Korean Conjugation Sheet: Rules for Every Form on One Page

What you will be able to do after this page

• Find the stem and choose 아 or 어 with the rules in boxes 1 and 2.
• Contract a vowel-final stem correctly, from 가요 to 돼요, with the map in box 3.
• Build the past, future, formal and casual forms of a regular verb from the polite present.
• Name the seven irregular classes and give one example of each.

Before you start: read how to read a conjugation chart, because the sheet assumes you know what rows, columns and class labels mean. Time: about 25 minutes, plus printing. Level: A1.

What Is on the Korean Conjugation Sheet?

The sheet is a one-page summary of the rules that build five regular forms and seven irregular classes. It has six boxes, numbered in the order you use them when you conjugate a word:

1. Stem. Remove 다 from the dictionary form.
2. 아 or 어. The last stem vowel chooses the vowel of the ending.
3. Contraction map. A vowel-final stem merges with 아/어 into one syllable.
4. Past. Add 았/었/했 before 어요.
5. Future, formal and casual. Three recipes in one box.
6. Irregular classes. One strip with the trigger and one example for each of the seven classes.

The sheet works as an index and not as a substitute for the lessons. Each box is a summary, and each box links to the page that explains and proves the rule. If a rule on the sheet surprises you, open the linked lesson.

What the sheet covers and does not cover. It covers the regular patterns, the seven irregular classes and the five forms listed above. It does not cover honorific endings such as -(으)시-, connective endings such as -아서/-어서 or the many other endings that attach to the same stem. Those have their own lessons in the Korean verb conjugation section. The forms on the sheet follow the standard orthography of the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원). Start with box 1, the shortest.

Which Stem and Vowel Rules Are on the Sheet?

Boxes 1 and 2 hold the two rules every other box relies on: remove 다 to find the stem, then pick 아 or 어 from the last stem vowel.

Box 1: Find the stem. The dictionary form always ends in 다. Remove it and what remains is the stem.

Box 2: Choose 아 or 어. Look at the last vowel in the stem. If it is ㅏ or ㅗ, the ending uses 아. If it is any other vowel, the ending uses 어. Verbs ending in 하다 take 해 instead, and a one-syllable ㅡ stem such as 쓰다 takes 어 (써요).

For ㅡ stems, look back one vowel: 바쁘다 uses ㅏ before ㅡ, so it takes 아 and becomes 바빠요. The full logic is in vowel harmony in conjugation, and boxes 1 to 3 together summarise the present tense recipe. When the stem ends in a vowel, the stem and the ending merge, which is the subject of box 3.

What Does the Contraction Map Show?

The contraction map shows what happens when a vowel-final stem meets 아 or 어: the two vowels merge into one syllable, and you write the merged syllable. Writing both would give a row of two vowels such as 가아요, which is never used.

Three habits make the map easy to remember:

• Same vowel, one stays. 가 + 아 and 서 + 어 look like two syllables joining, but one vowel simply drops.
• ㅗ and ㅜ turn into glides. 오 + 아 becomes 와, and 주 + 어 becomes 줘. The first vowel becomes a short w sound before the second.
• ㅐ, ㅔ and ㅚ are special. 보내 + 어 becomes 보내요 (the full form 보내어요 is also standard but rare), and 되 + 어 becomes 돼요. Many learners write 되요 by mistake, but 돼요 is the standard spelling.

The lessons behind this box are ㅘ contraction, ㅝ contraction, ㅕ contraction, vowel dropping, ㅐ and ㅔ stems, 돼 versus 되 and 해요 from 하다. With the polite present settled, the other four forms are small changes to it.

How Do You Make the past, Future, Formal and Casual Forms?

You make each of the four forms by changing the ending after the stem, and the table shows all of them for three verbs. Boxes 4 and 5 hold these recipes.

Four details decide which half of each recipe applies:

• Past. The vowel-final stem fuses with 았/었 into one syllable ending in ㅆ: 가 + 았 = 갔. The stem 먹 ends in a consonant, so nothing fuses: 먹었어요. See past tense conjugation.
• Future. A vowel stem or a ㄹ stem takes ㄹ 거예요 (갈 거예요), and a consonant stem takes 을 거예요 (먹을 거예요). See future tense conjugation.
• Formal. A vowel stem or a ㄹ stem takes ㅂ니다 (갑니다, 삽니다), and a consonant stem takes 습니다 (먹습니다). See formal conjugation.
• Casual. Drop the 요 from the polite form: 가요 becomes 가. The only common exception is the copula, where 이에요/예요 becomes 이야/야. See casual conjugation.

