word and the polite ending 요, and each becomes a sentence: 7시에 일어나요 ("I get up at seven"). The lists below keep them in the order of a day, so the order itself helps you remember them.

Three habits make routine sentences natural.

1. Time words go first, before the verb. 아침에 커피를 마셔요, not 커피를 마셔요 아침에.
2. Clock times and parts of the day take 에. 7시에, 아침에, 저녁에, 주말에.
3. Words like 매일 (every day), 오늘, 어제 and 내일 do not take 에. Say 매일 운동해요, not 매일에 운동해요.

The nouns for the day, such as 아침 and 저녁, are in Korean daily routine vocabulary, and the clock and calendar words are in Korean time expressions. Start with the morning.

Which Korean Daily Verbs Do You Use in the Morning?

In the morning you wake up, wash, dress, eat and leave for work. Nine verbs cover that, and two of them (샤워하다 and 출근하다) end in 하다.

Two notes on form. 일어나다 combines 일어 and 나다 and conjugates as a regular verb: 일어나요, 일어났어요. And 닦다 is the verb used with 이 (teeth), 이를 닦다, where English says "brush". The morning list ends at the door, and the working day begins.

Which Verbs Do You Use during the Day?

During the day you work, eat lunch, study, listen, meet and call. Seven verbs fill this slot.

Look at 듣다 in this table. Its polite present is 들어요, not 듣어요, because the ㄷ in the stem turns into ㄹ before a vowel. This is the ㄷ irregular pattern covered in ㄷ irregular verbs. 전화하다 takes 한테 (to a person) before it: 어머니한테 전화해요. The day ends, and the evening verbs follow.

Which Verbs Do You Use in the Evening and at Night?

In the evening you leave work, exercise, cook, clean, relax and go to bed. Eight verbs cover it.

텔레비전을 봐요 shows the contraction 보 + 아요 = 봐요, one of the most common forms in daily Korean. See ㅘ contraction for the rule.

Most daily verbs are regular, but four irregular ones appear in nearly every routine, so they deserve a table.

Which Routine Verbs Are Irregular?

Four everyday verbs change their stem: 듣다, 살다, 만들다 and 돕다. Each has a short rule, and the examples use the polite present.

Learn these as whole chunks: 음악을 들어요, 서울에 살아요, 저녁을 만들어요, 집안일을 도와요. You need not memorise the rules on day one. Knowing the chunk gets you the right form, and the rule can come later from the Korean irregular verbs section. The next question is how routine verbs split by type.

Which Routine Verbs End in 하다?

Out of the verbs above, 10 end in 하다. The 하다 ones (샤워하다, 출근하다, 일하다 and so on) take 해요, and the others follow the ordinary 아요/어요 rule or, like 듣다, their own irregular rule. Seeing the two columns side by side shows which part of your day is built from nouns plus 하다.

The 하다 verbs let you reuse nouns you already know: 운동 + 하다, 청소 + 하다, 요리 + 하다. The structure is explained in Korean hada verbs explained. Next, the collocations that differ from English.

Which Collocations Differ from English?

Korean often uses a different verb from English with the same noun. The table shows the cases that matter most in a routine.

The page on Korean verb phrases and collocations expands this list. Once these chunks feel normal, you can ask and answer questions about a routine.

How Do You Ask about a Routine and Say How Often?

Ask with a question word in the polite present, then answer with the same verb. Add a frequency word before the verb to say how often you do something. Both patterns reuse the verbs you have just learned, so no new grammar is needed.

Frequency words usually come near the start of the sentence, before the object and the verb. 거의 안 ("hardly ever") is the exception: it sits directly before the verb.

Negative sentences put 안 before the verb: 안 먹어요 means "I do not eat". For 하다 verbs, 안 goes before 하다, as in 공부 안 해요; the rule is taught in negating 하다 verbs. With questions and frequency words, you can now talk about a routine, not only list it.

How Do You Describe Your Day in Ten Sentences?

Use a template with ten slots: a time or place word, an optional object and a verb in the polite present. Fill each slot with a verb from the lists above and read the result aloud. The template keeps the order of a day, so the sentences join into a short story.

Read the ten sentences in a row and you have a short routine description. Then change one slot at a time. Swap 회사에서 일해요 for 학교에서 공부해요 and you have a student's day.

Your own day now needs checking, and a short quiz does that.

Practice: Fill in the Blanks

Fill each blank with the polite present of the verb in brackets. The answers are hidden below.

1. 저는 7시에 ___. (일어나다)
2. 아침에 이를 ___. (닦다)
3. 저녁에 음악을 ___. (듣다)
4. 주말에 친구를 ___. (만나다)
5. 밤 11시에 ___. (자다)
6. 서울에 ___. (살다)

Answers to the Practice

1. 일어나요.
2. 닦아요.
3. 들어요.
4. 만나요.
5. 자요.
6. 살아요.

If you missed one, return to the section for its part of the day. The next step is a longer set of fixed phrases in Korean verb phrases.

What to Learn Next

Korean daily verbs work best as a day told in order: wake up, wash, eat, work, rest, exercise, sleep, each with a time word and the polite ending. Learn the chunks 이를 닦다 and 머리를 감다, remember the four irregular verbs 듣다, 살다, 만들다 and 돕다, and use the ten-sentence template to put them together. Continue with Korean verb phrases and collocations for more fixed chunks, or return to the action verbs hub for the other themes.

This page uses the polite present only. It does not teach the past or future tense, honorific verbs such as 주무시다, or the casual style. It also leaves out rarer routine verbs. The forms follow the standard written language of the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원).

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the Korean daily routine verbs? Common routine verbs include 일어나다 (wake up), 씻다 (wash), 먹다 (eat), 출근하다 (go to work), 일하다 (work), 공부하다 (study), 운동하다 (exercise), 쉬다 (rest) and 자다 (sleep). Learn them in time order, and attach a time word with 에, as in 7시에 일어나요.

How do I say brush my teeth in Korean? Say 이를 닦다, and in the polite present 이를 닦아요. The verb 닦다 means to wipe or polish, so Korean treats brushing as wiping the teeth. A related word, 양치하다, is also used for tooth brushing. The ending 아요 is correct because the stem 닦 has the vowel ㅏ.

Which routine verbs are 하다 verbs? 샤워하다 (shower), 출근하다 (go to work), 퇴근하다 (leave work), 일하다 (work), 공부하다 (study), 운동하다 (exercise), 요리하다 (cook), 청소하다 (clean), 빨래하다 (do laundry) and 전화하다 (call) are 하다 verbs. They all become 해요 in the polite present and are built from a noun plus 하다.

How do I describe my day in Korean? Write ten short sentences in time order. Each has a time or place word, an optional object and a verb in the polite present, for example 7시에 일어나요 and 저녁에 운동해요. Use the template on this page, then replace one slot at a time with your own work, school or hobby. Say the sentences aloud after the audio.