Korean ㅘ Contraction: How 오 + 아요 Becomes 와요

What you'll learn

• Build 와요 and 봐요 from the stems 오 and 보, step by step.
• Recognise which stems contract and which do not.
• Form the past tense: 왔어요 and 봤어요.
• Ask politely with 와 주세요 and 봐 주세요.
• Tell the verb 와요 from the particle 와.

Prerequisites: you know the rule of vowel dropping, as taught in vowel dropping (ㅏ and ㅓ stems), and you can read the vowel ㅘ from w vowels. Time: about 25 minutes.

The first section defines the rule and shows it on two verbs.

What Is ㅘ Contraction in Korean?

ㅘ contraction is a spelling and sound rule in which a stem ending in ㅗ and an ending that starts with 아 merge into one syllable with the vowel ㅘ. The stem 보 ("see") plus the ending 아요 gives 보아요 in full, which is shortened to 봐요. With the stem 오 ("come") the merge is obligatory: only 와요 is standard, and 오아요 is a step on paper, not a real form. Korean grammar calls this a vowel contraction (모음 축약, moeum chukyak).

Why 아요 and not 어요? The stem 오 ends in the bright vowel ㅗ, and vowel harmony pairs bright vowels with 아. The pairing is the same one you saw in vowel harmony. Once 아요 is chosen, the vowels ㅗ and ㅏ sit side by side in two syllables, and Korean joins them into the single vowel ㅘ. The next section shows the merge one step at a time.

Merging 오 + 아요 into 와요

To form the polite present of a ㅗ stem, follow four steps. The steps are the same for every stem on this page.

1. Remove 다 from the dictionary form. 오다 → 오.
2. Choose 아요 by vowel harmony. The last vowel of 오 is ㅗ, so the ending is 아요.
3. Write the full form on paper. 오 + 아요 → 오아요. For 오다 this is only a working step; 오아요 is never written as a final form.
4. Merge ㅗ and ㅏ into ㅘ, inside one syllable. 오아요 → 와요. The two-syllable 오아 becomes the one-syllable 와.

You'll know it worked when the result has one syllable fewer than the full form: 오아요 has three syllables and 와요 has two. The common mistake at step 4 is to merge only on paper and still say the vowels separately. Say 와요 as "wah-yo", with one smooth glide from ㅗ into ㅏ. The new syllable ㅘ is the same letter you learn in w vowels.

The same four steps work for 보다:

Two sentences use the new forms: 이리 와요 ("Come here") and 저는 영화를 봐요 ("I watch movies"). The next section lists which stems follow the rule.

Stems That Use the ㅘ Contraction

The ㅘ contraction applies to every stem that ends in ㅗ with no final consonant. Few such stems exist, but two of them, 오다 and 보다, are among the most common verbs at beginner level, and each forms many compounds. The compounds follow the same rule because only the last syllable matters.

The rule is not limited to the polite present. Any ending that begins with 아 triggers the same merge. Here is the stem 오 and the stem 보 with four common endings:

A phrase learners meet early is 봐도 돼요 ("may I look?" or "it's fine to look"), which is the ending -아도 plus 돼요. The compounds work the same way, so 들어와서 means "came in and". The next section deals with the stems that look similar but do not contract.

Why Do Stems with a Final Consonant Not Contract?

Stems that end in a consonant do not contract, because the ending's vowel moves onto the final consonant instead of meeting the stem's vowel. The merge needs an open syllable, which is a syllable block without a final consonant. In 좋 + 아요, the ㅎ sits between ㅗ and ㅏ, so they never touch, and the result is 좋아요.

Two entries in this table need a closer look.

The verb 놓다. The standard form is 놓아요, pronounced [노아요]. The ㅎ at the end of 놓 is silent before a vowel, so the spoken sound is ㅗ + ㅏ, and for this one common verb speakers do contract it: 놔요 ("put it down") and 놨어요 (past). The Standard Korean Language Dictionary records 놔 as a short form of 놓아. This is a recorded exception that belongs to 놓다, and it does not extend to 좋다 (좌요 does not exist) or other ㅎ stems. So you will hear 놔 in commands such as 그냥 놔 ("just leave it") and in the compound 놔두다 ("to leave be").

