Korean ㅕ Contraction: How 마시 + 어요 Becomes 마셔요

What you'll learn

• Build 마셔요 and 기다려요 from the stems 마시 and 기다리.
• Recognise 15 common ㅣ stems and form their past tense.
• Spell 가져요, 가르쳐요 and 다쳐요 correctly even though they sound like 저 and 처.
• Tell ㅣ stems from ㅟ stems such as 쉬다.

Prerequisites: you know the twin rules in ㅘ contraction and ㅝ contraction. Time: about 25 minutes.

The first section defines the rule and explains how it works at the level of syllable blocks.

What Is ㅕ Contraction in Korean?

ㅕ contraction is a vowel rule in which a stem ending in ㅣ and an ending that starts with 어 merge into one syllable with the vowel ㅕ. The stem 마시 ("drink") plus 어요 gives 마시어요 in full, and speakers say 마셔요. It is the third of the contraction rules in the polite present, after the ㅗ + ㅏ merge and the ㅜ + ㅓ merge.

It helps to see the merge at the level of blocks. The block 시 is the consonant ㅅ plus the vowel ㅣ. The block 어 is the silent ㅇ plus the vowel ㅓ. When the two blocks merge, the consonant ㅅ stays in front and the two vowels become ㅕ, which gives 셔. The silent ㅇ simply disappears.

The ending is 어요 and never 아요 because ㅣ is not a bright vowel. Under vowel harmony, only ㅏ and ㅗ call for 아; every other final vowel, including ㅣ, calls for 어, as explained in vowel harmony. The next section turns this into four steps.

Merging 마시 + 어요 into 마셔요

To form the polite present of a ㅣ stem, follow four steps. They mirror the ㅘ and ㅝ rules, so the three lessons read as a series.

1. Remove 다 from the dictionary form. 마시다 → 마시.
2. Choose 어요 by vowel harmony. The last vowel of 마시 is ㅣ, so the ending is 어요.
3. Write the full form. 마시 + 어요 → 마시어요.
4. Merge the last block of the stem with 어. 시 + 어 → 셔. So 마시어요 → 마셔요.

You'll know it worked when the result has one syllable fewer than the full form: 마시어요 has four syllables, and 마셔요 has three. The usual mistake at step 4 is to merge the sound but keep the old spelling, writing 마시여요 or 마시어요 in a message. The standard contracted spelling merges the consonant and the new vowel into one block: 셔.

Two sentences use the new forms: 물을 마셔요 ("I drink water") and 친구를 기다려요 ("I wait for a friend"). The next section lists 15 stems that follow the rule.

Common Stems Ending in ㅣ

Many Korean verbs end in the syllables 이, 히, 리 and 기, and their stems all end in ㅣ. Many of them are formed by adding a passive or causative suffix to a base verb, which is why the family is large: 보이다 comes from 보다, 걸리다 from 걸다. Fifteen common ones follow, sorted by the consonant that comes before ㅣ.

Sample sentences: 학교에 다녀요 ("I go to school"), 시간이 걸려요 ("it takes time"), 공을 던져요 ("I throw the ball"), 약속을 지켜요 ("I keep a promise"). Use the sorted table to notice that the rule never changes: whatever consonant stands before ㅣ, it keeps its place and the vowel becomes ㅕ. The only spelling question arises for ㅈ and ㅊ, and the next section answers it.

How Do You Spell 쳐 and 져?

Spell the merged syllable with ㅕ even though it sounds like ㅓ: write 가져요 and 가르쳐요, never 가저요 or 가르처요. The Standard Pronunciation Rules (표준 발음법), Article 5, say that 져, 쪄 and 쳐 in conjugated forms are pronounced [저], [쩌] and [처]. The consonants ㅈ, ㅉ and ㅊ are palatal sounds that already carry a y-like glide, so a following ㅕ and a following ㅓ sound the same. The spelling stays with ㅕ because it shows the stem and ending merge.

The reason to remember the pattern is that the wrong spellings look natural when you write what you hear. A good habit: when a verb ends in 지, 치 or 찌 in the dictionary, the polite present has the same letters in 져, 쳐 or 쪄. The pronunciation of palatal consonants is part of the sound system explained in Korean palatalization. The next section covers the past tense.

Past Tense of ㅣ Stems

The past tense of a ㅣ stem uses 었어요, and the ㅆ of 었 lands under the merged vowel. So 마시 + 었어요 becomes 마셨어요, and 기다리 + 었어요 becomes 기다렸어요. The merged block carries a final consonant, just as in the ㅘ and ㅝ rules.

The sentence 어제 커피를 마셨어요 means "I drank coffee yesterday". The honorific -시- follows the same merge in the past: 시 + 었 becomes 셨, so 가시 + 었어요 is 가셨어요 and 하시 + 었어요 is 하셨어요. In the present, speakers use 가세요 and 하세요; the merged 가셔요 and 하셔요 are also standard but sound old-fashioned. The honorific system has its own lesson, and this page only points to it: see Korean honorifics. The next section shows the other endings that share the merged stem.

Which Other Endings Use the Merged Stem?

Every ending that starts with 어 uses the same merged stem as 어요, so the rule you have learned covers a whole group of patterns. Learners meet the first four of these in the first weeks of study.

