Key Facts
- Hangul: 들어가다 (deureogada)
- Meaning: to enter
- Spoken as: [드러가다]
- Level: A1
- Stem: 들어가
- Class: regular
- Objects: intransitive
Meaning and Register
들어가다 is for going into a place: 방에 들어가다 is to enter a room. A second everyday meaning is 집에 들어가다, which can mean going home, because home is the space you go into at the end of the day.
The place takes 에, not 을/를. There is no object at all, so this is an intransitive verb. Its honorific form 들어가세요 has a bonus use: Koreans say it as a polite goodbye, roughly "please go in", to a person who is leaving for their own home or building.
The register is neutral and the level is A1, so it appears early in classroom Korean.
Meanings:
- to enter. Go into a place, as in 방에 들어가다; 집에 들어가다 can mean going home.
Sound
The dictionary form is read [드러가다] because the ㄹ at the end of 들 moves across to the next syllable. The same linking happens in 들어가요, read [드러가요], and in 들어가서, read [드러가서]. The formal present 들어갑니다 is read [드러감니다].
Example Sentences
학생들이 교실에 들어가요.
The students go into the classroom.
A classroom is the destination, marked with 에. The subject 학생들이 is plural, and the verb stays the same since Korean verbs do not agree with number.
어제 일찍 집에 들어갔어요.
I went home early yesterday.
This past sentence uses 집에 들어갔어요 for going home. 일찍 (early) is the only adverb, and the 집 sense of 'home' shows the second meaning noted above.
가게에 들어가서 물을 샀어요.
I went into the shop and bought water.
The connector 들어가서 means 'having gone in, and then'. The shop is the destination, and the next action, buying water, follows in the same sentence.
Deureogada Conjugation Table
The stem 들어가 ends in a vowel and the class is regular, so every form is predictable: 아 harmony gives 들어가요 and 들어갔어요, while consonant-starting endings attach directly, as in 들어갑니다. Compare the modifiers 들어가는, 들어간 and 들어갈, which all keep the full stem. The negative forms are 안 들어가요 and 들어가지 않아요.
들어가다
| Form | Korean | Romanization | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polite present | 들어가요 | ||
| Polite past | 들어갔어요 | ||
| Polite future (plan) | 들어갈 거예요 | ||
| Polite future (intention or guess) | 들어가겠어요 | ||
| Formal present | 들어갑니다 | ||
| Formal past | 들어갔습니다 | ||
| Formal future | 들어갈 것입니다 | ||
| Casual present | 들어가 | ||
| Casual past | 들어갔어 | ||
| Casual future | 들어갈 거야 | ||
| Want to (polite) | 들어가고 싶어요 | ||
| Honorific polite | 들어가세요 | ||
| Because / and then | 들어가서 | ||
| Conditional (if) | 들어가면 | ||
| Present modifier (before a noun) | 들어가는 | ||
| Past modifier (before a noun) | 들어간 | ||
| Future modifier (before a noun) | 들어갈 | ||
| Negative with 안 (short) | 안 들어가요 | ||
| Negative (long form) | 들어가지 않아요 |
| Form | Korean | Sound if different |
|---|---|---|
| Polite present | 들어가요 | [드러가요] |
| Polite past | 들어갔어요 | [드러가써요] |
| Polite future | 들어갈 거예요 | [드러갈꺼예요] |
| Future guess | 들어가겠어요 | [드러가게써요] |
| Formal present | 들어갑니다 | [드러감니다] |
| Formal past | 들어갔습니다 | [드러갇씀니다] |
| Formal future | 들어갈 것입니다 | [드러갈꺼심니다] |
| Casual present | 들어가 | [드러가] |
| Casual past | 들어갔어 | [드러가써] |
| Casual future | 들어갈 거야 | [드러갈꺼야] |
| Want to | 들어가고 싶어요 | [드러가고 시퍼요] |
| Honorific | 들어가세요 | [드러가세요] |
| Because | 들어가서 | [드러가서] |
| If | 들어가면 | [드러가면] |
| Present modifier | 들어가는 | [드러가는] |
| Past modifier | 들어간 | [드러간] |
| Future modifier | 들어갈 | [드러갈] |
| Short negative | 안 들어가요 | [안 드러가요] |
| Long negative | 들어가지 않아요 | [드러가지 아나요] |
Class: Regular
Although 들다 on its own is an ㄹ verb, this compound is classed as regular. The stem 들어가 ends in 가, and the ㄹ sits in the middle of the word, so no ㄹ-drop happens. That is why 들어갑니다 keeps the ㄹ.
Common Mistake
Wrong: ✗ 방을 들어가요
Correct: ✓ 방에 들어가요
Why: 들어가다 takes the place with 에, not the object particle 을/를.
Learners say ✗ 방을 들어가요 because English 'enter' takes a direct object. The correction is ✓ 방에 들어가요. The room is a destination, so it takes 에.
