What you'll learn
- Split a conjugated verb into stem, pre-final endings and final ending.
- Name the four ending families and give one example of each.
- Put -시-, -았/었- and -겠- in the correct order.
- Tell an ending from a particle.
- Say which endings work with adjectives and which work only with verbs.
Prerequisites: you can find the stem of a dictionary verb, as taught in what a verb stem is. Time: about 25 minutes.
The first section defines the ending and shows one in a real verb.
What Is a Verb Ending in Korean?
A verb ending (어미, eomi) is a piece added after a verb or adjective stem that carries grammar: tense, politeness, mood, or a link to the next clause. The stem carries the word's meaning, and the ending carries everything else. One stem combines with dozens of endings, which is why Korean learners study endings as a system.
Look at one verb split into parts:
| Part | 먹 | 었 | 어요 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | stem | pre-final ending | final ending |
| Job | eat | past | polite statement |
| Result | 먹었어요 = "I ate" |
The first piece is the stem. The second piece, 었, marks the past, but it cannot end a sentence alone. The last piece, 어요, closes the word and makes the sentence polite. Without an ending the stem is incomplete, which is why a dictionary shows 다 as a label. The next section sorts endings into families.
The Four Ending Families
Korean endings fall into four families by what they do in a sentence. Learners meet the first two constantly, and meet the other two in every pattern that builds a noun phrase.
| Family | Korean name | Job | Verb example | Adjective example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sentence-final | 종결 어미 | ends the sentence | 먹어요, 먹습니다, 먹는다 | 커요, 큽니다, 크다 |
| Connective | 연결 어미 | joins one clause to the next | 먹고, 먹어서, 먹으면 | 크고, 커서, 크면 |
| Modifier | 관형사형 어미 | turns a verb into a describing word before a noun | 먹는 사람, 먹은 사람, 먹을 사람 | 큰 집 |
| Nominalizing | 명사형 어미 | turns a verb into a noun | 먹기, 먹음 | 크기 |
How each family reads in a sentence:
- Sentence-final endings end the clause and decide politeness and sentence type: 밥을 먹어요 ("I eat a meal"), 밥을 먹습니다 (formal).
- Connective endings keep the sentence going: 밥을 먹고 가요 ("I eat and then go"), 밥을 먹으면 졸려요 ("if I eat, I get sleepy").
- Modifier endings put a verb in front of a noun, like an English relative clause: 밥을 먹는 사람 ("the person who eats a meal"), 밥을 먹은 사람 ("the person who ate"), 밥을 먹을 사람 ("the person who will eat").
- Nominalizing endings make the clause itself a noun: 먹기가 힘들어요 ("eating is hard").
An honest note on scope. The four-family split is a teaching simplification. Korean grammar books group the modifier and nominalizing endings, together with adverbial endings such as -게 (크게, "largely"), under one heading, 전성 어미 ("transforming endings"). This lesson keeps the four families because each is easy to spot in a sentence. The meanings of the endings in each family are taught in Korean sentence endings and Korean connectors. The next section shows how the pieces stack.
What Is the Order of Endings after the Stem?
After the stem, endings stack in a fixed order: honorific -(으)시-, then tense -았/었-, then attitude -겠-, then the final ending. The first three are pre-final endings (선어말 어미, seoneomal eomi) and are all optional. The final ending is required, and it always comes last.
