닦다 (dakda) Conjugation: Meaning, Forms & Examples

Key Facts

• Hangul: 닦다 (dakda)
• Meaning: to wipe/brush
• Spoken as: [닥따]
• Level: A2
• Stem: 닦
• Class: regular
• Objects: transitive

Meaning and Register

• to wipe; to polish. Used for wiping a surface clean: 책상을 닦다 (to wipe a desk).
• to brush. Also used for brushing teeth: 이를 닦다 (to brush your teeth).

The thing you wipe or brush takes the object particle 을/를. Other common combinations are 창문을 닦다 (to clean the windows) and 눈물을 닦다 (to wipe away tears). For brushing teeth, Koreans also use the single verb 양치하다.

The register is neutral, and the honorific polite form 닦으세요 works as a polite instruction.

Sound

ㄲ is a tense consonant. At the end of a syllable it is pronounced [ㄱ] and makes the next consonant tense, so the dictionary form is read [닥따]. Before a vowel it moves into the next syllable and keeps its tense sound: 닦아요 is read [다까요] and 닦았어요 is read [다까써요]. The formal present 닦습니다 is read [닥씀니다], and before ㄴ the final sound becomes [ㅇ]: 닦는 is read [당는].

Example Sentences

This is a daily habit and the 'brush' sense: 이를 (teeth) is the object and 닦아요 the verb.

닦았어요 with 창문을 (the windows) is the 'wipe' sense, in the past.

닦으세요 with 책상을 is a polite instruction to wipe the desk.

Dakda Conjugation Table

The stem 닦 ends in a ㅏ vowel, so harmony picks 아: 닦아요, 닦았어요, 닦아. Endings that need a linking 으 after a consonant keep it: 닦으면, 닦으세요. Consonant endings attach directly: 닦습니다, 닦는, 닦지 않아요.

Class: Regular

닦다 is regular. The double consonant ㄲ stays in the spelling of every form, and vowel harmony is the only rule at work.

Common Mistake

Wrong: ✗ 이를 씻어요 (when you mean 'I brush my teeth')

Correct: ✓ 이를 닦아요

Why: In Korean, teeth are brushed (닦다), not washed (씻다). Learners who think of 'cleaning teeth' reach for 씻다, the verb for washing with water.

Confusable Verbs

Cleaning a Café before Opening

A café manager and a coworker are preparing the room. The windows are finished, but one table still needs attention.

Manager

Coworker

Manager

Coworker

닦았어요 checks completed work, 닦으세요 assigns the next task, and 닦을 거예요 states what the coworker will do. The object is left out of the second line because the windows are already the topic. The third line names a new object, 이 탁자, “this table”, so the listener can identify the next job.

Which Object Goes with 닦다?

이를 닦다 means to brush your teeth. 이를 consists of 이, “tooth/teeth”, and the object marker 를. Korean does not require a plural ending here. The phrase usually describes brushing your own teeth when no other person is mentioned. 양치하다 names the same daily activity without needing 이를 as an object.

눈물을 닦다 means to wipe away tears. Here 닦다 concerns removing something from a surface, rather than cleaning the tears themselves. 땀을 닦다 means to wipe off sweat and follows the same pattern. A cloth or tissue may be understood from the situation.

구두를 닦다 means to clean or polish dress shoes. The English translation depends on the action: using a cloth to remove dirt may be “clean”, while working on the shine may be “polish”. The Korean verb covers both. 책상을 닦다 and 창문을 닦다 usually focus on wiping the surface clean.

Add the Tool with 로 or 으로

수건으로 닦다 means to wipe with a towel. 휴지로 닦다 means to wipe with a tissue or toilet paper. The surface or substance being wiped keeps 을/를, while the tool takes 로 or 으로. That lets you name both what needs cleaning and what to use.

In 이를 닦다, the toothbrush is normally understood. If you need to specify it, 칫솔로 means “with a toothbrush”. The tool does not replace the object marker on teeth. This is useful when describing a cleaning task where several tools are available.

Where Will You Hear 닦다?

At home, 이를 닦다 belongs to morning and bedtime routines. In a café or classroom, 닦으세요 can be an instruction about tables, desks or windows. The object tells you whether the English meaning is brush, wipe or polish; the verb alone does not identify the tool.

In a drama, someone handing over a tissue may talk about wiping tears. 눈물을 닦다 is a literal physical action, even when the scene is emotional. You do not need to learn a separate figurative meaning to understand it.

Related Cleaning Words

The personal care vocabulary lesson teaches the toothbrushing set. For housework, compare the wider cleaning action 청소하다 with the specific wiping movement 닦다.

Why Does ㄲ Sound Different across the Forms?

닦다 keeps ㄲ in its written stem. Before the vowel in 닦아요, the tense consonant starts the next spoken syllable. Before the consonant in 닦는, the final sound changes through nasalisation, a sound adjustment before ㄴ. Neither change removes ㄲ from the spelling.

The honorific form 닦으세요 needs 으 because 닦 ends in a consonant. Compare it with 닦아요: both attach a vowel after the same stem, but their endings serve different purposes. Learning the whole pair keeps a sound change from turning into an invented spelling rule.

Mini Drill

1. Choose the ordinary phrase for brushing teeth: 이를 닦아요 or 이를 씻어요.
2. Change 닦아요 to the polite past.
3. Give a polite instruction using 닦다.
4. Write the present modifier, as in “a person who wipes”.

Quick Self-Test

1. In 수건으로 닦다, what does 으로 mark?
2. Does 눈물을 닦다 mean washing your eyes?
3. Does a pronunciation change make 닦다 irregular?

FAQ

How Do I Say 'I Brush My Teeth'?

Say 이를 닦아요. For a daily habit, add 매일: 저는 매일 이를 닦아요 (I brush my teeth every day).

Is It 씻다 for Teeth?

No. Teeth are brushed with 닦다. 이를 씻어요 is a common learner mistake.

What Else Can You Wipe with 닦다?

Desks, windows and tears are typical objects: 책상을 닦다, 창문을 닦다 and 눈물을 닦다.

How Is the Polite Present Pronounced?

닦아요 is read [다까요]. The ㄲ moves into the next syllable and keeps its tense sound.

Is There Another Word for Brushing Teeth?

Yes. 양치하다 means to brush your teeth, so you can say either 이를 닦다 or 양치하다.

Related Verbs

• 씻다
• 청소하다
• 빨래하다
• 샤워하다

Next Steps

Compare 씻다 and 청소하다 first, then 빨래하다 and 샤워하다 from the related list.

To try other forms of 닦다 yourself, open the Korean verb conjugator; all entries are listed in the verb dictionary.