Key Facts
- Hangul: 돌아가다 (doragada)
- Meaning: to go back
- Spoken as: [도라가다]
- Level: A2
- Stem: 돌아가
- Class: regular
- Objects: intransitive
Meaning and Register
돌아가다 means to go back to a place you came from, as in 집에 돌아가다. It is an A2 verb, a step above basic movement verbs like 가다.
The destination takes 에 or (으)로, and there is no object: 고향에 돌아가요 is going back to your hometown. The example sentences use both: 집으로 and 고향에.
The honorific polite form is 돌아가세요, as in a polite request to go back. Be careful with the honorific stem 돌아가시다, though: it is also the respectful euphemism for a senior person's death, so in the past tense it usually means that a grandparent or another senior has passed away, not that they went home.
Meanings:
- to go back. Return to a place you came from, as in 집에 돌아가다.
Sound
Every form that has a vowel after the ㄹ links it forward: the dictionary form is [도라가다], 돌아가요 is [도라가요], 돌아갔어요 is [도라가써요] and 돌아갑니다 is [도라감니다]. A learner who reads the written ㄹ at the end of 돌 will sound unnatural.
Example Sentences
저녁에 집으로 돌아가요.
I go back home in the evening.
The destination here is marked with (으)로, in the form 집으로, and the time word comes first. It reads naturally as a daily routine: where you head at the end of the day.
친구는 어제 고향에 돌아갔어요.
My friend went back to his hometown yesterday.
A friend is the subject and the hometown takes 에. The past form 돌아갔어요 puts the action in the past, with 어제 as the time marker.
내년에 한국으로 돌아갈 거예요.
I will go back to Korea next year.
The future 돌아갈 거예요 appears with 내년에, next year, and the destination 한국으로. It is the plan form of going back to a country.
Doragada Conjugation Table
The stem 돌아가 ends in a vowel and is regular, so the forms are 돌아가요, 돌아갔어요, 돌아갈 거예요 and 돌아갑니다. The conditional 돌아가면 and the modifiers 돌아가는, 돌아간 and 돌아갈 follow the same pattern. Negatives are 안 돌아가요 and 돌아가지 않아요.
돌아가다
| Form | Korean | Romanization | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polite present | 돌아가요 | ||
| Polite past | 돌아갔어요 | ||
| Polite future (plan) | 돌아갈 거예요 | ||
| Polite future (intention or guess) | 돌아가겠어요 | ||
| Formal present | 돌아갑니다 | ||
| Formal past | 돌아갔습니다 | ||
| Formal future | 돌아갈 것입니다 | ||
| Casual present | 돌아가 | ||
| Casual past | 돌아갔어 | ||
| Casual future | 돌아갈 거야 | ||
| Want to (polite) | 돌아가고 싶어요 | ||
| Honorific polite | 돌아가세요 | ||
| Because / and then | 돌아가서 | ||
| Conditional (if) | 돌아가면 | ||
| Present modifier (before a noun) | 돌아가는 | ||
| Past modifier (before a noun) | 돌아간 | ||
| Future modifier (before a noun) | 돌아갈 | ||
| Negative with 안 (short) | 안 돌아가요 | ||
| Negative (long form) | 돌아가지 않아요 |
| Form | Korean | Sound if different |
|---|---|---|
| Polite present | 돌아가요 | [도라가요] |
| Polite past | 돌아갔어요 | [도라가써요] |
| Polite future | 돌아갈 거예요 | [도라갈꺼예요] |
| Future guess | 돌아가겠어요 | [도라가게써요] |
| Formal present | 돌아갑니다 | [도라감니다] |
| Formal past | 돌아갔습니다 | [도라갇씀니다] |
| Formal future | 돌아갈 것입니다 | [도라갈꺼심니다] |
| Casual present | 돌아가 | [도라가] |
| Casual past | 돌아갔어 | [도라가써] |
| Casual future | 돌아갈 거야 | [도라갈꺼야] |
| Want to | 돌아가고 싶어요 | [도라가고 시퍼요] |
| Honorific | 돌아가세요 | [도라가세요] |
| Because | 돌아가서 | [도라가서] |
| If | 돌아가면 | [도라가면] |
| Present modifier | 돌아가는 | [도라가는] |
| Past modifier | 돌아간 | [도라간] |
| Future modifier | 돌아갈 | [도라갈] |
| Short negative | 안 돌아가요 | [안 도라가요] |
| Long negative | 돌아가지 않아요 | [도라가지 아나요] |
Class: Regular
The verb is regular. The ㄹ in 돌 is not at the end of the stem, so ㄹ-drop does not apply, and what you see in the table is a simple vowel-harmony pattern.
Common Mistake
Wrong: ✗ 집을 돌아가요
Correct: ✓ 집에 돌아가요
Why: The place of return takes 에 or (으)로, not 을/를.
Because English says 'go home' with no preposition, learners write ✗ 집을 돌아가요. With 을/를 the phrase reads more like going around the house. The place you return to takes 에 or (으)로: ✓ 집에 돌아가요.