Confusable Verbs
| Verb | Difference |
|---|---|
| 들어오다 | 들어가다 is entering away from the speaker; 들어오다 is entering toward the speaker. |
| 나가다 | 들어가다 is to go in; 나가다 is to go out. |
들어오다 is the same movement seen from inside. If the speaker is already in the room, or is describing someone coming toward them, 들어오다 is right; 들어가다 moves away from the speaker.
나가다 is the opposite direction, going out. Together the pair 들어가다 and 나가다 describe doorway traffic, with 나오다 and 올라가다 listed as further direction words.
Outside an Exhibition Room
A guide and a visitor are waiting outside the exhibition entrance.
Visitor
지금 들어가요?
Jigeum deureogayo?
Are we going in now?
Guide
네, 먼저 들어가세요.
Ne, meonjeo deureogaseyo.
Yes. Please go in first.
Visitor
친구는 벌써 들어갔어요.
Chinguneun beolsseo deureogasseoyo.
My friend has already gone in.
The guide is outside and sends the visitor into the room, so 들어가세요 fits the direction. The visitor then uses 들어갔어요 for a friend who has already crossed the doorway. A staff member waiting inside would normally welcome the visitor with 들어오세요 instead: the movement is now toward the speaker's location.
What Makes 들어가다 Tricky?
Write 들어가다 as one word. It names going into a space, and the whole compound supplies the stem 들어가. The ㄹ in its first part is not at the end of that stem, so the ㄹ-drop pattern of 알다 does not apply. 들어가요 and 들어갑니다 keep the same internal shape even though their sentence endings differ.
The place is a destination: 방에 들어가다. If you want to describe what happens after entry, 들어가서 links the movements into a sequence. In the shop example above, the person first enters and then buys water. The 에 marking belongs with entering; the buying action has its own object, 물을.
Going in does not necessarily mean staying there. 들어갔어요 reports entry, while a sentence about someone being inside describes their location. A friend may enter a shop, buy something and leave again. The past verb alone does not tell you whether they are still there now.
Common Combinations beyond a Doorway
집에 들어가다 often means to go home, especially when ending an outing or a workday. 일찍 집에 들어가다 adds “early”. The phrase focuses on returning inside or ending the time spent out. It does not require a description of physically opening a front door.
돈이 들어가다 means that something costs money. 시간이 들어가다 means that something takes time. These extend the idea of resources going into an activity. Money and time are the subjects, marked with 이, rather than objects someone is entering. Context supplies the project, repair or other activity that needs those resources.
안에 들어가다 makes “inside” explicit. 방에 already names the destination, but 안에 emphasizes the interior. This can help when someone is waiting near a doorway and you want to distinguish going inside from merely approaching the building.
Where Will You Hear 들어가세요?
A guide outside an exhibition room may invite a group to enter with 들어가세요. At the end of a visit, the same form can function as a polite farewell. In that farewell use, the social meaning is letting the other person go on home or inside; it need not be an order to move immediately.
An entrance sign may use 입구, and a restricted area may carry 출입 금지. These are useful words to recognize around the places people enter. The sign vocabulary is more compact than a spoken instruction, so you should not expect every sign to contain a conjugated form of 들어가다.
Related Direction and Entrance Words
| Related word | Meaning | Useful distinction |
|---|---|---|
| 들어오다 | to come in | Entry toward the speaker or reference point. |
| 나가다 | to go out | Movement from inside to outside. |
| 입구 | entrance | The place used for entry. |
| 안 | inside | Names the interior position or space. |
Use the directions and position lesson for inside, outside and other position words. For the regular endings in 들어가요 and 들어갔어요, see the polite present lesson.
Mini Drill: Going in from Outside
- Complete “enter the room”: 방____ 들어가요.
- Give the polite past of 들어가다.
- Invite someone politely to go inside.
- Join entering to the next action with the “and then” form.
Show drill answers
- 에: 방에 들어가요.
- 들어갔어요.
- 들어가세요.
- 들어가서.
Quick Self-Test
- Does 들어가다 lose its internal ㄹ before the formal ending?
- What does 돈이 들어가다 mean?
- Which verb normally welcomes someone toward a speaker already inside?
Show answers
- No. The stem ends in 가, not ㄹ.
- Something costs money.
- 들어오다, as in 들어오세요.
FAQ
Does 들어가다 Take 을/를?
No. The place entered takes 에, so use 방에 들어가요.
Can It Mean Going Home?
Yes. 집에 들어가다 often means going home, especially at the end of the day.
What Is 들어가세요 Used For?
It is the honorific polite form and is also a common polite goodbye meaning 'please go in'.
Is It Regular?
Yes. The ㄹ inside the word does not drop, and the forms follow vowel harmony.
How Is 들어가요 Pronounced?
It is read [드러가요].
Related Verbs
Next Steps
Learn 들어오다 next to cover the opposite point of view, then 나가다 and 나오다 for going out. 올라가다 is on the list for going up.
To try other forms of 들어가다 yourself, open the Korean verb conjugator; all entries are listed in the verb dictionary.