The verb 돕다. The form 도와요 ends in 와, and looks like the output of a ㅘ contraction, but the cause is different. 돕다 is a ㅂ irregular verb: its ㅂ turns into 오 before a vowel, and 돕 + 아요 becomes 도오 + 아요, written 도와요. The spelling is the same as a contraction, but the rule is the ㅂ change, which is taught in ㅂ irregular. Learners who confuse the two try to explain 도와요 with a ㅗ stem and then cannot explain why 입다 gives 입어요 without any change. The next section deals with a form that learners often see in textbooks.

Is 보아요 Correct?

Yes, 보아요 is a correct form, but 봐요 is the form people say and write in everyday Korean. Article 35 of the Hangul Orthography (한글 맞춤법) of the National Institute of Korean Language (국립국어원) states that when a stem ending in ㅗ or ㅜ merges with 아 or 어, the shortened spelling is written as it is pronounced. Its examples include 보아 → 봐 and 두어 → 둬. The uncontracted form is the original (본말), and the contracted form is the shortened form (준말). Both are accepted.

A learner can safely use the shortened forms in every situation. 오다 is the one verb on this page with no accepted full form: the Standard Korean Language Dictionary gives its conjugation only as 와, while 보다 is given as 보아 with 봐 as the short form. The other full forms are worth recognising because you may see them in poems, speeches or old-fashioned writing. The sentence has the same meaning either way. The next section applies the same rule to the past tense.

Past Tense Forms 왔어요 and 봤어요

The past tense of a ㅗ stem is formed with 았어요, and the ㅆ of 았 lands under the merged vowel. So 오 + 았어요 becomes 왔어요, and 보 + 았어요 becomes 봤어요. The merged syllable now has a final consonant: 왔 and 봤 are the stems 오 and 보 plus 았 compressed into one block.

Two sentences show the past at work: 어제 친구가 왔어요 ("A friend came yesterday") and 그 영화를 봤어요 ("I saw that movie"). In writing, the past form must keep the ㅆ, so 와어요 and 봐어요 are both wrong. The uncontracted past 보았어요 is correct and appears in formal writing, but 오았어요 is not a standard form, because 오다 always contracts. The next section shows the request forms that use these stems every day.

Requests with 와 주세요 and 봐 주세요

와 주세요 ("please come") and 봐 주세요 ("please take a look") use the connecting form of the verb followed by 주세요, which means "please give". The pattern is verb stem + 아/어 + 주세요, and it asks someone to do something for you. The connecting form of 오 is 와 and of 보 is 봐, so both contractions appear directly in the request.

Notice that 와 and 봐 here are the bare connecting forms, without 요. They are not casual statements. The word 좀 in the second sentence softens the request and is used constantly in polite speech. The ending -아/어 주세요 is covered with other request patterns in the grammar section. Because 와 is also a very common particle, the next section separates the two.

Is 와요 the Same as 와?

No. 와요 is the polite present of 오다, while 와 can be a casual form of 오다, a particle meaning "and" or "with", or an exclamation. All three are pronounced [와], so only context separates them.

The particle 와 attaches to a noun (친구와), the verb 와 stands alone at the end of a clause or sentence, and the exclamation is marked with a break and a different intonation. After a consonant-final noun, the particle changes to 과 (책과 연필). So a clue is available: if a noun precedes 와 and the next word is another noun or a verb, it is the particle. The next section covers two ㅗ look-alikes that do not follow this rule.

Look-Alike Verbs: 보이다 and 오르다

Verbs with ㅗ in the stem can look as though they should contract, but only stems that end in ㅗ do. Two common verbs have ㅗ in their dictionary form and follow other rules.

The stem 보이 ends in ㅣ, not ㅗ, so it follows the ㅕ rule in ㅕ contraction. The stem 오르 ends in 르, so it follows 르 irregular. Always check the last syllable of the stem, not the first. Four typical mistakes come next.

Common Mistakes with the ㅘ Contraction

The ㅘ contraction has four typical mistakes. Each comes from applying the rule one step too far, or one step too short.

Learners often write the full form in conversation. Actually 보아요 is valid but stiff, and 오아요 is not standard at all. Write and say 와요 and 봐요.