| Slot | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (final) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Piece | stem | -(으)시- | -았/었- | -겠- | -어요 |
| Job | meaning | respect | past | guess or intention | polite statement |
| Example | 먹 | 으시 | 었 | 겠 | 어요 |
Putting all the slots together gives 먹으셨겠어요. The pieces merge in spelling: 시 + 었 becomes 셨, so the written form is 먹으셨겠어요 [머그셛께써요], which reads as "(the respected person) must have eaten." Each slot can be left out:
| Slots used | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 0 + 4 | 먹어요 | I eat |
| 0 + 2 + 4 | 먹었어요 | I ate |
| 0 + 3 + 4 | 먹겠어요 | I will eat (intention) |
| 0 + 1 + 4 | 먹으세요 | (respected person) eats / please eat |
| 0 + 1 + 2 + 4 | 먹으셨어요 | (respected person) ate |
| 0 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 | 먹으셨겠어요 | (respected person) must have eaten |
The order never changes. 먹겠으셨어요 and 먹었으시어요 are both wrong. The honorific verb 드시다 replaces 먹다 for very respectful speech, and it follows the same slots: 드시 + 었 + 겠 + 어요 gives 드셨겠어요. The slot order is why the speaker needs to think of the verb as a word built from the stem outwards. The honorific -시- is explained in Korean honorifics. Other pre-final endings, such as -았었- and -더-, exist, but they are rarer and have their own lessons. The next section answers a common beginner question about the last piece.
How Is an Ending Different from a Particle?
An ending attaches to a verb or adjective stem, and a particle attaches to a noun. Both are short grammar pieces, which is why beginners mix them up. They differ in what they attach to and what they do.
| Ending (어미) | Particle (조사) | |
|---|---|---|
| Attaches to | verb or adjective stem | noun, pronoun or adverb |
| Job | tense, politeness, mood, linking | marks the role of the word: topic, object, place |
| Example | 가요 (요 follows the stem 가) | 학교에 (에 follows the noun 학교) |
| Can be dropped? | final ending cannot | often dropped in speech |
Take the sentence 학교에 가요 ("I go to school") and split it. 학교 is a noun, and 에 is a particle that marks the place of arrival. 가 is the stem of 가다, and 아요 is the ending that makes the stem a polite sentence. The vowels merge: 가 + 아요 becomes 가요. A learner who calls 요 a particle is half right: it looks like one, because it can follow nouns in conversation (저는요, "as for me"), but in a verb it belongs to the ending. The particles are covered in Korean particles. The next section explains where 요 comes from.
Where Does -요 Come From?
The ending -요 is a politeness piece added to a casual ending. Take the casual form of a verb (the stem plus 아/어), add 요, and you have the polite form: 먹어 → 먹어요. This is why the polite style is called 해요체 (haeyoche, "haeyo style"): it is the casual 해 plus 요.
| Casual ending | Polite ending | Verb example | Polite form |
|---|---|---|---|
| -아/어 | -아요/어요 | 먹어 | 먹어요 |
| -지 | -지요 / -죠 | 먹지 | 먹지요 / 먹죠 |
| -네 | -네요 | 먹네 | 먹네요 |
| -는데 | -는데요 | 먹는데 | 먹는데요 |
This means that a learner who knows one casual ending can make a polite version by adding 요. The formal style does not follow this pattern. The formal ending -습니다 (먹습니다) has no 요, because it is a different ending. So 요 is not a universal sign of politeness: it is the sign of a particular polite style. The speech levels are compared in Korean formal speech. The next section turns to adjectives.
Which Endings Work with Adjectives?
Most endings work with both verbs and adjectives, but a few split. Adjectives describe a state, so endings that need an action, such as "let's" or "in order to", do not work with them. The table gives the split for ten endings.
| Ending | Meaning | Verb (먹다) | Adjective (크다) | Works with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -어요 | polite statement | 먹어요 | 커요 | both |
| -습니다 / -ㅂ니다 | formal statement | 먹습니다 | 큽니다 | both |
| -고 | and | 먹고 | 크고 | both |
| -(으)면 | if | 먹으면 | 크면 | both |
| -는 / -(으)ㄴ | present modifier | 먹는 | 큰 | different forms |
| -는다 / -ㄴ다 | plain present | 먹는다 | 크다 | different forms |
| -(으)러 | in order to | 먹으러 | not used | verbs only |
| -자 | let's | 먹자 | not used | verbs only |
| -고 있다 | is -ing | 먹고 있어요 | not used | verbs only |
| -(으)세요 as a request | please | 먹으세요 | not a request | verbs only |
The most useful row is the present modifier. A verb takes -는 before a noun (먹는 사람, "person who eats"), and an adjective takes -(으)ㄴ (큰 집, "big house"). The words 있다 and 없다 take the verb form, which is why 맛있다 ("is tasty") gives 맛있는 음식 ("tasty food"). This split is one of the practical reasons to learn whether a word is a verb or an adjective, which is covered in verbs versus adjectives. Now try the labelling drill.