The request 기다려 주세요 ("please wait") is among the most useful sentences in daily Korean, and 가르쳐 주세요 ("please teach me") is just as handy for a learner. In both, the contracted stem comes first and 주세요 follows. The pattern 마셔야 해요 means "I have to drink". The next section covers stems that look like ㅣ stems but do not contract.

Why Do ㅟ Stems Not Contract?

Stems that end in ㅟ keep the full ending in standard writing: 쉬다 gives 쉬어요, not a merged form. The vowel ㅟ is already a combination of ㅜ and ㅣ, and Korean has no single letter for ㅟ + ㅓ, so the orthography leaves the two syllables apart. The result looks like the full form of a ㅣ stem, but it is the correct standard form.

Speakers sometimes shorten these forms in casual talk, but those short forms are not standard and a learner should not copy them. A reliable check is to look at the last vowel letter of the stem: ㅣ contracts, ㅟ does not. The next section lists the mistakes that come up most often with this rule.

Common Mistakes with the ㅕ Contraction

The ㅕ contraction has four common mistakes.

Learners often spell what they hear. Actually the sound [처] is written 쳐, so write 가르쳐요, not 가르처요.

Learners often choose 아요 for a ㅣ stem. Actually ㅣ takes 어, so write 마셔요, not 마샤요 or 마사요.

Learners often contract ㅟ stems. Actually 쉬다 stays 쉬어요 in standard writing.

Learners often mix up 가르치다 and 가리키다. Actually 가르쳐요 means "teach" and 가리켜요 means "point at". The spelling of the stem decides the meaning.

An honest limit: this lesson shows the polite present and its relatives (어서, 어도, 었어요). It does not cover the honorific system, the future 마실 거예요 or the formal 마십니다, because none of those create a vowel clash. All 어 endings behave the same, so 마셔서 ("drank and"), 마셔도 ("even if you drink") and 마셔 보세요 ("try drinking") use the merged stem. Now try the exercises.

Practice

Try each item before reading the key.

1. Give the polite present of 마시다.
2. Give the polite present of 가르치다 and say how it is pronounced.
3. Give the polite past of 기다리다.
4. Give the polite present of 다치다.
5. Give the polite present of 쉬다.
6. Fix the error: 영어를 가르처요.
7. Give the polite present of 보이다.
8. Give "because I waited" with 기다리다 and -어서.

Answer key

1. 마셔요.
2. 가르쳐요, pronounced [가르처요].
3. 기다렸어요 [기다려써요].
4. 다쳐요 [다처요].
5. 쉬어요. The stem ends in ㅟ, so it does not contract.
6. 영어를 가르쳐요.
7. 보여요.
8. 기다려서.

If you got items 1 to 4 right, you have the core rule. If you missed item 2 or 6, reread the spelling section. If you missed item 5, reread the ㅟ section.

What Should You Learn after ㅕ Contraction?

After ㅕ contraction, learn the special rule for 하다. The next lesson, 하다 to 해요, explains why 하다 gives 해요, 했어요 and 합니다 and how the 여 rule extends to every noun + 하다 verb. For a different contraction that learners often confuse with this one, see 돼요 vs 되요. Together with ㅝ contraction and the ㅘ rule they make up the contraction rules in the polite present conjugation, and the overall method is in the present tense recipe.

What this lesson does not cover. It does not cover the honorific system in depth, the formal style or irregular verbs with ㅣ. 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

Why is 마시다 마셔요? The stem 마시 ends in ㅣ, which takes 어요 under vowel harmony. The full form 마시어요 puts ㅣ and ㅓ side by side, and Korean merges them into the single vowel ㅕ, written inside the block 셔. The sound is the same as 시 followed by 어, spoken as one smooth syllable: 마셔요.

Is 마시어요 correct? Yes, but only as the full form. The Hangul Orthography treats 마시어 as the original (본말) and 마셔 as the shortened form (준말), and accepts both. In conversation and everyday writing people use 마셔요. You may see 마시어요 in formal or literary writing, and it is worth recognising, but you do not need to produce it.

What is the difference between 가르쳐요 and 가리켜요? 가르쳐요 comes from 가르치다, which means to teach. 가리켜요 comes from 가리키다, which means to point at. The two verbs sound alike and both use the ㅕ rule, but the spelling differs: 가르치 has ㅡ in the second syllable and 가리키 has ㅣ. A learner who mixes them says teach when meaning point.

Does the honorific -시- follow this rule? In the past, yes: 시 + 었 contracts to 셨, giving 가셨어요 and 하셨어요. In the present, the merged 가셔요 is also standard, but it sounds old-fashioned; people almost always say 가세요 and 하세요 instead. The honorific system has its own lesson, so treat these forms as a preview and learn them in the honorifics section.

Does a ㅣ stem ever take 아요? No. The vowel ㅣ is not bright, so a stem ending in ㅣ takes 어요: 마시 → 마셔요, 지키 → 지켜요, 다치 → 다쳐요. Vowel harmony looks at the last vowel of the stem, and only ㅏ and ㅗ call for 아. Stems such as 가지 or 걸리 never make forms like 가자요 or 걸라요.