Learners often use ㅘ for ㅜ stems. Actually 주다 gives 줘요, not 좌요, because ㅜ is a dark vowel and takes 어: 주 + 어요 → 줘요. See ㅝ contraction.

Learners often contract every verb with ㅗ in it. Actually 보이다 gives 보여요 and 오르다 gives 올라요. Check the last syllable of the stem.

Learners often drop the past marker. Actually the ㅆ must stay: 왔어요, not 와어요 or 오았어요.

An honest limit: this lesson covers only the polite present and its relatives (아서, 아도, 았어요). It does not cover the future form 올 거예요 or the formal form 옵니다, which take no 아 ending and therefore need no contraction. Practice comes next.

Practice

Try each item before reading the key.

1. Give the polite present of 오다.
2. Give the polite present of 보다.
3. Give the polite past of 보다.
4. Give the polite present of 좋다.
5. Which verb gives 도와요: 돕다 or 도오다?
6. Fix the error: 어제 친구가 오았어요.
7. Say "Please come here" using 오다 and 주세요.
8. Give the polite present of 보이다.

Answer key

1. 와요.
2. 봐요.
3. 봤어요 [봐써요].
4. 좋아요 [조아요]. The ㅎ makes the syllable closed, so there is no contraction.
5. 돕다. The ㅂ irregular rule changes ㅂ to 오 before 아요.
6. 어제 친구가 왔어요.
7. 여기 와 주세요.
8. 보여요. The stem 보이 ends in ㅣ.

If you got items 1 to 4 right, you have the core rule. If you missed item 5 or 8, reread the sections on 돕다 and on look-alike verbs.

What Should You Learn after ㅘ Contraction?

After ㅘ contraction, learn its twin: stems that end in ㅜ merge with 어 instead. The next lesson, ㅝ contraction, covers 배워요 and 줘요, and the one after that, ㅕ contraction, covers 마셔요 and 기다려요. Together with this page they cover three of the seven contraction rules of the polite present conjugation. For the three-step recipe that uses all of them, see the present tense recipe.

What this lesson does not cover. It does not cover the honorific forms (오세요, 보세요), the future 올 거예요 or the 돼요 spelling trap. About this page. Last updated 2026-10-09. The Korean text, spoken forms and audio on this page were machine-generated and reviewed and signed off by Min-ji Park on 15 October 2026. Romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean and is shown only as a learning aid.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does 쏘다 contract to 쏴요? Yes. The stem 쏘 ends in ㅗ with no final consonant, so 쏘 + 아요 merges into 쏴요, and the past is 쐈어요. It follows exactly the same rule as 오다 and 보다. The verb 쏘다 means to shoot or to sting, and it is much rarer than 오다 or 보다 in everyday conversation.

Does the ㅘ contraction also happen with 아서 and 아도? Yes. The rule applies to every ending that starts with 아, not only 아요. 오 + 아서 becomes 와서 (come and, because I came), 보 + 아도 becomes 봐도 (even if you look), and 오 + 았어요 becomes 왔어요. The ending type does not matter, only the stem and the 아 or 아 + consonant sequence.

Why is 도와요 spelled with 와 if 돕다 ends in ㅂ? 도와요 comes from a different rule. 돕다 is a ㅂ irregular verb, and its ㅂ changes to 오 before a vowel ending, so 돕 + 아요 becomes 도와요. The spelling looks like a ㅘ contraction, but the cause is the irregular ㅂ, not a ㅗ-final stem. The two rules happen to give the same letters.

Is the full form 오아요 ever used? No. For 오다 and its compounds, such as 나오다 and 들어오다, the contraction is obligatory, so 와요 and 왔어요 are the only standard forms and 오아요 counts as a misspelling. Other ㅗ stems differ, because 보아요 and 쏘아요 are correct full forms that you may meet in formal or literary writing, so recognise them, but say 봐요.

Which verbs should I learn first for this rule? Learn 오다 (to come) and 보다 (to see) first, because they are two of the most common beginner verbs and every compound with them follows the same rule. Compounds such as 들어오다, 돌아오다 and 알아보다 then come free. Add 쏘다 later; the stem 놓 is a special case.