돕다 (dopda) Conjugation: Meaning, Forms & Examples

Key Facts

• Hangul: 돕다 (dopda)
• Meaning: to help
• Spoken as: [돕따]
• Level: A2
• Stem: 돕
• Class: ㅂ-irregular
• Objects: transitive

Meaning and Register

돕다 means to help or assist someone: 친구를 돕다. The person helped takes 을/를.

돕다 is moderately common and sounds a bit more formal or general than 도와주다. To ask for help in everyday speech, say 도와주세요.

Senses recorded for this verb:

• to help. Used for helping or assisting someone: 친구를 돕다.

Grammar note: Takes an object with 을/를 for the person helped.

Usage note: Moderately common. ㅂ-irregular: 도와요, 도왔어요, 도우면 (not 돕으면).

Sound

Main sound changes: the dictionary form [돕따], 도왔어요 [도와써요], 돕습니다 [돕씀니다] and 돕는 [돔는].

Example Sentences

도와요 with 엄마를: the person helped takes 을/를.

도왔어요 with 이웃을: the past form shows the ㅂ-to-오 change.

The present modifier 돕는 opens a noun phrase about people who help.

Dopda Conjugation Table

ㅂ-irregular: before a vowel the ㅂ becomes 우, but in 돕다 it becomes 오, giving 도와요, 도왔어요; the 으 endings give 도우면, 도우세요, 도운. Consonant endings keep ㅂ: 돕습니다, 돕는, 돕지 않아요.

Class: ㅂ-Irregular

ㅂ-irregular (the exceptional 오 type). See the ㅂ-irregular lesson.

ㅂ-irregular: the stem-final ㅂ turns into 우 (오 for 돕다/곱다) before a vowel ending, but stays ㅂ before a consonant.

Common Mistake

Wrong: ✗ 돕어요

Correct: ✓ 도와요

Why: 돕다 is ㅂ-irregular: before a vowel ending the ㅂ becomes 오, and 오 + 아 merges into 와.

Learners keep the ㅂ and add the ending as if the verb were regular. The ㅂ must change before any ending that starts with a vowel: 도와요, 도왔어요, 도우면.

Confusable Verbs

How the ㅂ Changes

The changed forms are 도와요, 도왔어요 and 도우면 (not 돕으면). Notice the split: forms that start with a consonant, such as 돕습니다 and 돕지 않아요, keep the ㅂ, while forms that start with a vowel lose it.

돕다 and 곱다 are the two words where ㅂ becomes 오 instead of the usual 우. That makes 돕다 an exception inside an irregular class, so learn its forms separately.

줍다 (to pick up) looks similar but follows the usual 우 pattern. 고맙다 is the adjective for thanks. After someone helps you with 돕다, 고맙다 is what you say next.

Helping a Neighbor Move

Two neighbors are discussing a move. One describes helping yesterday, and the other decides to help with the next stage.

Jisu

Minho

Jisu

Minho

도왔어요 reports the completed help, 도와요 describes today's arrangement, and 도울 거예요 adds a future plan. The neighbor only needs to be named once. 이웃을 identifies the person receiving help, while the context supplies the task: moving home.

Three Stem Shapes Worth Recognizing

돕다 has three useful shapes: 돕 before consonant endings, 도와 before 아 endings, and 도우 before endings built with 으. Compare 돕는, 도와요 and 도우면. Learning only 도와요 leaves you without a way to predict the other two groups.

The 오 explanation belongs specifically to the 아 group. It accounts for 도와요 and 도왔어요, but the conditional is 도우면 and the future is 도울 거예요. Keep those alongside each other instead of assuming that every changed form contains 와.

돕는 keeps ㅂ in the spelling even though its pronunciation is [돔는]. That sound change happens because ㅂ comes before ㄴ. The spelling change in 도와요 and the sound change in 돕는 are different processes: one changes the written stem, and the other changes how the retained consonant sounds. The ㅂ-irregular lesson explains the written pattern.

Common Phrases beyond Helping a Person

일을 돕다 means helping with work or a task. 집안일을 돕다 narrows the task to household chores. In these combinations, 을 marks what you help with rather than a person. The verb can describe contributing time or effort; it does not claim that you did the entire job yourself.

서로 돕다 means helping one another. 서로 supplies the mutual relationship: each side gives and receives help. A sentence about neighbors helping each other may use this combination without listing each person separately.

이해를 돕다 means helping someone understand. You may meet it in an explanation of why a diagram or example has been included. The thing doing the helping can be an illustration or an explanation, so 돕다 is not limited to a person physically assisting another person.

Where Does 돕다 Sound Natural?

돕다 appears in news about volunteers, descriptions of support programs and general statements about cooperation. A report may describe volunteers helping neighbors without addressing those neighbors directly. This broader reporting use helps explain why 돕다 can sound more general than 도와주다.

Plain 돕다 still works in conversation, as the dialogue shows. The difference is a tendency, not a ban on spoken use. For a direct everyday request, 도와주세요 is the familiar phrase. 부탁하다 describes asking for a favor; 돕다 describes providing the help, so making a request does not mean the help has already happened.

Words around Offering and Receiving Help

The 도와주다 entry develops direct requests and polite offers. For choosing the respectful form when the recipient is an elder or customer, see the humble forms lesson.

Mini Drill: Choose the Stem Shape

1. Give the polite present of 돕다.
2. Give “if you help”.
3. Complete “people who help”: ____ 사람.
4. Change 도와요 to the polite past.

Quick Self-Test

1. Does 일을 돕다 name a person or a task as the object?
2. What does 서로 add to 서로 돕다?
3. If you 부탁하다, have you necessarily provided help?

FAQ

Is the Conditional 돕으면?

No. 돕다 is ㅂ-irregular, so the ㅂ changes before 으: the conditional is 도우면.

What Is the Polite Present of 돕다?

도와요. The ㅂ becomes 오, and 오 + 아 merges into 와.

How Do I Ask Someone for Help?

Say 도와주세요 (please help me). It comes from 도와주다, the everyday verb for helping someone.

Which Particle Marks the Person Helped?

을/를, as in 친구를 돕다 or 엄마를 도와요.

Which Verb Looks Similar to 돕다?

줍다 (to pick up) is also ㅂ-irregular, but its ㅂ becomes the usual 우, not 오.

Related Verbs

• 도와주다
• 줍다
• 부탁하다
• 고맙다

Next Steps

Move on to 도와주다, 부탁하다 and 고맙다.

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