Korean Verbs Ending in Hada: 60 Common 하다 Words by Theme

What you will be able to do after this lesson

• Recognise the noun inside 48 listed 하다 verbs and 12 adjectives.
• Use 12 of the verbs in polite present sentences with the right particle.
• Tell a 하다 verb from a 하다 adjective with the modifier test.
• Know which nouns do not take 하다, so you do not over-generalise.

Before you start: read Korean hada verbs explained, which teaches the structure. Time: about 40 minutes. Level: A1 to A2.

Which Korean Verbs Ending in Hada Are on This List?

Thousands of Korean words end in 하다, and most are a noun plus 하다. This page lists 60 common ones from the site's verb list: 48 verbs in four themes and 12 adjectives. The theme tables below show each word's base noun so you can reuse nouns you already know: 공부 → 공부하다, 운동 → 운동하다.

There are three kinds of entry, and the tables flag them.

1. Noun + 하다 verbs such as 공부하다 (study) and 요리하다 (cook). The bulk of this list.
2. -아/어 하다 verbs such as 좋아하다 and 싫어하다, built from adjectives (좋다, 싫다) rather than from nouns. They are the only two in this list.
3. Noun + 하다 adjectives such as 조용하다 and 필요하다, which describe states.

The levels in the tables are the site's editorial labels (A1 to B1), not an official exam list. Conjugation is the same for every entry, and it is covered after the lists. Start with the vocabulary of study and work.

Which 하다 Verbs Belong to Study and Work?

Twelve verbs cover school and the workplace. Most are Sino-Korean nouns plus 하다, and the nouns often work alone too: 공부, 숙제, 준비.

Watch for three particle patterns here. 졸업하다 takes the school as an object (대학교를 졸업해요), 입학하다 and 취직하다 take 에 (회사에 취직해요), and 공부하다 takes the subject you study as its object (한국어를 공부해요). 일하다 is built on a native Korean noun, 일 (work), like 말하다 and 노래하다, while most other words in this group are Sino-Korean. It also overlaps with 일 as a noun, as in 일이 많아요 ("I have a lot of work").

The next group covers speaking and feeling, where particles for people matter.

Which 하다 Verbs Describe Communication and Feelings?

Fourteen verbs cover talking, thanking and emotions. This group includes the two -아/어 하다 verbs, 좋아하다 and 싫어하다.

Three notes help. First, people take 에게 or 한테 (친구에게 사과해요), and respected people take 께 (선생님께 질문해요). Second, 좋아하다 and 싫어하다 take a direct object with 을/를 (커피를 좋아해요), while the adjectives 좋다 and 싫다 take the subject marker 이/가 (커피가 좋아요). Third, 감사하다 is a regular 하다 verb, so 감사해요 is a polite present, and 감사합니다 is the formal form heard everywhere. The page on Korean feeling verbs -아/어하다 explains the -아/어 하다 pattern in full.

Daily life has its own set, mostly built from nouns you already know.

Which 하다 Verbs Describe Daily Life?

Twelve verbs cover chores, leisure and life events. Many of the nouns are loanwords or everyday Sino-Korean words.

Place nouns follow their usual particles. 에서 marks where an action happens (바다에서 수영해요), and 을/를 marks the thing you travel through or use (한국을 여행해요, 앱을 사용해요). You can split the noun from 하다 with 을/를 for most action nouns (청소를 해요, 요리를 해요), a pattern taught in the structure lesson. 결혼하다 and 이사하다 take no object: a partner takes 와/과 (친구와 결혼해요) and a destination takes (으)로 (서울로 이사해요). The last verb group is the vocabulary of offices, shops and public life.

Which 하다 Verbs Are Used in Formal and Public Settings?

Ten verbs cover meetings, bookings and decisions. They are common in emails, phone calls and shops, and almost all of them are Sino-Korean nouns plus 하다.

Many of these verbs have a matching noun, so the same word can sit in a different part of the sentence: 예약을 취소해요 uses both 예약 as a noun and 취소하다 as a verb. 참석하다 takes 에 (회의에 참석해요), while 방문하다 takes 을/를 (학교를 방문해요). Before the adjectives, the next section picks out the words to learn first.

Which 하다 Words Should You Learn First?

Learn the A1 words first, because they appear in daily talk from the first weeks. In this set, 20 of the 60 words are labelled A1. They are marked below in the order they appear in the themes.

Add the A2 and B1 words by theme as your conversations need them. Study words suit students, formal words suit office work, and the daily-life group suits anyone travelling or living in Korea. The A1 set still needs sentence frames, which come next.

Which Sentence Frames Do 하다 Verbs Use?

Five frames cover almost every 하다 verb. Learn the frame with the verb, because the particle depends on the verb and not on the noun inside it.