Spoken Korean often shortens the formal future 먹을 것입니다 to 먹을 겁니다. Both are correct. Everything so far works for regular verbs, so the sheet's last box covers the exceptions.

What Are the Seven Irregular Classes?

The seven irregular classes are ㅂ, ㄷ, ㅅ, 르, ㅎ, ㅡ and ㄹ, and each is named by the stem sound that changes. Box 6 shows the trigger and one example for each class on a single strip.

The strip hides one pattern worth noticing: the change happens only when a vowel (or, for ㄹ stems, a ㄴ, ㅂ or ㅅ ending) comes next. In the formal present, ㅂ, ㄷ and ㅅ stems keep their dictionary sound: 덥습니다, 듣습니다, 낫습니다. Each class has its own lesson, starting with ㅂ irregular verbs, ㄷ irregular verbs, ㅅ irregular verbs, 르 irregular verbs, ㅎ irregular verbs, ㅡ irregular verbs and ㄹ irregular verbs. The full strip with more examples is the irregular verbs chart. The next section puts the six boxes to work on a new word.

How Do You Use the Sheet to Conjugate a New Verb?

You use the sheet by walking through its six boxes in order, and stopping as soon as a box gives you the answer. The steps take about a minute for a new verb.

1. Box 1: Remove 다 and write the stem.
2. Box 6: Check whether the verb belongs to one of the seven classes. If it does, apply the class change first.
3. Box 2: Pick 아 or 어 from the last vowel of the (changed) stem.
4. Box 3: If the stem ends in a vowel, merge it with the ending.
5. Boxes 4 and 5: Swap in the ending for the form you need.

Worked example with 걷다 (to walk):

Now try it yourself. Give the polite past of each verb, then check the answers below the quiz: 가다, 먹다, 하다, 돕다, 모르다 and 듣다.

Answers: 갔어요, 먹었어요, 했어요, 도왔어요, 몰랐어요, 들었어요. If you missed 돕다, return to the ㅂ row of box 6: 돕다 is one of only two ㅂ verbs (with 곱다) that change to 오 and not 우. Because mistakes repeat, the next section lists the ones this sheet helps you catch.

Which Mistakes Does the Sheet Help You Catch?

The sheet helps you catch six common mistakes, because each wrong form breaks a rule in one specific box.

The sheet is a checking tool: after you build a form, find the matching box and confirm the rule. For other verbs, type the dictionary form into the Korean verb conjugator, which shows the rule for every form.

Where Can You Download the Printable Sheet?

The PDF is available as a free download in A4 and US Letter for personal and classroom use. The card below shows its status. Consult this page for the version date and review status, because a Korean teacher checks every form on a sheet before it is published.

The tables on this page are print-friendly, and you can print the page itself. To practise the same rules on paper, use the Korean conjugation worksheet or the other grammar worksheets.

What to Learn Next

Now that you have the Korean conjugation sheet in hand, the next step is to see the same rules on real words. The verbs conjugation list applies them to 50 common verbs and adjectives, grouped by pattern, with all five forms in each row. If you want to understand why a rule works, return to the lesson linked in its box, starting with the present tense recipe. For the section overview, open Conjugation Charts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Korean conjugation sheet free to print? Yes. The one-page sheet is available in A4 and US Letter as a free PDF for personal and classroom use, and its card on this page shows the release status. You can also print this page itself, because the six boxes are written as ordinary tables and lists that print cleanly on A4 or Letter paper.

Does the conjugation sheet cover irregular verbs? Yes, box 6 covers all seven classes: ㅂ, ㄷ, ㅅ, 르, ㅎ, ㅡ and ㄹ. Each class has its trigger and one example, such as 덥다 becoming 더워요 and 듣다 becoming 들어요. The sheet does not list every irregular word, so use the irregular verbs chart for more examples per class.

Does the conjugation sheet include honorifics? No. The sheet covers five forms: the polite present, past, future, formal and casual. Honorific endings such as -(으)시- are a separate pattern with their own lesson, and they combine with these forms. The sheet stays on one page by leaving honorifics and connective endings out.

How often is the conjugation sheet updated? Each release of the PDF carries a version date and a review status, so you can see which version you hold. The sheet changes only when a rule or an example is corrected after review. This page shows the current rules, and the date on the PDF card tells you whether a printed copy is current.

What is the fastest way to conjugate a verb with the sheet? Remove 다 to find the stem, check box 6 for an irregular class, choose 아 or 어 from the last vowel, merge vowels if the stem ends in one, then add the ending for the form you want. For 걷다 that gives 걸어요 in the polite present and 걸었어요 in the past.

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