Korean Movement Verbs: 20 Compounds of 가다 and 오다

What you will be able to do after this page

• Build a direction verb from a direction word and 가다 or 오다.
• Name the 20 compounds in this lesson and their meanings.
• Choose between the 가다 and 오다 member of a pair from the speaker's position.
• Conjugate any compound by following its root.

Before you start: read how Korean conjugation works, because the compounds follow the root's conjugation. Time: about 45 minutes. Level: A2.

What Are Korean Movement Verbs?

Korean movement verbs are verbs that describe how a person or thing moves through space, and most of the common ones are built from 가다 or 오다. 가다 means to move away from the speaker or to another place, and 오다 means to move toward the speaker. Adding a direction word in front of either one tells you the direction: 들어가다 is "go in", and 나오다 is "come out".

English often uses a verb plus a preposition ("go in", "come out", "go up"). Korean fuses the pieces into one verb, so one dictionary entry covers both parts. That makes the list short and regular. A learner who knows 가다, 오다 and six direction words can read or build dozens of verbs. This site labels the first group (들어가다, 나가다) A1 and most of the others A2 or B1. The next section shows the formula.

How Are Compounds Built from 가다 and 오다?

The formula is direction word + 가다 or 오다, and the direction word is the connective (-아/어) form of a small verb. 들어가다 is 들- (enter) + -어 + 가다, which means "go, entering". 올라가다 is 오르- (climb) + -아 + 가다, which means "go, climbing". The result is one verb, written without a space.

Three rules cover the grid:

• Pairs share the direction word. 들어가다 and 들어오다 differ only in the root, so learning one teaches both.
• The root keeps its own meaning. The 가다 member moves away from the speaker, and the 오다 member moves toward the speaker.
• No new conjugation rules. Every compound conjugates exactly like its root, which the later section shows.

The first four pairs cover movement through space, and they are the first to learn.

What Do the Pairs for in, out, up and down Mean?

The in, out, up and down pairs are the four most common direction pairs, and they cover entering, leaving, climbing and descending. Each pair has a 가다 member and an 오다 member.

Two patterns help with choosing a particle:

• Destination takes 에 or (으)로. 방에 들어가요 (I go into the room) and 이 층으로 올라와요 use the destination particles.
• Starting point takes 에서. 집에서 나와요 and 산에서 내려와요 use 에서 for the place you leave.

The same verbs can take 을/를 for a place you pass through or leave, as in 계단을 올라가요. That choice is covered in object particles with motion verbs. The next group describes returning, crossing and following.

What Do the Pairs for Back, across and along Mean?

These verbs describe turning back, passing, crossing and following. Four are pairs (돌아가다/돌아오다, 따라가다/따라오다, 찾아가다/찾아오다) and two are single verbs (지나가다, 건너가다).

Three of these verbs are easy to mix up:

• 돌아가다 and 돌아오다 mean "return", and which one you use depends on where you are when you speak. If you speak at work about home, you say 돌아가요. If you speak at home about coming back from work, you say 돌아와요.
• 따라가다 and 따라오다 both mean "follow". 따라가다 follows someone away from you or toward a place, and 따라오다 follows toward you.
• 찾아가다 and 찾아오다 mean "visit", with the sense of seeking someone out. They are more purposeful than 가다 or 오다 alone.

A related verb describes wandering: 돌아다니다 ("to walk around") is built from 돌아 and 다니다, not 가다 or 오다, so it is not one of the 20. Its polite present is 돌아다녀요. Next come the two verbs that Korean uses for carrying things and people.

How Do You Say Take and Bring?

You say "take" with 가져가다 or 데려가다 and "bring" with 가져오다 or 데려오다. The choice between the 가져- and 데려- forms depends on what you carry: use 가져- for things and 데려- for people and animals.

Two facts explain the forms. 가져가다 is a contraction of 가지고 가다 ("go, holding"), and 데려가다 is a contraction of 데리고 가다 ("go, taking along"). Both the long and the short forms are standard, and both are common in speech. Using 가져가다 for a person is a common mistake: say 친구를 데려가요, not 친구를 가져가요.

Because both groups use 가다 and 오다, the speaker's position decides the next choice.

Why Does the Speaker's Position Decide 가다 or 오다?