Practice
Label each form as stem + pre-final ending(s) + final ending. Try all six before reading the key.
- 먹었어요
- 가세요
- 읽겠습니다
- 하셨어요
- 놀았겠어요
- Which family is 크고 (an adjective stem 크 plus 고)?
Answer key
- 먹 + 었 + 어요 (stem, past, final).
- 가 + 시 + 어요. The pieces 시 and 어 merge into 세, so the written form is 가세요.
- 읽 + 겠 + 습니다 (stem, intention, formal final).
- 하 + 시 + 었 + 어요. The pieces 시 and 었 merge into 셨, so the written form is 하셨어요.
- 놀 + 았 + 겠 + 어요 (stem, past, guess, final). The vowel 아 is used because the vowel of the stem 놀 is ㅗ.
- A connective ending, because it joins 크 to what comes next (크고 예뻐요, "it is big and pretty").
If you got items 1 to 5 right, you can read any Korean verb as stem plus endings. If you missed items 2 or 4, reread the slot-order section.
Common Misconceptions
Learners often hold three beliefs about endings.
- "요 is a particle." Actually 요 in a verb is part of the ending 어요. It looks like a particle only because conversation also lets 요 follow words and particles.
- "More endings mean more politeness." Actually politeness comes from the final ending. Adding -시- shows respect for the subject of the sentence, and it does not add politeness to the listener. You cannot use -시- for yourself.
- "The stem takes every ending directly." Actually each ending attaches to whatever stands before it. In 먹었어요 the ending 어요 attaches to 었, not to 먹.
These ideas lead directly to what to study next.
What Should You Learn after the Korean Verb Ending?
After the Korean verb ending, put the stem and ending together in a real tense. The present tense recipe gives three steps: remove 다, pick 아요 or 어요, then contract. For a deeper look at what endings mean, use Korean sentence endings. The stem lesson you just built on is what a verb stem is, and it is worth rereading if the 으 rule still feels unclear.
What this lesson does not cover. It does not teach the meaning of each connective or sentence-final ending, the rare pre-final endings (-았었-, -더-) or the adverbial endings. 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
How many endings can one verb take? One verb takes exactly one final ending and, in everyday speech, up to three pre-final endings before it: -시-, -았/었- and -겠-. 먹으셨겠어요 uses all three. Connective endings can also be chained across clauses, so a long sentence may contain several, but each clause has only one at its end.
Why does the ending change between 아요 and 어요? The ending picks 아요 or 어요 to match the last vowel of the stem, a rule called vowel harmony. Stems ending in ㅏ or ㅗ take 아요 (가요, 와요), and almost all other stems take 어요 (먹어요, 마셔요). The meaning is identical, only the vowel changes.
Where can I learn the connective endings? Connective endings such as -고, -아서/어서, -(으)면 and -지만 each have their own lesson in the grammar section, grouped by meaning: and, but, because, if, time and purpose. This lesson only shows where they sit in the verb. The Korean connectors hub lists all of them with examples.
What is a pre-final ending? A pre-final ending (선어말 어미) is an ending that comes between the stem and the final ending, and it cannot end a sentence by itself. The three common ones are -시- for honorific respect, -았/었- for the past and -겠- for a guess or intention. Without a final ending, 먹었 is incomplete.
Do all endings attach directly to the stem? No. Pre-final endings attach to the stem, but final and connective endings can attach to a pre-final ending instead. In 먹었어요 the final ending 어요 follows 었, not 먹. The rule is that each ending attaches to whatever stands immediately before it, ending up on the stem only when nothing else is in between.