The frame explains why 회의에 참석해요 uses 에 and 학교를 방문해요 uses 을/를: the verb decides. A new 하다 verb usually follows the same frame as a verb you already know with a similar meaning. 참석하다 is like 가다 (go to a meeting), and 방문하다 is like 만나다 (meet or visit someone). Next, the 하다 words that are not verbs.

Which 하다 Words Are Adjectives?

Twelve of the 60 words are adjectives: 깨끗하다, 조용하다, 피곤하다, 필요하다, 유명하다, 행복하다, 건강하다, 중요하다, 친절하다, 복잡하다, 간단하다 and 안전하다. They describe a state, so they do not take an object, and they conjugate with the same 해요 ending as the verbs.

The quickest test is the present modifier form. Verbs use -는 (공부하는 학생, "a studying student"), while adjectives use -(으)ㄴ (조용한 학생, "a quiet student"). The test works because adjectives describe a state and verbs describe an action.

Two bases, 깨끗 and 조용, are roots that do not stand alone as nouns, so the "base" column shows only the root. The lesson on verbs vs adjectives gives the full test. The mix of verbs and adjectives raises a fair question about limits, which comes next.

Can You Add 하다 to Any Noun?

No. 하다 attaches to nouns that name an action or a quality, and many everyday nouns take a different verb. This is the most important limit to know, because learners who over-generalise create words that do not exist or that mean something else.

A good rule: use 하다 when the noun is an activity or event (운동, 청소, 회의), and use another verb for objects you see, eat or hear. Note that 밥하다 exists but means "to cook rice", so it is not a generic "eat". If you are unsure, check the dictionary entry. The pairing of nouns and verbs is in Korean verb phrases and collocations. A related choice is between 하다 and 되다, covered in 하다 vs 되다.

Does the 하다 Share Grow with Level?

Yes, the share of 하다 words in the site's verb list rises from A1 to B1. The table counts the entries whose dictionary form ends in 하다 against all entries at each level. The count includes 하다 adjectives, so it measures the word family, not verbs alone.

At A1, about one entry in four ends in 하다, and by B1 it is about two in five (65 of 163). This is why 하다 skills pay off more as your vocabulary grows. The counts come from the site's own verb list (474 entries) and will change as the list grows. They are not a count of the Korean language as a whole.

How Do You Conjugate These 하다 Words?

Replace 하다 with 해요 for the polite present. The same rule covers every one of the 60 entries, verbs and adjectives alike. The modifier is the only form that differs.

The conjugation rule has its own lesson, 하다 to 해요. For single entries with every form, open the Korean verb dictionary; it covers 공부하다, 청소하다, 요리하다 and others. After the list, practise.

Practice: Turn the Noun into a Verb

Make the polite present of each word, then check the answers.

1. 연습 → ___
2. 청소 → ___
3. 예약 → ___
4. 사랑 → ___
5. 필요 (adjective) → ___
6. Fix the sentence: 영화를 해요.

Answers to the Practice

1. 연습해요.
2. 청소해요.
3. 예약해요.
4. 사랑해요.
5. 필요해요.
6. 영화를 봐요. 영화 takes 보다, not 하다.

Download and Drill the List

Drill the 60 words with the flashcard deck, which shows the noun and the verb as separate columns. The CSV download has the same columns.

What to Learn Next

Korean verbs ending in hada are easiest to learn as noun + 하다 pairs: keep the base noun in mind, attach 하다, and conjugate to 해요. Twelve of the 60 are adjectives, and the modifier test (-는 or -ㄴ) tells them apart. Next, learn when to use 하다, 되다 or 시키다 in 하다 vs 되다, and return to the structure lesson if the splitting rules feel unclear.

This list does not give every 하다 word, the full contrast with 되다, or negation patterns. The glosses are short and cover the most common sense only. The forms follow the standard written language of the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원).

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Korean words end in 하다? Thousands do. Most are a noun plus 하다, such as 공부하다 (study), 운동하다 (exercise) and 청소하다 (clean). Some are adjectives, such as 깨끗하다 (clean) and 조용하다 (quiet). This page lists 60 common ones from the site's verb list, grouped by theme with the base noun and the polite present form.

Are all 하다 words verbs? No. Twelve of the 60 words on this page are adjectives. Verbs name actions (공부하다) and adjectives name states (조용하다). Test with the present modifier: verbs take -는 (공부하는) and adjectives take -ㄴ (조용한). Both conjugate with 해요 in the polite present, so the difference shows mainly in the modifier.

Can I make a verb from any noun with 하다? No. 하다 fits nouns that name activities or events, such as 운동 or 회의. Objects take other verbs: 사진을 찍다 (not 사진하다), 영화를 보다 and 커피를 마시다. When unsure, look the noun up in the dictionary and use the verb that appears in its examples.

Is there a CSV of this list? A CSV download of the 60 words is available with separate columns for the noun and the verb. You can also use the flashcard deck on this page, which shows the same data. The columns are word, base noun, base meaning, meaning, level and polite present.