Korean chooses 가다 or 오다 by where the speaker is, so the same journey can be 들어가요 or 들어와요. 오다 means movement toward the speaker's current place (or the place the speaker is talking from), and 가다 means movement away from it or toward a third place.

English has the same split with "go" and "come" but is less strict. Korean applies it to every compound, so the listener hears the speaker's position in every sentence. The full rule, including surprising uses such as 갈게요 for "I am coming", is in go vs come in Korean. To use the verbs in directions, see Korean directions phrases. Position also changes nothing about conjugation, which the next section confirms.

How Do Compounds Conjugate?

Compounds conjugate exactly like their root, so no new rule is needed. 가다 compounds follow 가다, and 오다 compounds follow 오다 with the ㅘ contraction: 오 + 아요 = 와요.

Three habits make the forms easy to produce:

• 오다 compounds contract. 들어오다 + 아요 gives 들어와요, and 돌아오다 + 았어요 gives 돌아왔어요. The ㅘ contraction is the topic of ㅘ contraction.
• 가다 compounds write the double ㅏ once. 들어가 + 아요 gives 들어가요, not 들어가아요.
• All of them are regular. The 20 verbs have no irregular class.

The honorific is predictable too: 들어오세요 ("please come in") and 가져가세요 ("please take it"). The next section puts the verbs into full sentences.

How Do You Build a Full Sentence with a Movement Verb?

You build a full sentence by adding the place and the right particle before the verb. The particle tells the listener whether the place is a starting point, a destination or a route, and the verb tells the direction.

Korean puts the place before the verb and the verb last, as in any Korean sentence, and only the particle changes with the meaning. If the particle choice feels hard, learn each verb with one fixed example, such as 식당에 들어가요, and swap the noun.

Which Verb Fits the Scene?

Choose the verb that fits each scene, then check the answers below the quiz. Remember to look at where the speaker stands.

1. You are inside a room, and a friend enters. 친구가 방에 ___.
2. You are at the bottom of the stairs and walk up. 계단을 ___.
3. You are upstairs, and a friend is joining you. 친구가 이 층으로 ___.
4. You carry an umbrella with you. 우산을 ___.
5. You take your little brother to school. 동생을 학교에 ___.
6. You speak at work and say that you are going home. 집에 ___.

Answers: 1 들어와요, 2 올라가요, 3 올라와요, 4 가져가요, 5 데려가요, 6 돌아가요. The common mistakes are the following.

What to Learn Next

Now that you know the Korean movement verbs, the next step is the rule behind the choice of 가다 or 오다. Go vs come in Korean explains why Korean says 갈게요 for "I am coming" and how 다녀오다 and 갔다 오다 differ. After that, getting on and off adds the verbs for travelling by bus and train. For the section overview, see Korean motion verbs.

This page covers 20 compounds of 가다 and 오다 and one related verb, 돌아다니다. It does not cover compounds with other roots or the figurative uses of these verbs. Forms follow the standard orthography of the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원).

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I say "go in" in Korean? Say 들어가다. It is the direction word 들어 plus 가다, and the polite present is 들어가요, as in 방에 들어가요 ("I go into the room"). If someone enters toward you, say 들어오다 instead: 친구가 들어와요. The destination takes the particle 에.

What is the difference between 가져가다 and 가져오다? Both mean carrying a thing, but 가져가다 means taking it away from the speaker ("take") and 가져오다 means bringing it toward the speaker ("bring"). 우산을 가져가요 means "I take an umbrella", and 물을 가져와요 means "I bring water". For people and pets use 데려가다 and 데려오다.

Do Korean compound movement verbs conjugate irregularly? No. Compounds follow their root, and the 20 verbs here are regular. 오다 compounds use the ㅘ contraction (들어오다 becomes 들어와요, and 돌아오다 becomes 돌아왔어요). 가다 compounds write the double ㅏ once (들어가요, 들어갔어요). Check any form in the conjugator.

What does 돌아다니다 mean? 돌아다니다 means to walk or move around without a fixed route, as in 시내를 돌아다녀요 ("I walk around downtown"). It is built from 돌아 and 다니다 (to go regularly), not from 가다 or 오다. Do not confuse it with 돌아가다, which means to go back.