Korean Hada Verbs: Structure, List and Conjugation

What Are Korean Hada Verbs (하다 verbs)?

하다 verbs are verbs formed by attaching 하다 to a noun, and the same pattern also builds adjectives. Three examples show the range: 공부 (study) → 공부하다 (to study), 운동 (exercise) → 운동하다 (to exercise), and 깨끗 (a root meaning "clean" that is not used on its own) → 깨끗하다 (to be clean). The first two are verbs built on nouns. The third is an adjective, because it names a state, and its base is a root rather than a full noun.

The word 하다 also works alone as a full verb meaning "to do" (숙제를 하다, "to do homework"). When it attaches to a noun it behaves as a suffix that makes a new word. The structure of the pattern comes next.

How Big Is the 하다 Family?

The 하다 family is about one third of the site verb lexicon, the word list behind the Korean verb dictionary. Of its 474 verbs and adjectives, 158 end in 하다. That count includes 하다 adjectives such as 깨끗하다, so it is not a count of verbs only. The share rises with level: 31 of 129 entries at A1, 59 of 166 at A2 and 65 of 163 at B1, because formal, school and work vocabulary is mostly Sino-Korean nouns plus 하다.

Why so many? Korean can turn almost any Sino-Korean or borrowed noun that names an action into a verb by adding 하다. That makes the pattern a shortcut: if you know the noun, you can often guess the verb. Native Korean verbs, like 먹다 and 가다, stand alone and have no noun inside them. A few common 하다 words use native nouns, such as 일하다 (to work) and 말하다 (to speak). The shortcut leads straight to the lessons below.

What Do the 하다 Lessons and Lists Cover?

Three child pages cover the pattern, the list and the contrast with 되다. Read them in this order.

Korean Hada Verbs Explained

Korean Hada Verbs Explained teaches how noun + 하다 builds verbs and adjectives, when a particle can separate the noun and 하다 (공부를 하다), and which nouns can take 하다.

Korean Verbs Ending in 하다

Korean Verbs Ending in 하다 lists 60 common 하다 verbs and adjectives, grouped by theme, with the noun inside each one and the polite present form.

하다 vs 되다 in Korean

See 하다 vs 되다 in Korean.

Lessons teach the pattern, but you also need the conjugation, which is regular for every 하다 word.

How Do You Conjugate 하다 Verbs?

Replace 하다 with 해요 for the polite present: 공부하다 becomes 공부해요. The noun never changes, and every 하다 word, whether verb or adjective, follows the same rule. The table shows three words in five forms.

The reason is mechanical. 하 plus the ending 여요 contracts to 해요, and the past 했어요 and formal 합니다 follow from the same stem. The rule has its own lesson, 하다 to 해요. Note that the modifier differs between verbs and adjectives: 공부하는 학생 (a studying student) uses -는, and 깨끗한 방 (a clean room) uses -ㄴ. For one word, the dictionary page shows every form, as with 하다, 말하다, 공부하다, 일하다, 좋아하다, 싫어하다, 사랑하다 and 원하다.

Which 하다 Words Should You Learn First?

Learn the A1 words first, because they appear in daily talk and teach the pattern with nouns you may already know. The table lists eight, with the level the site verb lexicon gives each one.

Start with these eight and add the rest from the 60-word list in the lesson on verbs ending in 하다.

Where Do New 하다 Verbs Come From?

New 하다 verbs come mostly from borrowed nouns and Sino-Korean nouns. When English or a technology word enters Korean as a noun, speakers add 하다 and get a verb at once. This is the quickest path to vocabulary growth, and it is why the 하다 family keeps growing.

Two cautions apply. Not every noun takes 하다, and Korean has other verbs for some actions: 사진을 찍다 ("take a photo") is correct, and 사진하다 does not exist. Also, many nouns have a passive 되다 partner, which the 하다 vs 되다 lesson covers. Sino-Korean nouns are described in Sino-Korean vocabulary.

This section does not teach 하다 as a stand-alone verb meaning "to do", which the first lesson covers, and it does not teach negation of 하다 verbs. It also does not claim a fixed total for how many 하다 words exist.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a 하다 verb? A 하다 verb is a verb made from a noun plus 하다 (to do), such as 공부하다 (to study) from 공부 (study). The noun names the action and 하다 turns it into a verb. The same pattern also makes adjectives such as 깨끗하다 (to be clean), which describe states instead of actions.

How do I conjugate 하다 verbs? Change 하다 to 해요 for the polite present (공부해요), 했어요 for the past (공부했어요) and 합니다 for the formal present (공부합니다). The noun part stays the same. This works for every 하다 verb and adjective, so one rule covers the whole family.

Are all 하다 words verbs? No. Many 하다 words are adjectives, such as 깨끗하다 (clean), 조용하다 (quiet) and 피곤하다 (tired). A quick test is the present modifier: verbs use -는 (공부하는) and adjectives use -ㄴ (조용한). Both groups conjugate the same way in the polite present.

What is the difference between 하다 and 되다? 하다 means to do or to make something happen, and 되다 means to become or to be done. With the same noun they make a pair: 시작하다 means to start something, and 시작되다 means to begin by itself. The lesson on 하다 vs 되다 gives more pairs and the 시키다 option.