Confusable Verbs
| Verb | Difference |
|---|---|
| 돌아오다 | 돌아가다 is returning away from the speaker; 돌아오다 is returning toward the speaker. |
| 가다 | 돌아가다 stresses going back to an origin; 가다 is simply going. |
돌아오다 is the same journey seen from the other side. Use 돌아가다 when the speaker is not at the destination, and 돌아오다 when the destination is where the speaker is.
Plain 가다 is just going somewhere. 돌아가다 adds the idea of an origin: you are going back to a place you left.
Leaving after a Weekend Visit
Two friends are talking at a cafe in Seoul. Alex is visiting from Busan and will leave the next day.
Jisu
언제 부산에 돌아가요?
Eonje Busane doragayo?
When do you go back to Busan?
Alex
내일 돌아갈 거예요.
Naeil doragal geoyeyo.
I’ll go back tomorrow.
Jisu
벌써요?
Beolsseoyo?
Already?
Alex
네, 돌아가서 일해요.
Ne, doragaseo ilhaeyo.
Yes, I’ll work when I get back.
Busan is Alex’s home, but the friends are speaking in Seoul. 돌아가다 describes returning away from their current location. 돌아가서 joins the return to the next activity. It does not itself mean “because”; the scene gives the sequence “go back, then work.”
Common Phrases with 돌아가다
집에 돌아가다 is going back home; 고향에 돌아가다 is going back to your hometown. A hometown can remain 고향 even when you now live elsewhere. Choose the noun for the place you actually mean rather than translating every English “home” as the same Korean word.
다시 돌아가다 means “to go back again.” 다시 can stress a renewed return, such as returning to a shop after forgetting a bag. Although 돌아가다 already includes the idea of return, 다시 is natural when the repetition matters.
처음으로 돌아가다 means “to go back to the beginning.” You may hear it while discussing a story, an explanation or a task that needs restarting. The destination is an earlier point in a process rather than a physical address.
돌아가다 also describes rotation or operation: 바퀴가 돌아가다 means “a wheel turns,” and 기계가 돌아가다 can mean “a machine runs.” The surrounding noun tells you whether someone is returning or a mechanism is working. These senses explain why an English translation of “go back” does not fit every occurrence.
Where Will You Hear It, and What Needs Care?
Travel conversations use 돌아가요 for a departure back to a previous base. In an office, someone can go back to their desk; in a drama, a visitor can announce a return to their hometown. The word itself is neutral. A blunt instruction to go back can still sound unwelcoming, even with a polite ending.
돌아가시다 needs special attention in family stories. With an elder as the subject and no destination, the past commonly reports that the person passed away. A clear travel destination can support the literal honorific meaning. Read the whole sentence before interpreting a mention of an older relative.
Write 돌아가다 as one word. Its stem ends in 가, so the ㄹ inside 돌아 does not disappear before an ending. 돌아갑니다 adds the formal ending to the end of the whole stem; it does not apply a separate conjugation rule to 돌.
Viewpoint can also follow a person in a story. A narrator may describe a character going back to a place even while the reader is physically elsewhere. For your own first sentences, establish where the conversation takes place and whether the return moves away from that location.
| Related word | Meaning | Useful distinction |
|---|---|---|
| 집 | home / house | The immediate place to return to after a visit. |
| 고향 | hometown | The place someone comes from, not necessarily their current address. |
| 귀가 | return home | A compact noun used in notices and more formal writing. |
| 귀국 | return to one's country | Specifies an international return. |
The travel vocabulary lesson supplies words for discussing the journey. For the shared ending pattern, use the polite present lesson.
Mini Drill: Build a Return Plan
- Complete the destination: 고향___ 돌아가요.
- Give the polite past of 돌아가다.
- Give the future plan form.
- Connect the verb to a following activity with the “and then” form in the table.
Show return drill answers
- 고향에 돌아가요.
- 돌아갔어요.
- 돌아갈 거예요.
- 돌아가서.
Quick Self-Test
- In the cafe scene, why is 돌아가다 used for the trip to Busan?
- What might 기계가 돌아가다 describe?
- Does an elder mentioned with 돌아가시다 always make the sentence about travel?
Show answers
- The return takes Alex away from Seoul, where the conversation happens.
- A machine running or operating.
- No. It can respectfully describe someone passing away; context matters.
FAQ
Which Particle Marks Where You Go Back To?
Use 에 or (으)로, for example 집에 돌아가요 or 집으로 돌아가요.
What Does 돌아가시다 Mean?
It is the respectful euphemism for the death of a senior person, so in the past tense it usually means 'passed away'. The ordinary polite request to go back is 돌아가세요.
How Is It Different from 가다?
가다 is simply going. 돌아가다 stresses going back to an origin.
What Is the Polite Future?
돌아갈 거예요, as in the sentence about going back to Korea next year.
Is It Regular?
Yes, with a plain vowel-harmony pattern.
Related Verbs
Next Steps
Pair it with 돌아오다 straight away, then add 올라가다 and 내려가다 to describe going up and down.
To try other forms of 돌아가다 yourself, open the Korean verb conjugator; all entries are listed in the verb dictionary.