그리다 (geurida) Conjugation: Meaning, Forms & Examples

Key Facts

• Hangul: 그리다 (geurida)
• Meaning: to draw; to paint
• Level: A2
• Stem: 그리
• Class: regular
• Objects: transitive
• Honorific polite: 그리세요

What Does 그리다 Mean?

• to draw; to paint. Used for drawing a picture or portrait: 그림을 그리다 (to draw a picture), 얼굴을 그리다 (to draw a face).

그리다 is transitive: what you draw takes 을/를. Painting a wall is a different verb, 칠하다, so 그리다 is kept for pictures.

How Do You Pronounce 그리다?

그리다 is romanized geurida. Its first vowel, ㅡ, is made with the lips spread, not rounded. Most forms are read as written. In the formal 그립니다 [그림니다], the ㅂ before ㄴ is pronounced [ㅁ], and in the past 그렸어요 [그려써요] the ㅆ moves into the next syllable. After the future ending -ㄹ, ㄱ becomes tense: 그릴 거예요 [그릴꺼예요]. The table below gives every form.

How Do You Use 그리다 in a Sentence?

This describes a hobby: 그림을 is the object, and the topic 저는 shows that the sentence is about the speaker.

동생이 (my younger sibling) is the subject and 꽃을 (a flower) the object. 그렸어요 is the polite past.

예쁜 풍경을 (a pretty landscape) is the object, and 그리고 싶어요 expresses the wish.

How Does Geurida Conjugation Work?

Is 그리다 Regular or Irregular?

그리다 is regular. The stem 그리 ends in 리, and 리 plus 어 contracts to 려, so the polite present is 그려요 and the past 그렸어요.

Common Mistake with 그리다

Wrong (unnatural in modern Korean): ✗ 그리어요

Correct: ✓ 그려요

Why: Beginners attach 어요 without contracting. The full form 그리어요 appears in dictionaries, but in everyday speech and writing 그리 + 어 always becomes 그려: 그려요, 그렸어요.

그리다 Versus 쓰다

Choosing a Subject in an Art Class

An instructor asks Alex about a drawing. Alex has finished one picture and is deciding what to draw next. The scene uses the past, the wish pattern and a polite request.

Jisu

Alex

Jisu

Alex

The object changes from 고양이, “cat”, to 풍경, “landscape”, and then 나무, “tree”. Each is something represented in the picture. 연필로 identifies the tool, a pencil. The same verb works for different subjects and materials, so you do not need a separate Korean verb just because you switch from a pencil to paint.

Drawing Pictures, Lines and Plans

그림을 그리다 literally means to draw a picture. The repeated-looking root is normal Korean, just as English allows “sing a song”. 그림 names the finished picture or the artwork; 그리다 names making it. The phrase can describe painting a picture as well as drawing one.

선을 그리다 means to draw a line. In an art lesson it can be completely literal. In a discussion about a relationship or responsibility, the same phrase can mean drawing a boundary or distancing yourself. The surrounding topic tells you whether the line is on paper or represents a limit.

머릿속에 그리다 means to picture something in your mind. Nothing has to appear on paper. You might imagine a future home, a scene from a story or someone’s face. 머릿속에 gives the location of that mental picture, while the thing imagined still takes 을/를.

지도를 그리다, “draw a map”, is useful when giving directions. A quick hand-drawn map still uses 그리다 even if it contains arrows and a few written street names. 쓰다 would describe writing those names, while 그리다 describes creating the map as a whole.

Where Will You Hear 그리다?

Art classes, hobby conversations and children’s activities all use 그리다. An instruction such as 그리세요 asks the learner to draw. In a book caption, 그린 can identify something drawn by a particular person. In a story, the verb may describe imagining a scene rather than making a physical picture.

English “paint” covers both making art and coating a surface. Korean commonly separates them: a picture uses 그리다, while applying paint to a wall uses 칠하다. You can draw a mural on a wall, but merely covering that wall with one colour is a coating task. Focus on what the person is doing, rather than translating “paint” with one fixed verb.

Which Part of 그리다 Changes?

The stem is 그리, not 그. Its final ㅣ combines with 어 to give 그려. Before consonant-starting endings, 리 stays visible: 그리고 싶어요 and 그리면. This contrast helps explain why 그려요 and 그리면 belong to the same regular verb.

그리고 can also be the separate connecting word “and”. In 그리고 싶어요, it is the 그리 stem plus 고, followed by 싶어요. The words around it make the structure clear: 풍경을 그리고 싶어요 means wanting to draw a landscape, rather than “landscape and want”.

Keep the space before 싶어요. For the short negative, keep the space after 안: 안 그려요. To place the action before a noun, choose 그리는 for ongoing drawing and 그린 for a completed drawing. For example, 그린 그림 refers to a picture someone has drawn.

The contractions fit the regular polite present pattern.

Explore art alongside other activities in Korean hobby vocabulary.

Mini Drill: Build the Drawing Form

1. Give the polite past of 그리다.
2. Use the table to say “I want to draw”.
3. Give the polite request form.
4. Choose the completed modifier: 그리는 그림 or 그린 그림.

Quick Self-Test

1. Which verb usually describes coating a wall with paint?
2. Does 머릿속에 그리다 require paper?
3. In 연필로 그리다, what does 로 mark?

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Is It 그려요 and Not 그리어요?

The stem 그리 and the ending 어 contract to 려, so the polite present is 그려요. The uncontracted 그리어요 sounds unnatural in modern Korean.

Can I Use 그리다 for Painting a Wall?

No. Painting a wall uses 칠하다. 그리다 is for drawing or painting pictures.

Which Noun Comes from 그리다?

그림, which means a picture or drawing: 그림을 그리다 means to draw a picture.

What Is the Honorific Polite Form?

It is 그리세요, used for a polite request such as asking someone to draw something.

Which Words Are Related to 그리다?

• 찍다
• 만들다
• 쓰다
• 보여주다

What Should You Learn Next?

Look at 찍다, 만들다 and 쓰다 from the related list. Test any form in the Korean verb conjugator, or browse the verb dictionary.