Pour in Korean: 붓다 (butda) Meaning, Forms & Examples

Key Facts

• Hangul: 붓다 (butda)
• Meaning: to pour; to swell
• Level: B1
• Part of speech: verb
• Pronounced: [붇따]
• Stem: 붓
• Conjugation class: ㅅ
• Grammar: Transitive for pouring (물을 부어요); intransitive for swelling (얼굴이 부어요).
• Usage: ㅅ irregular: 부어요, 부으면, 부은, but 붓습니다 and 붓는.

Pour in Korean: What Does 붓다 Mean?

For pouring, the verb is transitive: 냄비에 물을 붓다 is to pour water into a pot. For swelling it is intransitive: 얼굴이 붓다 means the face is swollen.

The container takes 에, and the liquid takes 을/를. The verb is a natural fit for cooking instructions.

Senses:

• to pour: Pour liquid into a container: 냄비에 물을 붓다.
• to swell: Swell up, as in 얼굴이 붓다.

How Do You Pronounce 붓다?

The dictionary form is read [붇따]. Before a consonant the ㅅ is a plain stop, so 붓습니다 is [붇씀니다] and 붓는 is [분는]. Before a vowel the ㅅ disappears: 부어요 is [부어요].

How Do You Use 붓다 in a Sentence?

냄비에 is the container and 물을 the liquid; 부어요 has lost its ㅅ.

그릇에 우유를 describes pouring milk into a bowl, and 부었어요 is the past.

The conditional 부으면 combines with 3분 후에 먹을 수 있어요 to give the instant noodle instruction.

How Does Butda Conjugation Work?

붓다 drops its ㅅ before a vowel and keeps it before a consonant. That gives 부어요, 부으면, 부은 on one side and 붓습니다, 붓는 on the other. This is the ㅅ irregular pattern.

Sound Changes

Common Mistake

Wrong: ✗ 물을 붓어요

Correct: ✓ 물을 부어요

Why: A regular stem would keep the ㅅ and give 붓어요. Because 붓다 is ㅅ-irregular, the ㅅ drops before 어, so the form is 부어요.

Which Jobs Does 붓다 Do?

In the kitchen it is the verb of instant cooking: 라면에 물을 붓다. 끓이다 (to boil) is what follows when the pot goes on the stove. The second sense, 얼굴이 붓다, is about the body, so the same polite form 부어요 can mean either liquid being poured or a face being swollen, and the sentence tells you which.

What Is Easy to Confuse with 붓다?

Adding Water to Instant Noodles

Jisu and Minho are preparing cup noodles. Minho has added water to one cup and is about to fill the other.

Jisu

Minho

Jisu

The past 부었어요 checks the completed cup, 부을 거예요 names the plan, and 부으세요 gives an instruction. The liquid can be left out after the first line because both speakers know they mean water. 천천히 describes the speed of pouring.

Which 붓다 Phrases Are Useful in the Kitchen?

물을 붓다 means to pour water, and 뜨거운 물을 붓다 specifies hot water. 조금씩 붓다 means to pour a little at a time. The last phrase describes how the liquid is added, so it fits a recipe where the amount needs to be controlled rather than emptied all at once.

소스를 붓다 means to pour sauce. 붓다 can describe pouring onto food as well as into an empty container. The destination takes 에 in either case. That is why the noodle example has 라면에 rather than naming a separate pot or bowl.

물을 부으면 means “if you pour water.” It introduces a condition, rather than directly telling someone what to do. 부으세요 is the polite instruction. In a recipe, 부어서 can connect pouring to the next action, while the present 붓는 can describe the pouring step before a noun.

Is 따르다 Always a Smaller Pour?

따르다 is especially natural for serving a drink into a cup or glass. 붓다 often directs attention to transferring or adding liquid, such as water going into a pot. Both can describe liquid moving into a container. There is no fixed volume that separates the verbs.

The earlier cup contrast is a useful common setting, not a rule that bans 붓다 with cups. The dialogue uses 붓다 with cup noodles because the water is being added as part of preparation. For serving tea to a guest, 따르다 is often the more useful word to learn next.

How Do You Recognize the Swelling Meaning?

A body part as the subject points to swelling: 얼굴이 부었어요 means that the face swelled or is swollen. The past can describe the change that produced the present swollen state. In a pouring sentence, water or another liquid is instead an object with 을/를.

붓다 reports swelling; it does not name a cause or diagnosis. When describing what happened, the speaker can add a separate cause or time expression. For the learner, the key distinction is grammatical: 얼굴이 is a subject, while 물을 is an object. The conjugated verb itself is identical.

Study containers and kitchen actions in Korean cooking vocabulary. The body vocabulary lesson helps with the second meaning.

Why Do 부어요 and 붙어요 Need Separate Spellings?

붓다 loses ㅅ before vowel endings, so 부어요 has no final consonant on 부. 붙다, “to stick,” keeps its ㅌ in 붙어요. Both dictionary forms sound like [붇따], but the polite forms sound different: 부어요 versus 붙어요 [부터요]. The romanization butda alone cannot tell you which verb is intended.

For 붓다, preserve the vowel sequence in 부어요 and 부으면. The ㅅ disappears, but the ending still follows the original consonant-stem pattern where relevant. The future is 부을 거예요, with 을 after 부, and the request is 부으세요. These forms are useful reminders that dropping a consonant does not remove every vowel in the ending.

Before consonants, the spelling keeps ㅅ: 붓고, 붓는, 붓습니다. In 붓는, the written consonants change in pronunciation to [분는]. Compare that with the vowel-ending 부은: the spelling change happens there because of conjugation, rather than just a sound rule.

Mini Drill: Drop ㅅ before Vowels

1. Give the polite present of 붓다.
2. Give the polite past.
3. Make the polite request “please pour.”
4. Choose the present modifier: 붓는 or 부은.

Quick Self-Test

1. Which meaning does 얼굴이 부었어요 express?
2. Does 붓다 require a large container?
3. How does 붙어요 differ from 부어요?

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Say Pour Water?

물을 부어요. To name the container, add it with 에: 냄비에 물을 부어요.

Does 붓다 Also Mean Swell?

Yes. With a body part as the subject it means to swell: 얼굴이 부어요, my face is swollen.

Why Is It 붓습니다 but 부어요?

The ㅅ stays before consonants and drops before vowels.

What Is the Modifier?

부은 is the past modifier and 붓는 the present one: the ㅅ drops before 으 but stays before ㄴ.

Which Words Are Related to 붓다?

• 따르다: to pour/follow
• 담다: to put into
• 넣다: to put in
• 끓이다: to boil

What Should You Learn Next?

Compare 따르다 and 담다 next. The class rule is in ㅅ-irregular verbs and adjectives, the Korean verb conjugator tests more ㅅ verbs, and the Korean verb dictionary lists related entries.